Now that I have had my 3 for a little over a year it seems like a good time to document the slow build up.
In January of 2011 I began to look for a mid size SUV to replace my '95 regular cab F250. I wanted a a vehicle that could carry more people in and would be smaller then my old truck. It would be used for snowboarding and camping trips with the eventual possibility of being built into an overlanding rig, so 4wd was a must. After looking through various forums my search was narrowed down to either a 4Runner, explorer or H3. In the end I was most impressed with the capabilities of the H3, it also did not hurt that I liked the look of the H3 best. I Then began searching through used H3 inventory on various websites, leading to an '08 base in Solar Flare Metallic. It only had 30,000 miles on it and another year and a half on the bumper to bumper warranty. Best of all it showed no signs of every being offroad, the under side was clean without even a scratch. After taking it out for a test drive I had to have it.
I did not take many pictures when i first got it but here is one in its stock format back in February '11:
Saying goodbye to the '95 F250:
Of course a hummer is meant to be taken off the pavement so on a rainy day I went up Trabuco Canyon to try it out. The main road is graded and maintained but some side roads have more challenging parts that I was able to test the diff skid plates on.
Here is a picture of its first mud(not much):
I had joined up on the old forum looking for ideas of what mods I could do and saw that the SoCal group had an offroad trip in Big Bear planned for April. I decided to try and make it. Following minimum mod suggestions for the trip I began to track down parts. Giving me two months to get the 3 ready for the trip.
In January of 2011 I began to look for a mid size SUV to replace my '95 regular cab F250. I wanted a a vehicle that could carry more people in and would be smaller then my old truck. It would be used for snowboarding and camping trips with the eventual possibility of being built into an overlanding rig, so 4wd was a must. After looking through various forums my search was narrowed down to either a 4Runner, explorer or H3. In the end I was most impressed with the capabilities of the H3, it also did not hurt that I liked the look of the H3 best. I Then began searching through used H3 inventory on various websites, leading to an '08 base in Solar Flare Metallic. It only had 30,000 miles on it and another year and a half on the bumper to bumper warranty. Best of all it showed no signs of every being offroad, the under side was clean without even a scratch. After taking it out for a test drive I had to have it.
I did not take many pictures when i first got it but here is one in its stock format back in February '11:
Saying goodbye to the '95 F250:
Of course a hummer is meant to be taken off the pavement so on a rainy day I went up Trabuco Canyon to try it out. The main road is graded and maintained but some side roads have more challenging parts that I was able to test the diff skid plates on.
Here is a picture of its first mud(not much):
I had joined up on the old forum looking for ideas of what mods I could do and saw that the SoCal group had an offroad trip in Big Bear planned for April. I decided to try and make it. Following minimum mod suggestions for the trip I began to track down parts. Giving me two months to get the 3 ready for the trip.
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