What are the things you can do to an H2 to improve its off-road abilities without ruining the nature of the truck?

Basically, a lift kit would have pros and cons offroad (higher clearance = pro, higher center of gravity = con) it seems to me, and you'd risk ruining the ride quality and day-to-day niceness of the H2 (and if you did ruin those things, why not just get a jeep and jack it up, put in a 350, and join the clan?)

Extra armor/skid plating underneath would cost you a spot of clearance, and i'm not sure that it would ever be needed, its pretty shored-up down there (if not to H1 levels).

Better parts? stronger something?

Bigger wheels? rims/wheels?


Is any of this proven, or is it sold as "no, it really rocks, you'll love it" just like some other accessories?

 

the first thing i'd do would be replace the tie rods with something beefier. i'd recommend the fabtech ones. you've got pros and cons with lifts, i've seen them perform worse in snow than stock H2s, and i haven't gone anywhere yet that a lift would have really helped. the stock tires, BFG A/T, are pretty good, but for mud you'll want something more agressive. the BFG M/T is a good tire, but concensus for the best goes to the Toyo Open Country MT, if you can find some place that has them in stock. a front locker would be helpful in a few cases where you're crawling, but i can't say it's necessary for most things.

 

the lift kits are a little ... shady to me. i don't want to give up the "almost caddy" part of the 3 things i like about this so much, so i'm glad to hear they aren't a world-beating gain.

now, i live in the upper midwest, where we have snow 4 months a year... are the M/T tires going to be bad on slippery roads? the last thing i want to do is run somebody over because my offroad tires wouldn't grip the road. otherwise i think mud tires are a cool idea, although most of the "mud" that i'd typically have access too isn't mud, but soft sod (like in my pictures), and that's a different story. (farmers don't take too kindly to ripping through their tilled fields, so you're usually left to the swamps and stuff). But i suppose mud tires would be better in sod too, huh?

front locker by Eaton - i found this today. http://www.traction.eaton.com/prod1.htm is that one compatible with le hummus? i wasn't remotely traction challenged in any of my playing last weekend.


on a side note, i think alot of why the H2 is basically unbeatable in SCORE racing, and the movies from aftermarket-modded offroading places are all about trick type of stuff... you know, climb that big rock, whatever.

The H2... i cannot imagine that it has any peer at high speed offroading. We drove that thing faster than (i'd honestly wager, and i'm not trying to be inflammatory) any trick-aftermarket-vehicle could go. Theres... there's just got to be precious, precious few vehicles taht could motor down that mangled mess of a trail at 50 or 55 and not have any stability issues - indeed, the ride wasn't that bad, no need for the oh-shyte handles or anything.

And obviously 30" of ground clearance will do things an H2 can't do. different strokes for different folks...

 

nothing's "good" on icy roads, but i've heard that some folks like the A/T better in snow (never had them on the bus, went from M/T to Toyo). the most important thing is how well it cleans out of the tread. any tread packed with snow is just a slick . . .

 

I think these'll do.

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Whoops, sorry about that[sm=alcoholic.gif]

I didnt see the pic in the preview so I flipped and tried a couple more.

 

blizzac (blizzak?) tires are "good" on ice, and probably good offroad by virtue of the sticky rubber?

tread life goes straight to crap above 40 degrees or so, like a few days, and they are expensive,

i'll have to look into the M/Ts.

 

sticky rubber doesn't do anything unless you're on solid rock, like in Moab, UT or something like that. the M/T is a good option for both on and offroad, but i'd still recommend the toyo if you can find them, just my preference after having both.

 

i found a few toyo retailers nearby. from bf goodriches site, it looks like you pay a fairly hefty penalty in normal driving for going to M/T... but that isn't your experience?

 

what sort of penalty do you mean? i never had the A/Ts on the bus, when i bought it it already had M/Ts, then i went to the Toyos.

finding a toyo retailer isn't too hard, it's finding the open country M/T that's been difficult. they may have replenished the stock across the country, but they were on backorder for a while.