I took my H3 on its first long distance trip and although it rode smooth at 75+mph, it sure did have alot of sway (body roll), which is something I never noticed before.. Is this common and if so is there anything I can do to tighten that up some?

Thanks for any help

 

I just did the same... did not notice any sway... houston to padre isle and back...

 

I noticed my truck developed sway after a few months of owning it, turns out I had most likely worn out my shocks from too much wheeling. I put new bilsteins all the way around and the body sway/roll is totally gone at freeway speeds, it settles quickly and rides nice now. My factory shocks were about worn out at a little over 50k.

I don't think the previous owner wheeled the truck because it had the factory tires on it, but I think the amount of wheeling I did after getting the truck caused the shocks to give up the ghost.

 

Mine only has 13k miles and has never even been down a dirt road yet..

I did a google search and found something that says

Your stock H3 has an unneccessary amount of body roll given its weight and profile because of its stock Anti-Sway bar. This high performance sway bar reduces

but the link didnt work to find out more.

 

Dunno, the stock swar bars work fine for me. If you've got problems with your suspension settling at freeway speeds I'd say there's something more going on.

If you bound your front or rear suspension by opening the doors and jumping on the floorboards while holding the roof to get the suspension moving how long does it take to settle? When I had bad shocks it took a bit. If you don't have the adventure package the factory shocks are pretty soft, almost too soft for my taste. My new shocks give a lot more confidence and feel firmer when cornering and my bump steer is gone. When I was test driving H3's before I bought one I noticed all the non-adventure package trucks had bump steer from what I now assume is the soft street tuned factory shocks.

None of the adventure packages I drove had bump steer, and now my truck doesn't either with the new shocks. I can tell you for sure a quality set of shocks will help your suspension settle and ride better, mine rides like a Cadillac on the freeway now. From what I remember too, if you look around for the best price you'll be in for about the same amount of money for a set of shocks as you would that rear sway bar.

 

I just went and rocked it back and fourth and it took maybe 2 bounces before it settled.. I then went and did the same thing to my 1/2 ton dodge pick-up and it settled in about the same amount of time (2 bounces) BUT I noticed the Hummer felt alot sloppier, kinda like it had a little more sideways rock with the up/down rock.. Does that make sense?

 

Did anyone do a torcian bar crank on it? also when you say sway do you mean: the vehicle goes down the road left and right on it's own after a certain speed?

 

I did crank the torsion bars and then had it re-aligned.. However, I noticed a little sway before doing that but never had it on the freeway or above 65 until this past weekend so I never felt it as much.. Its more easily noticed at higher speeds and especially if the wind is blowing.

It kinda feels like a lose supsension that easily drifts and also easily rocks..

 

I really don't think you have anything wrong besides the factory non adventure package shocks not being the greatest. Sloppy is also basically the perfect word I would also use to describe the way the factory shocks ride.

Like I said, before you mess with a new sway bar I would put my money into new shocks. All a sway bar does is transfer momentum like bumps, etc from one side of a vehicle to the other for better on-road manners. A beefier sway bar won't make your suspension settle any better at freeway speeds, however it would probably translate to increased grip or "confidence" you'll be able to feel at the wheel when cornering, but that isn't your concern here.

A shock is what is going to actually dissipate the forces generated by cornering, hitting a bump, or simply driving down the road, not a better sway bar. Take it from me, my factory shocks got so bad I had my friend driving behind me on the freeway on the way to a wheeling trip ask me if everything was ok over the CB since my truck was having really bad body roll and it was taking forever for my suspension to settle down at freeway speeds.

New shocks fixed the above problem, and my bump steer instantly. Unless you're driving your Hummer around corners like a race car a better sway bar probably won't do much. I drove around with my sway bar unhooked and bungee'd up for almost a week once before I noticed something was amiss during a particularly tight corner.

 

It does seem similar to what your saying so maybe it is just the shocks.. I'll look into a new set and see if that helps.

Thanks for your help!!!!!!