I am looking at getting to get a Hummer H1. I was looking for the 4 door hardtop, but the cheapest and most available H1s are the soft top. I live in North Dakota where it gets really cold. I was wondering if the soft top would be miserable going down the road in winter as this would be my daily driver if I get one.

Also I read on here a guy wanting to convert to a slant back. How hard would it be to convert to a hardtop 4 door from a soft top, so I could have that little bed area.

 

It would be far cheaper to by the 4 door hardtop than try to convert an open top. The 98 and up open tops have insulated tops and aren't bad. There have been some 4 door hard tops up for sale recently pretty cheap. Get what you really want.

 

I'm looking at getting an H1 as well. I don't mean to hijack this thread at all but any input on what to look for and what to stay away from would be great. What years were good? Did the engine very much from say 1996-2001? This would be the years I'm looking at for affordability.

Thanks again - oh and this is my first post!

 

Have to have a lot more information to answer your question. For example, in that year range you could choose from a :
5.7L gas engine
6.5 NA engine
6.5 turbo diesel 190hp/390 ft#/torque
6.5 turbo diesel 195hp/430 ft#/torque

How do you see yourself using the truck? Daily driver, little offroad, lots of offroading, highway driving? Do you prefer a hard top or open top? 97.5 and up has a better HVAC system. 99 and up has ABS and TT4. Gives us a little more to work with.

 

Thanks for the input. What is the engine difference between the 6.5L and 6.6L TD? Besides displacement and power. I thought the 6.5L was the AM General diesel and the 6.6L is the Duramax, is this correct?

I know I want a diesel, and prefer a turbo. From what I've seen for sale the 6.6L is a lot more expensive than the 6.5L. So I'm leaning towards the 6.5L turbo diesel wagon, or potentially a soft top and getting a slant back shell for it.


Hope this helps, and I'm looking forward to learning as much as possible before I purchase, so I make the best buy for my dollar.

 

6.6 was a typo on my part. Corrected now. It is a later model 6.5 TD with a little more torque. Both the NA motor and the TD have a top speed of 83 mph but the TD motor will get there much quicker. The NA motor is simpler ( no turbo, wastegate, PMD, etc ) Main thing is get a truck that has been maintained. Seems that many people sell when it is time to make a big repair or do a 12000 mile maintenance service. As long as the trucks are maintained they aren't too bad but there are too many stories of someone buying a truck only to find out that it has lots of deferred maintenance. If you know someone with an H1 get them to look it over for you. If not spend the $100.00 and get a dealer to check it out for you.

 

Where are you located?

 

I'm in Vancouver Canada. I have read about maintenance being an issue with these 6.5L diesels. I've also read that some of them are prone cooling problems, something about some cylinders running much hotter than others? Like I said earlier, I'm just starting to learn about these trucks. I've know the basics, and how incredibly capable they are, but I need to learn the little things that keep them running. What is involved with the 12000 mile maintenance service?

This will be my daily driver and overlanding rig, I'm not to concerned about fuel economy, the vehicle I have now is pretty bad as it is, and I don't have a huge commute to work either.

Thanks

 

12000 mile service is mainly fluids and filters but it involves checking most everything on the truck for wear. Injunfarian is in Canada. Might want to PM him.

 

hey 3hummers, you appear to be h1 authority but i dont know if this is your area but im looking in december to buy a surplus humvee...do you know anything about the gm 6.2L turbodiesel?