Hey all,

I have an 06 H3 with a Volant intake and dual exhaust with a Helix Powertower TBS. Made a big difference with power and now I need to make it look as good as it sounds.

So i have been reading all the threads about leveling kits and you caught my attention. What is the best kit on the market (Truxxx, Ready Lift, Tuff Country)? Hope you aren't sick of talking about it. Please include any negatives if you have any, (tire wear, clicks and pops, ride quality, etc.) Look forward to hearing from you.

Let me know if there are any questions about my mods.

The FNG,

Jake

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Outstanding pic mt2!!!

The best possible leveling kit available is...................drum roll........................: already installed on your truck by GM. You DO NOT need any "kit".

All that you need to do is turn the T bar adjusting bolts with a 1 1/16" socket/wrench. Take the money you saved by not blowing it on a marketing ploy and
buy new longer front shocks. The consensus on that here is bilstien cognitos.A link to a good discusion RE: Shocks

Enjoy the forums.

 

i would not crank the t-bar cause it's a 50/50 thing. some like it and otheres report problems. i think the best thing is the ready lift it goes for $230 most places and then install and wheel allignment.total arround $400. so if u dont care about price and are not cheap and want the best for your hummer then ready lift. the t-bar is not meant to be cranked.why do u think the dealer wont do it. my buddy works on hummers and he said dont crank t-bar.they have a way to no for one and any damage would not be covered and it voids the warranty plus all the other negatives that happen like stress on parts and so on.i can type all day on this.it comes down to what u want to do and the chance's u wana take.i went ready lift just cause my best friend said so.he dont work for ready lift so theres no reason to lie to me.hes been working on hummers be4 the h2 hit the market.so he's well qualified.I AM NOT PUTING DOWN ANY 1 WHO CRANKED THE T-BAR THATS THERE CHOICE AND I RESPECT THAT. I AM JUST GIVING MY OPINION LIKE EVERY ONE ELSE . I AM NOT SAYING THE T-BAR WONT WORK. SOME HAVE NO ISSUES AND THATS GREAT.ONLY U CAN TAKE WHAT WE ALL SAY AND DECIDE FOR YOUR SELF

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In my opinion,..it was the Ground Force kit.

Of course my opinions are different than many of the more vocal on this board,...I for one was never trying to see how high I could get the vehicle.I just wanted it level, safe handling, and not looking funny.

Twooptions for leveling of course,..jack the front,..or lower the rear.

Raising and lowering the rear has little to no effect on the suspension design really, and no effect on alignment (although you should trim the rubber bump stops a bit if you lower it).

Raising the front howeverdoes have negative effects on the handling. The front uses longitudinal tortion bars as springs. They have only one rate. So to make up for that,..the factory uses tall and soft bump-stops as part of the spring rate. They come into play very early and add to the tortion bars' spring rate. They sit about 1/4" off the lower control arm at rest.

So when you jack the front end up,..you remove these from the system,...and compromise the suspension. So you don't get that second spring rate in a turn. Evasive manouvres get more risky. (Not to mention,..you've raised the center of gravity,..raised up the front of the roll axis, you startrunning the front CV joints at an extreme angle,etc.)



So option 2 is lowering the rear an inch or 1.5". The rear end is the tried and true late 19th century solid axle on leaf springs design,...and can be lowered for about $30. Here's a link to the thread on it. About 1/2 way down the first page I made a post with links to the "U" bolts and 2" spring blocks. You might want to find 1" or 1.5" versions.
https://www.hummerforums.com/m_104182/tm.htm

Here's a pic of a 2" rear drop and 1/2" front drop.




I went one further and bought the Ground Force kit. Intended to lower the rear an absurd 3". I bought 2" blocks for it and used those. I lowered the front 1/2", and the rear 2". (The link above is the origional thread about it.

I suspect most on here would prefer lowering the rear 1.5" or less,..and leaving the front alone.

I just returned my H3 lease and have the kit for sale in the classifides. It includes better shocks which improve the ride. They even have gators on them to protect them from the elements.

Here's a link to the classified ad.
https://www.hummerforums.com/m_192691/tm.htm

 

Thanks for the great comments guys! I am thinking considering the ready lift kit. I want to put on some bigger tires and would like the extra clearance. Look forward to talking with you all in the future.

mt2

 

What I am trying to get across here is that a leveling kit sells you a re-indexed T bar key. For the H3 you DO NOT need to re-index the keys to level the front. All the readylift and others do is "re-index" the starting point to a different setting than stock, the keys are just shaped differently, no mysterious magic going on. The stock H3 keys have plenty of room to adjust the front basically level with the rear.

The ready lift KEYS do NOT lift the truck.............turning the T Bar bolt raises the truck. So with or without a re-indexed key to level the truck, the T Bar bolts must be turned. The mechanism of lift is identical, with/without a leveling re-indexed key, so whatever problems you a paranoid about would be the same with a stock key or with some aftermarket key. I have explained this more times that I care to, but some people just think you have to buy something to level their truck????

This is not rocket science, and many dealerships will adjust the T bars to level the truck upon request.

So if you feel better spending some money before you level your 3, mail me a check first, then adjust the T bar bolts.

 

Doc Olds, Im catching up with you now. I am going to contact the dealer to see if they will re-index the stock keys. I'll let you know. Thanks again!

 

Man lowering an H3 seems REALLY silly. I'm assuming that people want to level their trucks to GAIN clearance and add BIGGER tires... By lowering the truck to level it I'm going to assume that you would LOOSE clearance and blow any ideas of getting BIGGER tires out of the water... To each his own but then again I didn't buy a HUMMER to say I own a HUMMER. I bought a HUMMER to be able to drive through anythingI wanted....

 

I have a McGaughys 3" kit. Depending where you put the blocks( top or bottom of the axle.)determine if they lift or drop the H3.
I used them to drop my H3. My 88 yr old mother was having a lot of trouble getting in my car for Dr Appts etc so the 3" drop helped somewhat. She passed last month so I removed them and my H3 is now at the stock level.

I'd like to sell them really cheap @ $35 plus about $25 to ship the heavy ******. Anyone interested?

Bob

 

sorry to here about the passing and good luck with the sale