Leveling H3

After looking at my front suspension I am thinking it may be possible to just reindex the tosion bars in the lower control arm and gain the same 2 inches as the kit gives you. I'm aware I will have to reset my camber and toe but it has to be better than it is now. Mine is sitting on the bump rubbers. (lux non offroad suspension) anyone ever try it . As I do agree cranking up on the bolts is not the correct eay to do it .

You can turn the adjustment nuts clockwise to raise the H3. I personally turned them each 1 3/4 turns for each side as did one of my friends. He actually went 2 full turns for each. After you turn them 1 turn, you start to notice a little more bounce to the front wheels when going over bumps, but it's very small. I didn't readjust the camber or anything and i've driving over 1000 miles like that. I haven't seen any different wear then normal, but that's just me.

reindexing the torsion bar in the lower control arm won't do anything, since you'll have to take off the adjuster keys to get the torsion bar out, then you're right back where you started. truning the stock keys has helped most people level out their vehicles, and it won't be a warranty issue if something were to break in your suspension. the offset adjuster keys are the only way to get additional lift with everything else remaining stock.

as for alignment after the fact, it's necessary. if you push up on the control arm, you're bringing the bottom of the tire in closer to the vehicle, and you'll wear out the outer edge faster than normal. or, you could just drive over granite boulders and rip off lugs from the tire surface, then you won't notice as much.

I think I'm going to crank my torsion bars this weekend, I'm sick of having my truck look like its ready to plow the front end into the ground!

How many turns should I go? 2, 2.5....?

Also, I know I'm jumping all over this thread (sorry!) but how did you raise up the front end so that you can crank the t-bars? should I just have one front wheel up on a ramp or something, or is there a place tha I can use the factory jack to lift it so there is no strain on the suspension?

to do it correctly, just put a jack under any part of the frame to lift it, taking pressure off the front wheel. i'd start slow, with 1 1/2 turns, see how it looks, then go more if necessary.

I guess I misunderstood the question. Thanks for clarifying it. DOH!

You don't need to raise it at all. A 10 year old can turn those things. All you need is a socket wrench with a 1 1/16 socket. They turn very easily. I would not go beyong 2 complete turns. I turned it 1/2 way at a time, went for a drive to get it readjusted, then came back and did another half turn. Mine are 1 3/4 on each side right now. That almost did the trick. I wouldn't push it if I were you. It's not the right way to do it anyway, but it works, and you'll be happy with how it looks afterwords.

i'd recommend that you get an alignment though. anytime you change the way the suspension handles the front end it's a good idea. cranking the adjustment keys pushes up on the control arm, and now that i think about it, that pushes the bottom of you tire out, not in, so you'll get uneven wear on the inside, not outside. either way, and alignment is a good investment, cheaper than tires.

quote:

ORIGINAL: shortbus

i'd recommend that you get an alignment though. anytime you change the way the suspension handles the front end it's a good idea. cranking the adjustment keys pushes up on the control arm, and now that i think about it, that pushes the bottom of you tire out, not in, so you'll get uneven wear on the inside, not outside. either way, and alignment is a good investment, cheaper than tires.

if I take it off some sweet jumps, does that count? j/k, I'll get an alignment after I give the suspension to settle

Thanks guys! I'll take some before after pictures :)

do any of you have the offraod suspension package ? If so look at the t bar and see if it has this part number on it .
T bar LF 0393346 ZJ

quote:

ORIGINAL: shortbus

i'd recommend that you get an alignment though. anytime you change the way the suspension handles the front end it's a good idea. cranking the adjustment keys pushes up on the control arm, and now that i think about it, that pushes the bottom of you tire out, not in, so you'll get uneven wear on the inside, not outside. either way, and alignment is a good investment, cheaper than tires.

I agree, but to be honest, I'm going to use it as an excuse to buy newer, bigger tires. This way when I say "Honey, the tires are really bad, I'm going to have to buy these really fancy $300 ones" she won't have a problem with it

but what if she reads the forum? now that we've got maybelline ads, this site might come up while doing a search for "good housekeeping" or "vogue", or some other shtuff . . . . .

WHY DO WE HAVE MAYBELLINE ADS ON A HUMMER FORUM? YOU CAN'T USE IT ON THE TRUCK . . . . .

See THAT'S the advantage of buying a car your wife loves: You get to spend money buying all the toys for it and she actually wants you to!

Now, when I buy my 2009 Camaro, that will probably change, seeing as she thinks it's the ugliest car known to man.

JLock,, I did 2-3/4 on mine last Nov. 2 turns is alittle over a inch raised. Mines about almost 2 inches. Its still not quite level , but Im satisified with the look and more important, My 315's have plenty of room . I put my H3 on our lift and checked front end specs in August,, not enough out of spec to mess with, but I was using our late model dirt stock car equip. to check it. I have a small amount of crowning on my 315's due to being mounted on the stock rims, so I couldnt get exact measurements , but again, they were about right on... Make sure you use a sharpie or something to mark the bolts and the surrounding plate with a line to you can see how many turns you do. I used a floor jack and raised both front end tires at the same time (crossmember behind skid plate ) and turning them was a breeze, but you can probably just turn them on the ground too as stated in the post above mine. Let us know how it turns out. See ya,,


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I am trying to get the info on the offroad suspension vs regular lux..

quote:

ORIGINAL: jlock71

do any of you have the offraod suspension package ? If so look at the t bar and see if it has this part number on it .
T bar LF 0393346 ZJ

there is not difference in suspension on any of the h3 packages. Only difference is the adventure off road package comes with different shocks...that's it. Everything else in the suspension is identical!!! Basers can fit 35's the same as adventure package can.

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

You don't need to raise it at all. A 10 year old can turn those things. All you need is a socket wrench with a 1 1/16 socket. They turn very easily. I would not go beyong 2 complete turns. I turned it 1/2 way at a time, went for a drive to get it readjusted, then came back and did another half turn. Mine are 1 3/4 on each side right now. That almost did the trick. I wouldn't push it if I were you. It's not the right way to do it anyway, but it works, and you'll be happy with how it looks afterwords.

Mike, there is absolutely no adverse effects on anything in the suspension by cranking the t-bars....none! you'll notice a more harsh,firm ride if you over crank just because you limiting the amount of travel left between your bumpstop. Do a search on here I posted an article written by a t-bar company that explains everything there is to know about t-bars and how it won't effect anything by turning them. Personally I have my left side turned 3 times and my right side 2 1/2 turns to even it out.

I did 2 1/2 turns on each side with the truck on the ground, took about 5 minutes to do. It raised the front a little over 1 1/4 inches at the center of the wheel opening with it's relatively heavy SMA brush guard. Note that if you do this on the ground you will have to drive your truck a few feet before you can measure the actual rise.

Now it looks and sits about as level as I wanted it to (perfect). In my opinion, the ride is actually little bit softer, maybe because of the slight added travel before the front end contacts the bump-stops? In any event, it seems to float over big pot holes a bit better than before. Otherwise, I haven't really noticed any change in ride, handling, or steering. (We'll see for sure at the next Auto X event that we enter. )

This slight free change in "Altitude" changed the whole "Attitude" of my (wife's) truck!

Hey Shortbus, does the same go for the H2?

threadjack/update on my t-bar situation: I cranked em yesterday (drivers side 3, pass side 2) and I can appreciate the new look of the raised up front, but I was kinda hoping for more.. and I don't want to crank them anymore because I can't really afford anything going wrong on my rig. One question though... why is my passenger side fender about a half inch higher than my driver side? Do the t bars affect the opposite side of the truck or is my rig just doofy?

could somebody post a picture of the t-bar?

Torsion bar Looking forward (Driver's side)



Torsion bar engaged into control arm of front suspension



Adjustment bolt (I think a 25 MM bolt..CW to raise front end)



Top of adjusting bolt in torsion key..




Are these kinda like what you meant by pictures of the T-bar?

its easy to find, lay on your back, its under the back seat area of your truck, pointing downward from the frame (facing the ground). Its a big hex bolt that looks exactly like the one that the wrench is on in dennis' pictures. its a 1 1/16th inch socket that fits it if I recall correct.

Why is one side slightly higher than the other??? I even over adjusted my drivers side to try to raise it up a bit more to equal it out... :(

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dennis

Are these kinda like what you meant by pictures of the T-bar?

Perfect!! Thanks!!!!!

I did mine 2 1/2 turns left and right. much better looking and the ride is also better , I was getting alot of bump steer befor I raised it ,Prob because they sit on the bump stops. Thanks Guy's