You have probably been asked this a million times but i know nothing about H1 hummers but I'm interested in purchasing one with low miles.

I know a lot of H1 Hummers have been beat up and used and it all relative to the wear and tear of that specific vehicle but are H1 Hummers as a whole reliable well designed vehicles that don't constantly need "this" or "that" replaced. I know the vehicles themselves are tough but is the electrical and most of the mechanical parts hold up over time or is it a vehicle your constantly dumping money into even at low mileage? In other words are H1 hummers practical vehicles or do you take the good with the bad and just plan to spend money on repairs and maintenance?

Also are h1 parts hard to come by these days?

Im new to this forum so your guidance would be appreciated

 

Parts aren't that hard to come by. H1s are relatively simple to work on. As stated keeping maintenance current is a big deal. Also the latest model Hummer is now approaching a decade old. 10-20 year old trucks require more maintenance than newer vehicles. They are solid and designed so that 20 year old young men can work on them in the middle of nowhere but they do require work. Many mechanics will shy away from working on them because they don't know how easy to work on they really are. GM 6.2, 6.5, 6.5TD or 6.6 Duramax diesels with either a TH400, 4L80E or Allison transmission. Millions of each put in passenger car, vans and trucks through the years.

 

Almost all the drivetrain parts are easy to come by. The Internet is my MAIN source of finding what I need. Hummerpartsguy.com is where I go to get hummer specific things. All motor parts I cross reference in order to buy from my local parts retailer. 3hummers, correct me if I'm not totally right here, but the motor is one designed for the GM vans. I have bought several parts that don't crossreference to the C/K trucks but do cross reference to the 3500 vans. eBay is a good source too. From my experience and current wheeling terrain, the CV joints are the weak point in the drive train. I have found a company that sells the internal pieces for the CV joint itself. I can rebuild a joint for about $50 if I do it myself. Flashoffroad.com has a decent cross reference section that I actually keep bookmarked in my devices because I use it so much.

 

I bought one about 2 years ago and I'm loving it. I was lucky to have found a 97 in good condition with minimal repair needed. Upon delivery, the previous owner informed me that on the drive up, the heater core started leaking, so he gave me some cash for a replacement HVAC upgrade which I had a certified Hummer mechanic replace because it is pretty involved. Other than that, during the course of ownership, I've replaced:
- a rear half-shaft due to a torn boot (ripped it on ice driving through 4ft snow drifts)
- upgraded to HID projector headlights
- replaced a leaking trans cooler line
- replaced a seized HVAC blower motor
- a vacuum pump
- boost solenoid valve
- vacuum lines from the pump to the turbo
- turn signal switch on the steering column
- front brake pads
- performed all the routine maintenance like fluid changes and fuel filter changes.

It is actually pretty simple to work on. Don't think all of it is easy though.. there are some special tools required that you will find yourself having to purchase to complete some repairs. I have found all parts easy to come by, and I've used a downloadable H1 service manual to guide me in repairs and troubleshoot, as well as this forum and the HML Hummer Knowledgebase forum.

Before you buy, make sure you know of people or certified repair H1 centers in your area that can perform the work you are not comfortable with doing yourself and ask their prices.. it can be VERY expensive to have someone work on a H1, which is why most people do it themselves. Throughout most of my life, I haven't really done many repairs of my vehicles myself, but when I saw some of the prices for repairs on this thing, I decided to do the repairs myself which ended up being a good choice.. as long as you have patience and a guide or forums to help.

The most baffling problem to me was driving my H1 down the highway, and the truck completely died electrically when I turned for the exit ramp.. only the 4-way flashers and horn worked. After a week or two of searching around through all the fuses and electrical distribution schematics, I finally found under the hood on the electrical distribution block, a ring lug had corroded and broke off. I crimped a new one on and it started right up.

With any older vehicles, this is the type of stuff you might run into.