First off, I finally have an H3! We received it after someone drove it here from 840 miles away. It's a 1000x better than the crap I got rid of. It's nice having a hummer again!

That said, it rides a little soft & it's bumpy. I was under the impression the H3s were smooth (after reading a lot of reviews). It doesn't have the adventure package. I'm looking to just take out the bump & make the it ride smoothly. I couldn't care less about offroad.

I'll have to check if the shocks are leaking. It's dark here, so I won't bother until tomorrow.

When looking at brands, I won't touch Bilstein. I've had 6 of 8 fail from normal highway use. I'd be willing to buy Fox shocks (King doesn't seem to sell anything that will fit), but I'll even consider Rancho or anything else if the ride is good.

Are the adjustable Rancho shocks the best bet since I can hand adjust them?

These?
Front: Rancho RS999307 RS9000XL
Rear: Rancho RS999308 RS9000XL

Anything better for ride quality?

Thanks guys.

 

I love my Pro Comp ES9000s

 

How's the ride on the road?

I'm getting some reverberation into the seats right now & I feel expansion joints, along with what I said above. These took out all of that? I've love for a one stop shock that can just make this thing ride like an H2 (feeling nothing in the road, just like riding on air).

 

I drive mine all over the country to wheel with other Hummers. they work great on or off road. There are a couple of other guys that run them, and also enjoy them.

 

I just got these Fox shocks from Autoanything.com

Front - 985-02-009 (0"-2'' lift)
Rear - 985-24-048 (0"-1" lift)

 

ProComp ES9000s here and love the cushy on road ride and they do very well OffRoad as well, even though yous sound like it will never see any of that.

 

Yeah, those are the ones. I've thought about getting these. They were on my short list. I've used King 3.0 shocks (absolute monsters) on a truck & it went from a **** ride to smooth as silk on the road. That's what I'm looking for. I heard these were a little firm (you can feel rocks/expansion joints).



Thanks everyone. When I ask about ride quality, & I'm sorry to harp on this, but can you feel expansion joints & bumps (at any speed) when you're on the street/highway? I'm really looking for that "riding on glass" feeling.

The reason I'm being specific if that "good" to one person is "crap" to the next. If there's something qualitative about the ride, like "can you feel expansion joints," then I know I'm getting the right shock. Unfortunately, I can't try out new shocks & deal w/ "trying" to return shocks I don't like.

 

We installed Rancho RS9000XLs on our H3 several months ago and so far, I really like them. I looked at pretty much everything out there and read lots of reviews, but in the end my biggest concern was spending money on standard (non-adjustable) shocks and then realizing the ride quality wasn't quite right and then having to go through the hassle of removing everything and trying something else or just having to live with it. We do mostly highway driving but also occasional off-roading when we get a chance, so with the Rancho's I just adjust the dials and we're good to go. For me, spending a bit more for these was well worth it. We also got TOYO Open Country A/T II Xtreme tires installed at the same time. Truck rides better now then when it was new.

 

An H3 will never ride like an H2. Wheelbase, weight, tire size, different front and rear suspension geometry, etc.,

 

Yeah, those are some heavy, knobby tires. If the shocks provided a better ride with those, then I'm not going to be be too worried.

I'm leaning in that direction away from the Fox shocks because of that. I know fox will build an adjustable shock, but the price is very high. Same with King. Good quality parts, rebuildable, customizable, but very high cost.


Oh I know. I got a Ram 2500 to ALMOST ride perfectly (couldn't feel expansion joints, bumps, etc). If there's a will there's a way, it usually just takes a whole new suspension lol.

I mean in terms of ride quality. I know it's possible to make an H3 ride quality comparable to an H2, at least on the street; there's just a lot of work to do. Offroad is another thing...

The H3 only has 47k miles, but I see enough oil on the shocks to think that they are in need of replacing. There's also some cracked rubber (not sure of the term) rings on the top of the front shocks. Starting here & getting it right will let me know if I even need anything else.