Hi all,

Bought a new H3 back in the summer. In July GM was offering the $1,950 rebate, plus 0% financing for 5 years, plus the discount the local dealer was offering, so I pulled the trigger and got a black H3 with the luxury package for about $34,000 out the door, tax title and liscence all included.

Had the front windows tinted to match the rest and threw on 18" black wheels with Bridgestone street tires. I'm saving the factory wheels for winter use.

Anyway...this web site has been a good source of info. What I've learned from experience:

Tried the 5-speed first because I love a manual, but the pedal location was physically painful (and cramped) compared to my 2001 Frontier, the clutch action felt weak and the shifting was notchy. Also noticed the engine felt much less refined compared to the automatic. A crying shame, but I ended up paying an extra $900 for an automatic transmission I originally didn't want. Too bad because the 4 speed auto really sucks the performance out of the engine.

Adding a performance intake and exhaust will help, but not much except in the opper RPMs. Go figure - GM puts a relatively low horsepower engine in a heavy pig and then tunes the motor for high RPM performance vs good bottom end torque. Above 4,000 rpma tuned H3 motor pulls pretty good. Too bad the automatic transmission keeps you way below that unless you mash the pedal. A decent manual transmission would let you keep the RPMs up at low throttle and make the thing much more fun to drive.

I did the Tru-Flow intake first and experienced the death rattle at idle. The red connecting boots they give you are too stiff and with removing the resonator box, a loud rattle occured at idle - unacceptable. The source of the noise is primarily between the air box and the tube that goes into the fender wall. But even eliminating that, you get a rattle at times.

Ditched the Tru flow system and bought the GM performance kit. They use the softer factory boots and the rattle is gone. Kept the Tru-flow filter and still use it in the box. Didn't consider the K&N system because of the intake roar from eliminating the air box.

Magnaflow exhaust: good price, great fit & finish. Easy install. Much more resonance in the cab than I expected from a Magnaflow system, but it quiets down very considerably after a thousand miles or so. Don't know if I would do it knowing how resonat-y it still is. Not much performance increase noticeable from it either vs the stock system.

PCM for Less upgrade - definitely do it. I sprung for the low-octane tune first. It was a great improvement, but I wasn't happy. Sent it back for the high octane upgrade and asked Kelly to tweak the tranny shifts to occur a little higher. All I can say is - buck up for the 20 cents more a gallon for premium and do the high octane tune. Big difference, especially over 4,000 RPM. It rips, and if I had the manual 5-speed would be genuinly fun.

Anyone looking for the best bang for a buck performance wise: throw a performance air filter in the factory box and get the high octane tune for the PCM. Anything else will be lots of money spent for little real gain. The money you save on the exhaust & intake will pay for many years of premuim vs. low octane fuel.

Cranked up the torsion bars to level it out - piece of cake and only slightly stiffer ride in the front. I'm going to buy the Bilsteins some time this winter for the front and have the front alignment checked. The tires I'm using now show no signs of unusual wear (yet)after a couple thousand miles.

Finally, rust-proofed the whole underside myselfwith spray on rubber coating. There's so much visible exposed frame on an H3, I just pictured it rusting in a few years and looking like crap. Definitely worth the time & effort to cover/remove what you don't want painted.. The whole frame and

 

Hello and welcome, I think you have the record for the longest single post from a new member ever!!!!! We will need pics. [sm=Flahssssss.gif]

Good luck on that bug deflector, cuz I've never seen one yet?

 

Almost forgot, T bar adjustment does not and cannot effect the ride. The T bar tension does not change when symply reorientating the adjustment bolt over stock, what you did was change the stock shock dampening range and you will be fine with the new shocks you are looking to get in the future. Shock extensions with stock could help, but the Cognitos are the way to go. Enjoy the forums.

 

Nice post, and welcome!

 

Welcome!