hey guys I have a 09 h3 and this past winter there was a poping sound from the drivers front so i took a look and found the wheel bearing was pushing out grease, took it to the dealer had it replaced,but they said the bump stops were hitting the lower control arm so they put so me grease on it and the problem went away! now the wife said it started making the noise again and I know that grease is not the fix , so what gives? do the torsion bars need to be adjusted to allow for the front end to dip while coming to a stop without hitting the bump stop/lower control arm?

 

Adjusting for more nose dive would cause more contact of the bump stops, which it sounds like that's not what you're going for.

 

sorry I mean to raise the hummer another 1/2" in the front to stop the bump stops from hitting the control arms,is this a common problem with the H3? it just seems to me the grease was a quick fix and I'm sure GM doesn't see that as a fix!

 

Just go with the trailduty kit and level it. New shocks and bump stops up front should help, and it's fairly cheap. The bump stops become a problem is you crank the TBars in the front without the extended bump stops, but I dunno, we have people here that cranked the TBars, never did anything else, and say its just fine.

 

I have to say that my bump stops are trashed, and the price of replacing the stock bump stops dont make sence. Plans are to level the front with extended bump stops and blistens!

 

The "bumpstops" as you call them are part of the IFS suspension design on GM vehicles. They are actually progressive dampeners not bumpstops. They should be coming in contact with the control arm because that is how they work!!!! They will in no way shape form or mannor be creating your noise and they should NOT be greased. I think your dealer sold you a bag of goods on this one.

Your noise could be coming from any number of areas. Ball joints, steering gear, blown shock, tie rod, etc. I would NEVER take my vehicle back to the dealer that told me it was because it was hitting the control arm! Find a HUMMER certified GM dealer who knows WTF they are doing in your area.

 

WEll its funny u say take it to a Hummer dealer, It was a certified Hummer dealer and he even told me the drivers side rear leaf spring was rubbing and he sprayed somthing to stop that too! So u are saying the "dampeners" should rub on the control arm eh???? not to be a smart butt are shocks called "dampeners" too???? now I could see it being a gear box noise but it only does it while breaking and turning to the left!?

 

OK "smart butt", might want to do a little research into the GM IFS setup.

They are not actually just "bump stops" they are progressive dampeners used as part of the entire front suspension on a GM IFS system. They bend and flex to give you better control and a softer ride. The Non-GM "bump stops" do not have the same progressive rate of compression/deflection in them and will exhibit different ride qualities.

You may notice that the LCA on the GM IFS seems to be resting on its upper bump stop. This is not only a bump stop, but what is called a progressive dampner. It compresses at a progressive rate, simulating a progressive rate spring, and letting the torsion bars achieve close to a progressive feel. Another con is as you increase the ride height by adjusting your keys, the ride gets worse. Now it’s a common misconception that there is more of a load on the bar and this is the cause. That is impossible since the LCA moves as well, so there is no more torsion on the bar than before, the spring rate does not actually change like many belive. The twisting action does not change the pre-load on the bar directly, so cranking your bars is just like adding a block in the rear or a coil spacer. It is simply changing the position of the spring. Just to clear things up, pre-load is the amount by which the torsion bar can't return to its original (unloaded) position due to be installed in the truck. The reason for the bad ride quality is instead a combination of things. First of all, when you adjust the height up, the angle between your LCA and the ground is increased which effectively does reduce your pre-load by reducing the leverage your LCAs have on your torsion bars. This negativly effects the ride by taking the torsion bars out of the preload range they were designed to work in. In combination with that, if you crank too far your UCAs have very little room left between them and the lower bump stops, reducing downward travel. You also pull the LCA away from the progressive dampner, making it ineffective and putting yourself back into the position of having a linear spring. These are the reasons the ride gets worse!

I hope this helps out with some of your questions.

 

Thanks for the info but it still doesnt answer my question/comment, so GM's fix to the poppin' sound is to slap some grease on the bump stop!?
The H3 has never been off-road ,only 40k on it ,this is the wife's car so I guess it will go back to the dealer and they can put more grease on it and in a few months I'll take it back once the grease is wore/washed off and I'll claim "lemon law " since grease is NOT a fix---- regardless what you say ----I build 1500-2500 HD's/LD's and we at the plant DO NOT PUT GREASE ON THE FRAME OR CONTROL ARMS!!!!!! to help fix a rubbing problem .... note I'm not trying to be a jerk but really I paid good cash for this ride and the best fix is GREASE come on ...the comments are not directed towards you just trying to make a point

 

Tainter is correct on this one.....call them what you want but the engineers call them progressive dampeners and the rest is all true.