Hey fellas i have had my h3 for a year now and love it. Been mudding in some amature trails and i am planning a trip down to north carolina where they do some more advance off roading then i am use to. My truck is basicly stock except the cai and cranked torison bars to level the truck out. I am on a low budget but have access to a shop and lift. What mods would you guys suggest i do to be more prepared for my trip south? I thought about new shocks and putting an exhaust on it.

 

1) Undercarriage Protection;
2) Rock Rails;
3) Tires.

In that order.

If you have those useless nerf bar steps, remove them.

 

tomsbeast87-
. . . and Doc is just being modest, he also makes and sells a great CAI for the H3
That should be on that list of his too.

The link

cold air intake systems

 

If you are going anywhere near rocks, stumps, trees, etc. DOCs list is spot on. Protect the belly first. If you damage the trans, motor or t-case you are going no where and the cost of fixing or replacing one of these is far more than the cost of a set of UCP.

 

lol I do have have nerf bars which i do plan to take off. and last time i had the truck on the lift it looked as if it already had skid plates to protect the motor and oil pan, i will have to double check the trans. I would love to find someone local to trade or sell my nerf bars for a set of rock rails. as far as tires go the ones i have are still 60% tread left and are fairly good in some rough stuff and good for the highway. I live in NY and i will be driving to NC so not looking to put on new off road rubber lol. So far i know i will be putting on a cat back exhaust, hopefully flowmaster. I will also be taking the nerf bars off. if i can sell the bars for some cash I hope to get a brushgaurd on the truck.

 

Ditto what the Tainter and Doc said.. I highly doubt that you will find someone to trade you rock rails for your nerf bars, but good luck on that. Unless there is something wrong with your shocks, that should be way down the list.. I have Goodyear Duratrac's on my H3, they are aggressive but quite on the freeway.. The stock UCP is better than nothing, but CBUCP is what you need. Any real quality mod is going to cost some money, no way around that.

 

That exhaust isn't going to do anything for your truck, except make it sound better. If you're looking for mods to get it ready for off-roading, then stick with what Doc said and skip the exhaust for now.

 

I will do this short and simple. H3s all come with a front splash guard and an oil pan skid plate up front, and a whimpy transfer case shield further back.




As an option, from GM (and through other aftermarket suppliers) you could get an Underbody Protection kit (UCP) that adds a cage behind the standard package.


Boullder Accessories made a UCP set, but is out of business. GM is not making its optional UCP, so unless you find one in stock, on Ebay, or used somewhere there is slim picking for UCP............. except, that thanks to CBPhoto, you can order a CBUCP set which modifies the GM design and improves it.

 

ok thanks a bunch fellas this helps me out alot.

Yea there arint many h3 around me so finding people with know how is hard to find lol. I do all the work to my truck myself and I am not a mechanic by any means lol. Thankfully i have some good friends that for a case of beer will help me work on my truck and use there tools and lift lol.

 

My question to you is why are you planning on driving so far to wheel? There are alot of good spots much closer to you. Not to scare you off, but if you are wheelin a stock rig in an area that far away I would definitely recommend a good assortment of trail spares, a winch, spotter, tow strap would almost be a must!