New to us H3 Alpha questions

[lfootmatt]

Hey all,

I'm picking up a red H3 Alpha on Thursday for our oldest son at college and taking it to Lawrence, Kansas. 3 years at the University of Kansas hauling basketball players around then it comes back to AZ to his little brother who will be 16 at that point.



~110K Miles, offroad pkg, 4" Rancho Lift, 35" Nitto Grapplers (okay tread but getting old).

Central Texas Truck, female driven and never wheeled, and NO RUST, NOT EVEN A HINT!!! That's important to an Arizona guy from the Midwest.

Questions:

Where do these these things rust???

Should I pay to have it undercoated/rustproofed? I wanted to bring it home to AZ first and Midwest proof it, but that isn't happening. Going straight to the rustbelt:shame:, he hunts, fishes and will wheel it pretty hard.

Anyone ever seen this melted rear bumper cover?



Owner said it appeared after a road trip to the beach. He couldn't figure out what caused it. Spare covers it so I don't care too much.

Thanks in advance!

Matt

 

[lowtrac]

I wonder if his road trip to the beach included one of those hitch mounted grills? That's strange.


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[Bruces]

Could have been leaking muffler with heat blowing directly on plastic

 

[alrock]

4speedfunk is probably the expert on seeing rust on these. I can't comment too much being an AZ guy myself.

Great looking H3 and nice find with that Rancho lift kit.

 

[awalsh]

Being from the north east rust generally appears on the undercarriage/frame and on suspension components. Nothing (on mine) in particular that rusts worse than the rest


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[lfootmatt]

Kid has a local mechanic that takes pretty good care of them. I might have him crush the underside with Eastwood products including the frame interior and exterior coatings.

I also want him to de-crank the front a couple of turns the even up the ride height. That or put the schwartzy's spring shackles in the rear.

Thanks for the input! Please keep it coming.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[mjferencak]

Like awalsh mentioned, your suspension parts are going to have surface rust. More than likely your leaf spring bushings are going to suffer as well as your front diff and control arm bushings. Unless he has exposed body metal he should be fine. Nice truck by the way. It will definitely get him out to the mule deer and elk. Might want to get him a winch just in case.

 

[awalsh]

Kid has a local mechanic that takes pretty good care of them. I might have him crush the underside with Eastwood products including the frame interior and exterior coatings.

I also want him to de-crank the front a couple of turns the even up the ride height. That or put the schwartzy's spring shackles in the rear.

Thanks for the input! Please keep it coming.

Thanks,

Matt

Depending on his or his local mechanics skill, you could always do a spring over in the rear.. If I had a rancho that would be done asap, but extended shackles will do


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[lfootmatt]

Depending on his or his local mechanics skill, you could always do a spring over in the rear.. If I had a rancho that would be done asap, but extended shackles will do


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Seller told me that if he tops off the gas tank all the way that it will run bad until it burns some off. I think the tank isn't breathing properly because the angle causes gas to cover the breather inlet. Anyone experience this?

I had an inspection service check it out since I'm a remote buyer. The only code thrown was for a clogged/overheating cat. His scan took checks all stored codes going back 250 start cycles and that was the only stored code. So I'd guess it hasn't ruined the evap system yet.

Would the spring over level it out?

On the rust thing I'm going to have something done. Local guy quoted $595 for Value Guard cavity wax oil fogging and undercoating. Oddly though, he doesn't have the ability to clean the underside prior to spraying it. Said I'd have to take care of that a couple of days out so it could dry first. I thought that was a bit odd.

Might have the rockers up to the first break line in the body and the fenders done in black lineX. That would add protection to the rockers and look nice.

Thanks again!!!

Matt

 

[rascole]

Flow patter of the melted plastic looks like the exhaust was blowing on it. Turn the T bars down and take the stress off the joints and it will last longer. If you look into the rear spring over you'll need the factory springs or else the Rancho springs will raise way too high. I did the spring over and replaced the main leaf with a reverse eye leaf and de-arched stock springs, a lot of work but worth the added clearance.

 

[lfootmatt]

Flow patter of the melted plastic looks like the exhaust was blowing on it. Turn the T bars down and take the stress off the joints and it will last longer. If you look into the rear spring over you'll need the factory springs or else the Rancho springs will raise way too high. I did the spring over and replaced the main leaf with a reverse eye leaf and de-arched stock springs, a lot of work but worth the added clearance.

I'm wondering if he wasn't hauling a hitch platform that caused a diversion in the flow of the exhaust. I had a similar thing occur with a minivan once using a hitch platform.

On the rear height. Maybe a combo of a slight de-crank on the TBs and Schwartzy's rear spring shackles would do the trick to level it out.

Later,

Matt

 

[awalsh]

Spring over would gain tons of height in the rear, it would not squat the way it is now.. Also tons of extra articulation in the rear. As rascole said you will need oem springs though, he would know more than I would also.
For the underbody: That guy just wants to make $ off you and doesn't want to actually do any work. I am sure that if you look hard enough someone will do underbody spray and prep for a similar price. Or if you wanted to save money do the prep yourself and spray some raptorliner on the underbody, could do the body panels you spoke of as well


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[lfootmatt]

Spring over would gain tons of height in the rear, it would not squat the way it is now.. Also tons of extra articulation in the rear. As rascole said you will need oem springs though, he would know more than I would also.
For the underbody: That guy just wants to make $ off you and doesn't want to actually do any work. I am sure that if you look hard enough someone will do underbody spray and prep for a similar price. Or if you wanted to save money do the prep yourself and spray some raptorliner on the underbody, could do the body panels you spoke of as well


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My original plan was to bring it to AZ and give it all of the underside attention before sending it to the rustbelt. I've been trying to buy this thing for months and now its going straight to Lawrence, Kansas. I'll look around while I'm in town.

Spring over with stock springs and sway bar disconnects.... So may mods, so little time!!!

Thanks all!!!

Matt