Hey all, please dont kill me... but I am looking for a cheap lift kit.
ok ok, i know you get what you pay for, and I ok i understand if you lift it cheap it could fail when you are off road and really need it... and so on.
But, I am sure like a few on here, I am just looking to lift the H2 for looks.

OK, maybe I should rephrase and say I am looking for the best 6 inch lift kit for the money or the cheapest money.
I dont need to spend 4000 on an off road setup when it really wont go off road. The most it might see off road would be the occassional curb hop as I am leaving a shopping center :-P

I know there are keys and spacers, and body lifts and so on.... but that isnt what I am looking for. I am wondering if this group could help me sort through the sea of products to help me obtain what I am looking for.
I look on amazon, ebay, and even just general google searches, but in the end i really dont know what I am looking at other than the price.
any help you can give me to guide me through to a good but cheap lift kit.
thanks

 

I forget which one but I think there is really only one out there that is not a one way street. In other words, on pretty much all of the true lift kits (not the basic leveling kits) except for that one brand for an H2 there is significant cutting of frame, transfer case, suspension mounting bits on the front that pretty much are permanent with no way to every put it back to stock. If not done very exactingly and correct you will also never be able to get an alignment correctly done either. So choose both the kit and who to install it wisely....

As you know though - "best" and "cheap" are generally not good terms to mix.

 

I believe you are thinking of the BulletProof kit. That is the only kit where one does not have to hack up the front diff and frame rails. All the others require significant modification.

 

For just a 6 inch lift?
I would have though for a seriously radical lift the kits would get more integrated and more hacking would need to be done?

arent these basically modified GM 1500 truck frames? I havent heard much about them having to hack up frames and such.

MixManSC, I figure if i do this, I am not going back :-P
and I agree cheap and best are not mixable, which is why i gave my please dont shoot statement :-P but yeah, just trying to get some elevation in the H2 since I am wanting to put some big meat on here. I saw on here someone put 40 or 42 inch tires on their h2, and i liked the look and would like to see how i can do it.
of course , an alignment is most needed since this will be a concrete commando.

does anyone know the guy that put 40 or 42 inch tires on his rig?

 

Common myth that still holds even today on the frame of these. The frame only has some similarities to the other truck frames in how a few bits mount and look. The frame is totally specific to the H2 and in some areas like on the front even heavier duty than a 3500 frame (probably due to the front winch mount which no other GM vehicle has). In the front it is similar to a 2500 though and rear is similar to a 1500 but only similar.
Hummer H2 Chassis description.

There are just not a lot of options that are not expensive or easy. I wish there was about a 3 to 4 inch kit. Its either a leveling kit or 6"+ lifts.

 

A 6" lift is pretty significant in my book. You're taking a factory vehicle and changing every angle of suspension geometry and various parts to have an end goal of bigger tires. Keep in mind, a lift kit is not all you're going to need.

To run tires that large you WILL need heavy duty tie rods, center link, reinforcements which are welded in and pretty much every part of the front suspension but in larger/beefier form. The stock 35s can snap factory tie rods like twigs offroad. Granted you said it won't be going offroad but the stock tires alone put a lot of stress on components let alone the tires you are wanting. I had to replace both from hubs on mine with only 78k on her. I can't imagine how it would tear through bearings and other suspension components with tires that large, especially as a daily driver.

 

LoJac,
Wasnt there a guy on Elcova, or maybe here, that had like a 2-3 inch key/ spacer lift and then he wanted bigger tires and put like a 4-6 inch lift kit on his H2....?
If I remember correctly, since it was 4-6 inch, the kit didnt require any cutting (given I didnt realize 6 inches or more required cutting, I thought they were all bolt on), and then he just tweaked the keys and spacers to raise the now 4 inch to 7 inches....

I think it was something like that.... I am positive I read this, just could remember who it was or where the thread is

 

Maybe he did a "leveling" kit with a 2 or 3 inch body lift?

 

I think you are correct Mix, pretty sure he did the keys and rear blocks with a body lift to fit larger tires.

4" on just keys would be pushing it. I raised my front about 3" with the green keys and my angles are pretty severe at my tie rods. It's to the point I've actually been considering cranking the keys down a bit. I just noticed last week after the last alignment, the adjusters are maxed out on both sides and the wheels don't look completely vertical.

 

Yeah 3" is really the max on keys and is pushing the limits in my opinion. I plan on doing mine and keeping it around 2" or so and have been thinking on trying to do maybe a 1.5" body lift. There are also gotcha's on body lifts of course too. Go too much and then you run into needing to extend your steering shaft, cooling system things can become misaligned, some wiring might need extended, etc.