Looking to buy an H2. Any advice? 03’ vs. 06’

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06-16-2018, 08:31 PM

Dlh1228

Junior Member

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Join Date: Jun 2018

Posts: 4

Looking to buy an H2. Any advice? 03’ vs. 06’

Hello, I am new to the forum and I am currently looking to purchase an H2 within the next week or so. I will be using it as a secondary vehicle mainly for just hunting and fishing trips, and towing a Toy Hauler to the sand dunes. I Only want to keep my spare tire on the outside so I don’t lose all that storage space however, both of these have the spare on the inside. Is it a pretty simple conversion if I just buy the spare tire carrier?I have two potential vehicles that I am going to look at within the next few days. One is an 03 and one is an 06. They are both the same price. Are there any major benefits/changes to the 06 model year over the 03? Any specific things that I should look for that are known to be problematic? Any help is greatly appreciated.

06-17-2018, 11:12 AM

LoJac963

Senior Member

Join Date: Jul 2011

Location: Surprise, AZ

Posts: 2,357

I would buy the 06, some odd ball changes were made from the beginning years like the side view mirrors and other small items. Also would depend on mileage, if the 03 has a huge difference in miles then I would go that route.

Moving the tire to an external carrier is simple I guess. There are I believe 2 holes in the lower metal bumper with threads welded to the rear, there is also a large hole through the bumper for the wiring harness to pass through for the license plate light. Not to mention you would have to find an external carrier and latch which can be hard to come by and when they are found pull a premium money wise.

Anything is doable with enough money. I will say, I only use my 2 for shooting trips so the rear is loaded with steal targets, dueling tree, and various other target stands and room is tight. With as huge as these things are there isn't much room back there with or without a tire imo.

I removed my rear tire carrier because it is such an annoyance to open every time to get in the rear. I ended up just buying a nice plug kit and portable 12V air compressor in case I run into an issue. I no longer have a spare physically on my rig.