^^^ this

You can fit 35s with nothing more than a torsion bar crank (don't waste your money on a 1-3" 'lift', it can be done for free).

My best wheelin buddy has a wrangler with 4" lift and 33" tires. He's never gone anywhere I couldn't go in the h3. The different trucks just require different driving approaches over certain obstacles. The only thing about his jeep I'm jealous of is the ground clearance; I think its the only real achilles heel of the h3, the front end/drive line are pretty low. This just means its really important to get some skid plates/sliders if you're gonna do any hard wheeling.

Don't let your friends scare you off the h3, mine is far and away the most capable truck in stock form I've ever wheeled. They're just jealous that your h3 is damn comfortable to sit in and drive compared to their spartan accomodations!

PS- the FJ is also a highly capable rig, I looked at a couple before I bought the h3. IMO, the h3 is waaaay more comfy inside than the fj (and looks meaner)

 

Having come from a Rubicon TJ as a DD, I can honestly say in 99.9% of my all around driving experiences, I much prefer the H3 to the Rubicon.

 

hey Thank you doc olds for you're answer and i just wanted to ask you something else when i bought the truck one of the previous owners put on these tires that to me look really aggressive and good for off road but i figured i asked they are dick cepek radial F-C 2
and i am pretty sure there 33's but i will check today. So thank you for you're answer and if you can tell me if those tires are good that would be great but if not what tires are good?

 

Nothing wrong with those Cepeks, the are a good all terrain type tread, not as aggressive as a mud tread, but not as noisy either. Good compromise tire for many. It depends how much and in what you wheel it. All of us would love to wheel 1000s of miles, but we all know we are on the roads much more than off.

My truck rolls on Mickey Thompson MTZs 305s, and I'm due for a new set this summer. Cepeck is part of the Cooper Mickey Thompson family of tires, all good stuff, made in the USA.

So if you have 33s on a stock wheel, they are either 285s or 305s. If you have tread life left, start working on the other wheeling essentials. If you want to wheel with your buds, first thing on my list would be UCP if your truck has none. You do not want a rock through your TC or Trans pan. Once the belly has some protection you can wheel without rock rails for a while if you are careful and don't over do it. You can drive hone with a chewed up rocker panel, but not with a busted TC.

Then rock rails, lots of us have Rocky Roads RRs, there are GM sets out there but you have to look hard.

 

No torsion bar crank needed for 35's. I run Duratracs without the level.

 

the only thing I wish my H3s had were lockers. other than that I wheel with a Rubi all the time, and there has only been a couple of places he went that I couldn't because he has lockers and I don't.

 

In my experience, it's not so much don't floor it but don't lift off the gas and add more when a wheel starts to slip.

Our H3 traction control system needs power to operate.

If you lift off the gas, you are basically shutting the system off.

 

Right, that's what I meant by let it continue to spin. It's also worth noting NOT to touch the brakes. Brake throttle modulation is useful for some vehicles, and may even be useful in an H3 in some situations, but as I understand it any brake pressure at all will disable traction control.

 

The only thing I don't like about the H3 is that it feels top heavy in off-camber situations even though I know it won't roll, but it puckers me anyway.


Check out the Kelly TSR tires made by Goodyear. Mine are awesome all-around and will last 40-50K

 

Currently have a 2008 H3 Alpha and a 2014 Wrangler unlimited rubicon. I like the jeep better, hate to say it, smaller vehicle and easier to handle. Now I am not climbing rocks, just mud pits and some rough terrain and hills.