"legerwn: I am assuming you installed aftermarket keys up front, right? If so, how much lift did you obtain up front? Did you replace your stock shocks up front for longer ones, or install shock bracket extensions for continued use of your stock shocks, or neither? If you raised the front end and left the stock shocks alone, I wouldn't think that the "abrupt thump" you feel over RR tracks is the shocks bottoming out, but rather the UCA hitting the bump stop prematurely. Kyle at Cognito says that the aftermarket UCA restores "DOWNWARD SUSPENSION TRAVEL" which sounds like what you may be needing"

I installed the Supreme Suspension keys in front with shock extensions along with their 2" lift blocks in the rear. I don't remember the exact lift numbers but I would say I have around 2.5" up front.

Keep us updated on what info you get form the other shops,

Neal

 

Years ago I thoroughly read through the install instructions for the major brand lift kits out there. The main draw to Bulletproof was not cutting the front diff. Especially now if you've seen the cost of a front diff housing, you'll pay with a kidney if you ever blow one up. If I recall correctly, the frame cutting is very minimal still compared to the other brands and was not significant enough to lure me away. My main problem was I still wanted to fit in the garage which greatly limited me.

 

Funny you talk about not fitting in the garage. In all this discussion, that is the one variable I haven't mentioned in my case. I have about 6" clearance in the front of my H2 roof when I am pulling into the garage, but only about an inch and a quarter in the rear. I really want to be able to keep my rig in the garage, and I am hoping that with only 2.5" or so lift on the front and an inch in the back, I can continue to keep it inside. How you ever got your rig into the garage with the Stealth Gobi rack is a mystery to me and I am jealous! I will have to buy a cover for my truck when I buy my Gobi rack, which is on my list. Getting your rig into the garage with a Gobi rack is the first reason I am jealous, the AC you have in your garage is the second reason I am jealous!

 

You're too funny. You are probably seeing my older unit. I removed that one and tried the wall mounted swamp coolers, bad idea. Ripped that out and installed a huge in wall AC unit which runs on 230volt feeding off my downstairs heat pump. That thing pumps out about 48 degree air in the dead summer. It still fights the garage since it's not insulated though.


I actually had to let some air out of my rear tires to fit in the garage after the rear spacers were added. I'm thinking about doing 1" rear spacers and ditching the 1.5" spacers to see if clearance is better. I don't really want to air up and down the tires every time I leave the garage. lol

 

Hummin, I'm not sure if the camera has a night view or not but if it does and it is stuck in night view than it will look as yours does during the daylight.

I'll take a look at mine and see if it switches at night, if they do have night view then they will switch to black and white at low light conditions. This could cause the condition your seeing during the day (bright light). This switching is done internal to the camera and there is no way to resolve it without a camera change.

Is your picture the same in low light conditions?

Neal

 

Interesting theory and one I hadn't thought of. Thanks for the idea. I will check to see if it has night vision later in the day and let you know. I almost never have my H2 out at night and don't remember if I have ever noticed what the back up screen looks like at night. Another good idea I hadn't thought of. I will check these things out for sure. Thanks.

 

I went out and found a dark area to see if it looked like the rear camera switched to night view when dark, while I can't say for sure it does not look like it does. The picture is still in color and most every camera that has night vision that i have seen will switch to black and white when in low light conditions.

Neal

 

I also checked and it seems to me that the problem I am having is about the same whether it is day or night. Thanks for the suggestion though, I appreciate it Neal. I went to an audio video shop over the weekend and even though the guy there didn't claim for sure that the problem is in the camera, he did seem to feel that a new camera might fix the problem and give me a much better image. Only problem is, he wanted to sell me a $100.00 camera and some sort of "unlock" module for $350.00 and labor to run all new wiring from the head unit to the camera on the back bumper. When I asked him why I can't just cut the wires to the existing camera at the bumper location and splice in a new camera without paying to run all new wires from the back bumper to the head unit, he started rambling on about how the wires are "shielded" and I shouldn't cut them or try to install the new camera wires into the existing wiring harness that would plug into the factory connection at the bumper, yada, yada, yada. I am no car audio/video expert, but I am somewhat of a home security video expert and I can't see that installing a new camera in place of the existing one should be any sort of a big deal. I will do more research but I plan to eventually just unplug the existing camera from the quick connect plug at the bumper location and either use the existing connecting plug and solder in wires from a new camera, or maybe purchase a new quick connect plug and attach wires from a new camera and then plug into the existing plug at the bumper location. This will tell whether or not it was the factory camera.

 

The wires are generally pretty tiny to these sort of cameras but they can be cut and soldered just fine. Just be sure to seal everything up very well.

I think key will be finding just the right size camera that fits and excellent quality. Cheapest $5 Chinese camera will almost certainly not be the best quality of course.

 

Yep, I agree. I have no problem spending any amount of money for a good camera that fixes the problem and that is the plan now. I just could't buy into the story the car audio guy was giving me that you can't splice in a new camera, and must run new wires all the way to the head. Just another example of someone gouging a customer for profit I feel. For anyone having a similar problem, I will report back when/if I solve the problem and let everyone know what worked.