Hi! This is my first post. After digging through the web for hours and becoming frustrated, I'd thought I'd peek in here and ask the people that know

So my brother owns an H3 and wants to get it trail ready. It has rear lockers & he's currently lifting it to run 35s. This year he'd like to go with me & my Jeep buddies on the Rubicon. Although we know that the driver's skill tends to be the difference maker, we'd like to make sure his set-up makes it as easy on him as possible. Our biggest concern is the IFS & the limited articulation. We've also heard of & seen situations where the front wheels end up pointing in at each other when negotiating extreme rock obstacle like he'll see on the Rubicon. Although the latter seems unlikely, it's still a possibility & we'd like to be prepared for that situation. What portions of the suspension fail in this instance? A-arm, torsion bar, etc? We'd like to know what spare parts to bring. As far as we know, the IFS is really the only weak point on the H3.
Oh, and can the doors be removed easily?

So, in summary, we need to make the H3 Rubicon Trail ready. We know with a seasoned driver & good spotters, it can be done stock...but this will be his first run, so anything that makes the H3 more capable or stronger (IFS-wise) would be a great help.

Has anyone run the Rubicon in an H3? If so, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

i'll go against the grain with the assumption that you're not a troll and give you a simple answer. the weakest part is the part that breaks first, and if you and your "jeep" buddies will spot him properly, he can make it through the rubicon in his stock setup. i've only done half of it as i'm not interested in body damage and the bus is a bit wide for some parts of the rubi. but i know plenty of H3 owners that have made it through in stock setups, as well as H2 owners with bigger ***** than me. as for the doors coming off easily, i guess that depends on your definition of easy, but i've never heard of anyone doing that with the H3. as for spares, take whatever you and your buddies generally break, that should cover everything.

i've done Deer Valley, south of Tahoe, with stock H3s and, surprisingly, none of us broke anything. it's not quite the rubi, but it has it's moments.

good luck, and feel free to come back and post pics when the run is done.

 

Lol, thanks for not thinking me a Troll - I'm really not into that sort of thing. I'm about good trails with good friends. I don't care if you bring a lifted Yugo (well, that may be a stretch...lol), we just like to be prepared for all eventualities when we wheel. This is purely a fact finding mission to allay my brother's fears...and to protect his checkbook from needless upgrades.

Thanks for the info, shortbus & I'll definitely post pictures!

 

I have to agree with him... the H3 is pretty damn decent out of the box.... give it a chance and admit when you can't do something.... much better to go home knowing your shortcomings than trash a new ride....

 

http://www.samcofabrication.com/prod...products_id=49


..in all seriousness I heard the tie rods are a weak link ( relatively speaking )

 

You can break almost anything offroad. It just takes common sense and a little bit of skill. The more skill the less likely you are to have problems and bust something. I have 2 H3's and off road with a lot of H3's. The only H3 to break a tie rod during any of these trips was one owned by AM General while at Kinzalow's this summer. Climbing out of a creek, about 3 1/2 feet almost straight up over boulders and a tree trunk, very narrow. The tie rod broke after making this climbwhen the right frontwheeldropped off of a large boulder and "bam" there went the tie rod. You could hear it break. Other than a few flat tires that is it. The H3is a tuff truck and should do wellin any offroad environment with a common sense somewhat skilled driver.

 

definately bring some spare tie rods....they are the weakest link....articualtion is not horrible in teh h3 and shouldn't limit him at all. If this is his first real off roading...then taking him to the rubicon is kinda setting him up to fail...I don't care if he's driving a spider buggy.

 

tow strap. 2 shackles. base H3. Good to go.

 

If you are going to put 35s on it you are going to increase the stress on the tie rods. It would be a good idea to have a few spares. As I am sure you know the spares don't do any good if he doesn't bring the tools he needs to make the fix. I agree, the Rubicon is a little ambitious for a newbie in a new vehicle. I have a stock H3 Alpha ( stock 285 tires )and know lots of people that run the H3 hard off road. I usually am in one of my H1s but I can tell you that the H3 is a very good truck off road straight off of the showroom. I've done jeeps, K5 Blazers and Hummers and I would go anywhere in my H3. If your brother can drive he doesn't have much to worry about. Shortbus, did you go with THCI group a few weeks ago? If so was Ron there? I didn't see any pictures of his rig.

 

Thanks for all the great info guys As for his off-road experience, in the H3 anyway, it's mostly been mud-runnin' down in Houston. He plans to hit the off-road parks in Texas to put the rig through its paces on the rocks. He hasn't rock crawled in some time...not since running our dad's Jeep on the Coyote Lake Jeep trail out here in Cal...waay back when. Trust me, I've been suggesting all along that we start on some of the milder rock trails...and work our way up to the Rubicon. I think the abilities of one's 4wd vehicle is a double-edged sword. The more capable, the more empowered you are & the more you think you're invincible...which will always get you in trouble.
Again, thanks all for the help. Thanks for the link, mfish, I'll point him to it.