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Need a little advice

med

Active Member
Messages
41
Location
Hope, Arkansas
I have an 06 h3. Just did the torsion crank to level it and went to 23 3/4. I went to get an alignment and they said I needed lower bearings and needed the uca on the passenger side. It has high miles so I can believe it. So I'm replacing both lower bearings and going to do both ucas. I'm not a fan of the ride. I was thinking about dropping it back down a little. But I've started wondering about shocks. I'm sure they need replacing as well. If I did replace with something like the bilsteins would it help the ride if I kept it at the level it is now? Or would the only thing to help the ride be to lower it some?
Thx for any help.
 

GreatDaneHummer

Well-Known Member
Messages
994
Location
Chicago
Oh boy where do we start lol; high miles is pretty open for interpretation, I replaced the lower ball joints, upper control arms, sway bar linkage, outer bearing hubs, procomp mx6 shocks, torsion bars and torsion bar keys at 72k miles. Being cranked up your "ride" will always be stiffer and far worse than running at factory specs. If you are not trying to get more clearance for bigger tires to off road it I would strongly suggest just leaving it at factory height with 33" tires.
 
S

SedonaBound

Guest
I agree with Great Dane. Cranking basically removes the "light load" response from the t-bars making their starting point for absorbing bumps a lot stiffer; IMO, a big price to pay for a little more room for oversize tires.
 

med

Active Member
Messages
41
Location
Hope, Arkansas
Thx for the replies. I'll likely drop it a little. Probably not quite back to factory tho. Just put new tread on it but went with the factory 285 size. And the high miles I mentioned is 182k. Bought it from the original owner and she worked as a traveling nurse so it spent the majority of its life running the interstate. High gas prices caused her to simply Park it and forget it in her garage until I stole it from her [emoji41]
 

H322

Well-Known Member
Messages
50
Location
Arkansas
23.25" Rode horrible at first installed new pro comp extended shocks. Also extended bump stops rides smooth now. Have been running this height with 35/14.50/22 super swampers for a few months now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

4speedfunk

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,250
Location
Tardville
Most likely, the issue is that your stock shocks are far too short for a 23.75" ride height, and that is what is creating the harsh ride quality. You're basically driving around with the shocks topped out (fully extended). Put on longer shocks, and the problem will be just the opposite. You will get a soft "floaty" ride...nose up on acceleration and nose dive on braking. To combat this, most people then run extended bump stops on the front to help with the nose dive. Some guys also run straps to limit the nose rise (suspension droop).

I prefer to cut the whole mess off and start over.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
It's interesting seeing the various advice based upon preference. I cranked the bars up and added add-a-leafs to the back. It stiffened up the suspension and I really like it this way - before I thought it was too mushy, now it's more like my old 89 Toyota 4x4 pickup.
 
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