The unspeakable..

[twinmill28]

Oh man I move out of town and Utah gets thrown into chaos.
How 'bout if I move back and let you make some more fun of outwheeling me? Would that make these silly ideas go away?

 

[skeptic]

Oh man I move out of town and Utah gets thrown into chaos.
How 'bout if I move back and let you make some more fun of outwheeling me? Would that make these silly ideas go away?

It would be a start. I'd probably make more time for wheeling, which would up the priority for keeping a H3/H3T...

 

[skeptic]

Ok, serious question for the group, and specifically anyone who has put lockers in an Alpha or at least looked into it. I made arrangements for a dealer to get an '08 H3 Alpha delivered from one of their other lots to the local one and I'm going to go look at it Sat morning (if it's still for sale). The issue is, it doesn't have the offroad package so if I bought it I would want to turn around and buy lockers for it. This means added expense, time in a shop (no way would I do this myself), non-stock setup... On the other hand, I can only find 1 H3/H3T Alpha within 100 miles right now and this is the one.

I'm considering "if they give me a great deal I'll go for it" but that little naggy voice in the back of my head is telling me I'm better off finding an Alpha/offroad instead of trying to get lockers added later. I realize the stock setup has safety features some people don't like (4-low only, under a certain speed only), but those don't really bother me.

In this situation, would you buy an H3 Alpha knowing you would pay to have lockers put in later, or would you just wait until you found exactly what you wanted? I'm not in a huge hurry, my T is fine for now and it's not going to be until at least spring before the need for a V8 comes up.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...pp=50&feedSegId=28705&aff=national&listType=1


FWIW, I told them based on the pics if we did make a deal it would include me keeping my wheels/tires, brush guard, and UCP. It will be at a GM dealership with repair shop, so no big deal for them to swap over those parts. I really don't have a clue how expensive adding lockers would be.

 

[twinmill28]

I'm considering "if they give me a great deal I'll go for it" but that little naggy voice in the back of my head is telling me I'm better off finding an Alpha/offroad instead of trying to get lockers added later.

Pretty sure your wife will NOT appreciate this comment.......:wink:

As for jumping on this or waiting----I'd wait. I almost bought an H2 that I DID NOT want, but it was available and at Seiner in Salt Lake. Thank goodness we had to leave the dealer that day for an appointment we couldn't miss. We ended up having to leave with the deal hanging. After some cool down time we decided that everything about it was wrong for us--color, miles, price.
Shortly after that I found the absolute perfect H2 with everything that I wanted and even lower miles than I expected and paid an extra $600 to have it delivered from out of state.
So in short--wait for what you want.

 

[skeptic]

Pretty sure your wife will NOT appreciate this comment.......:wink:

As for jumping on this or waiting----I'd wait. I almost bought an H2 that I DID NOT want, but it was available and at Seiner in Salt Lake. Thank goodness we had to leave the dealer that day for an appointment we couldn't miss. We ended up having to leave with the deal hanging. After some cool down time we decided that everything about it was wrong for us--color, miles, price.
Shortly after that I found the absolute perfect H2 with everything that I wanted and even lower miles than I expected and paid an extra $600 to have it delivered from out of state.
So in short--wait for what you want.

Let me guess, you looked at the pics and not enough chrome?

No, you are probably right. This one has low-ish miles and is one of the cheapest Alphas I've seen, combined with no other Alphas within 100 miles it makes it really tempting. Just looking online, Carmax has a few and they can take care of shipping, but when my wife was looking to trade in our old Avalanche the amount they were willing to give her for it was a joke. Not sure if I want to even bother seeing what they'd give me for my T as a trade in. I don't want to sell the truck on my own with no running second car, winter around the corner, and an unknown search period before I found what I wanted. Not to mention, I'd be stuck with sales tax for the entire amount of the new car instead of just the difference and that right there eats up $1,500 to $2k.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Adding locker cost - $1500 - $3500 depending on the flavor....
GM e-lockers are the cheapest I found at ~400 each from any of the gm parts outlets; next up for the rear, trac-lock or detroit lockers at just under 500 for the rear. The only front option I found beside the e-locker is ARB air lockers and those are spendy at 1100 per axle. Most shops will swap carriers for 300-500 per axle... change gear ratio "while you're at it" and that price goes up about another $1,000

My plan continues to be detroit or trac-lock in the rear; and an e-locker in the front.... that cost is $1,500 (including the rear locker, I supply the front locker making it a total of $2k) from Richmond gear (which is local to me).... oh yeah, and I provide the wiring services; they only put the axles together. It would cost less if I pull out the axles and take them to them (which I might do).

 

[Tractordoll]

After much going back and forth, pondering, what some could describe as soul searching, I have decided to expand my search criteria. I have not ruled out an Avalanche, but instead I added the H3 Alpha to the list of possibilities. I'm a bit torn on the idea of losing a truck bed. It means I'll be paying for delivery of stuff from time to time and/or borrowing a truck from a friend. Upside is I'd again have an SUV in-cabin cargo area and get to stick with the H3/H3T line. I may even be ok with an '08 - lose the front locker, but I'd save a few bucks and Alphas are hard enough to come by as it is.

As strange as it may sound, deciding to include H3 Alpha is a bit of a relief. Once I got past the set-in-stone requirement for a truck bed, an H3 Alpha is quickly becoming my first choice.

I worried about losing a truck bed, but what I did was to buy a small trailer at home depot and whenever I need to haul something I put it on the trailer, and then I haul it with my wrangler. So far it's worked perfectly. The trailer is dirt cheap to keep on the road and I only use it when I need it. If I needed a fancier trailer I would rent one for a day to move something. I've done that as well, and renting a large landscape trailer was $20 for a day.


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[skeptic]

Adding locker cost - $1500 - $3500 depending on the flavor....
GM e-lockers are the cheapest I found at ~400 each from any of the gm parts outlets; next up for the rear, trac-lock or detroit lockers at just under 500 for the rear. The only front option I found beside the e-locker is ARB air lockers and those are spendy at 1100 per axle. Most shops will swap carriers for 300-500 per axle... change gear ratio "while you're at it" and that price goes up about another $1,000

My plan continues to be detroit or trac-lock in the rear; and an e-locker in the front.... that cost is $1,500 (including the rear locker, I supply the front locker making it a total of $2k) from Richmond gear (which is local to me).... oh yeah, and I provide the wiring services; they only put the axles together. It would cost less if I pull out the axles and take them to them (which I might do).

It may sound snobish, but I would only install a selectable locker. ARB would be my first choice, so I could combine it with on-board air, but realistically I'd probably stick with the GM (Eaton I believe) e-locker due to price. My last wheeling trip I needed the rear locker quite a bit, but really only "needed" the front for a couple loose ugly steps to climb. I put needed in quotes because I believe I could have rocked or powered my way over them if I didn't have the front locker. Either way, I had in my mind $2k to $3k per axle which is in line with your $1,500 to $3,500 estimate.

Tractordoll - I hear what you are saying. I probably wouldn't buy a trailer just because I don't really have a place for one. I'll have to deal with it when things come up, pay for deliveries, borrow a truck, rent a trailer, whatever. Fortunately some of my big projects are now complete or nearly complete - my basement is now finished and furnished, my back yard has been completely re-landscaped and new shed put in, etc. My truck bed needs have gone from daily/weekly to once every couple months. Took me a bit to get over the idea that "I HAVE to have a truck bed" but at this point I think I'm ok without one. Honestly the biggest "need" for a truck bed is when I go camping with the wife and kids. We have some pretty big camping gear and I try to take things to make it comfy for the wife. I've already started to downsize, and can continue to do so. We were fine in my old Cherokee, then fine in my H3.. Got the T and our stuff grew to fill it. In my 20's I'd go for a week with what was on my back, I'm pretty sure I can keep the wife and kids happy with what I can stuff in the back of an H3. Worst case, a roof rack is always an option.

 

[PCH2]

Skeptic, I had Six States on 3rd west and 17th east do my rear locker in our H3 and it was $1200. I don't know about the T front diff but our was aluminium and was advised not to put a locker in unless switched to CI. We then looked at the transfer case swap to 4:1 and those costs to do that was enough for us to sell it and get the Duece. I'm with Twin on waiting for the adventure package on the T Alpha. Don't settle for less, you'll end up kicking yourself

 

[skeptic]

Skeptic, I had Six States on 3rd west and 17th east do my rear locker in our H3 and it was $1200. I don't know about the T front diff but our was aluminium and was advised not to put a locker in unless switched to CI. We then looked at the transfer case swap to 4:1 and those costs to do that was enough for us to sell it and get the Duece. I'm with Twin on waiting for the adventure package on the T Alpha. Don't settle for less, you'll end up kicking yourself

I have front/rear lockers in my T, and I'm pretty sure all Alphas come with CI front diffs as well, so that's not an issue. You are probably right though, between lockers and the TC (which I expected to be cheaper or on par with lockers, not more), I'm better off $$-wise holding out for an Alpha+offroad. I'm still going to go look at the Alpha in the morning. They actually called me while I was typing this reply to tell me they got it in. I've never driven an Alpha so even just driving it and walking away will give me some idea of what to expect, and a reference to compare, for the next one that comes along.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I get the ARB argument, but it's still another $700 for, as you rightly point out, a locker that is the true definition of occasional use.

...and I already have on-board air. I have two viair compressors wired serially to air up after the adventures - so that part of the cost wouldn't be an issue.

 

[skeptic]

So I went and looked at an H3 Alpha. I liked it, but lack of lockers was a big issue. In the end I gave them some fairly unrealistic numbers that they'd have the match in order for me to buy it. It was actually a bit of a relief when they came back and said no. My search continues but is limited to an H3 alpha with off road package.

 

[4speedfunk]

H3 or H3T...cut-off the stock IFS....SAS it....SOA it....run 35" tires....install 3.73 gears....swap 5-cyl out for a Cummins 4BT.

Go anywhere.
Comfortable.
Reliable.
Not crazy, crawly, flexy....just capable.
28 mpg.
400 ft./lbs.
300K miles before a rebuild.

$20K plus the price of the H3.

It might just be the most perfect DD/trail rig ever....especially if you put in a 2WD transfer case. Hmmmm...

 

[06 H3]

Exactly what 4speed said...and you still have a nice interior

 

[skeptic]

Ya, uh, no. I'd love that setup, but I'm not willing to do that kind of modding. I'm not even willing to do a v8 swap into my truck which would be far easier.

 

[Hans3T]

I know what Chris is doing in a couple years!

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[Zach]

I know what Chris is doing in a couple years!

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I know what Chris is doing right now. And it scares me to be on the trail with him.

 

[Portager]

Yea that!

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