Did the torsion today

[blindzebra]

I cranked the torsion bars 3 turns today. Soooooo easy and a $6 socket is all you need. The height from ground to bottom of fender went from 37.75 to 38.5. My ground clearance (ground to bottom of oil pan shield)went from 9.8 to 11 even. I've driven it alittle bit with no difference in the handling yet.

If anyone is trying to do it, use a 1 1/16 socket. Turn them clockwise, and don't forget to mark the bolt and base for reference.

[blindzebra]

ok I took it on a 60 mile trip and I can feel a few more bumps, but not that huge a difference. For the extra 1.2, I'm happy.

[Desert Dan]

I cranked mine up 2 turns. I gained almost an inch on the oil pan skid plate

I may go for 3 turns.

I marked the bolt with a dot from a center punch and the frame with a cold chisel.

I'll take it in to the dealer and have the alignment checked next week.

[HummBebe]

I started out at 2.5 turns. Had the dealer take it up to 3. I'm at 11 inches of GC with the 35's and UCP.

No noticable difference in handling, the ride at higher speeds is a little choppy.

Small sacrifice for GC. Plus it looks much better:D

[HIHUMMER]

Here is an idea of the difference the torsion bar adjustment can make. Both Mine (the yellow H3) and the other H3 have 33's. I think the dealer did about 3-3.5 rotations on mine.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i216/holliei/RCgroupshot2Small.jpg

[garnerbiker]

how much out of alignment is it after that?

do your lower control arms touch the bump stops anymore under normal weight?

looks good

[Anti-BlInG]

I adjusted mine 2.5 turns and have no alignment problems.......:confused:

[NEOCON1]

i went two turns and my bump stops just kiss on one side and the other is about 1/16 of an inch from touching ;)

[usetosellhummer]

this sounds like something i want to do. so start with 1 or 2 turns. Just have the truck strait or what. i'm a dj not a mechanic.

[NEOCON1]

you need to jack up the front so tires are in the air . the adjustment bolts are under the truck about where the rear seats are . i am very happy with 2 turns , 3 will get you a lil more wind noise . there is a thread with pix someplace .

[usetosellhummer]

so this is just for the rear?

[NEOCON1]

no its the front but the adjustment bolts are way back :D

[westhillsat]

I started out at 2.5 turns. Had the dealer take it up to 3. I'm at 11 inches of GC with the 35's and UCP.

No noticable difference in handling, the ride at higher speeds is a little choppy.

Small sacrifice for GC. Plus it looks much better:D

When we were in Moab and Bebe was coming down Main Street at night, with traffic in the way I thought she was an H2 since she has the marker lights :cool:

[westhillsat]

you need to jack up the front so tires are in the air . the adjustment bolts are under the truck about where the rear seats are . i am very happy with 2 turns , 3 will get you a lil more wind noise . there is a thread with pix someplace .

Glad I had the tire shop raise mine ;)
Two times, like brother Neo :D

[NEOCON1]

right on brother west :D :D missin the moab :( ;)

[blindzebra]

Anytime you do this, you do want to get the alignment checked. The toe in will be off and cause uoter edge tire wear. Just tell the dealer that it pulls to the left if you have less than 7500 miles on it and it's still free under warranty. As far as wind noise, I haven't noticed any difference, but I do have the halogens up there so there was always a little noise.

[usetosellhummer]

ok got it! I have a conection at the dealership so i will fill him in. Duh the the bars are for only the front!

[HummerNewbie]

...if you have less than 7500 miles on it and it's still free under warranty...

Not if you changed out the tires. Found out the hard way :mad:

[Bully13]

I'm just gonna say this and I don't care who reads it or whatever the f**k they get out of it.

I'm really glad my wife and I got our Hummers. I don't really care to go down to a shop to have it modified. I think it's more fun to try and do stuff on your own to see what happens.

As for me, I am having a great time and this forum and it's really a lot of fun to be a part of.

So if that makes me stupid - broke - trailer trash - a dyke (lol) - or anything else... so be it.

[Anti-BlInG]

Agreeeeeeeed, home-made is best. Spray-cans, home depot, and imagination...it works wonders.:cool:

[HummerNewbie]

I'm just gonna say this and I don't care who reads it or whatever the f**k they get out of it.

I'm really glad my wife and I got our Hummers. I don't really care to go down to a shop to have it modified. I think it's more fun to try and do stuff on your own to see what happens.

As for me, I am having a great time and this forum and it's really a lot of fun to be a part of.

So if that makes me stupid - broke - trailer trash - a dyke (lol) - or anything else... so be it.

You damn stupid broke ass trailer trash dyke!!!! :mad: ;) :D

[Drew Slothower]

I've had the bolts turned 2.5 times, and the dealer tried to adjust as well. It seems that the when viewing the truck from the rear, it leans to the left (even with an empty tank of gas).

It doesn't seem that many of you have this problem.. But mine is off about a 1/2 inch on the left. When viewed from the rear, it is noticable!

The dealer says that everything is within spec, but it is still leaning. They even did an alignment (found a slight pull to the left).

Any one have any ideas??

Thanks!

[Phil H.]

Mine is lower a full inch on the left in back and .75" in front. I cranked the left torsion bar 2.5 turns and it equalized the front, but the rear still sits .5" lower on the left. Obviously, the leaf pack isn't in spec. On the transporter, maybe they tied it down on the left side and cranked hard on the tiedown.

The dealer was saying the, "It's in spec" garbage with me, too. I ordered a new leaf pack for the rear and will install it myself and will let you know what happens. I plan on cranking the torsion bar back down once the new spring pack is on.

This is a small, easy problem to fix. The H3 is a very nice vehicle!

[Drew Slothower]

Thanks Phil - I look forward to hearing your results!

[NEOCON1]

Agreeeeeeeed, home-made is best. Spray-cans, home depot, and imagination...it works wonders.:cool:

right on brother

[Phil H.]

Oops. It's not as "easy" as I thought. To get the left hand spring hanger bolt out you have to drop the gas tank. Does anyone have access to a service manual? I'd hate to drop it and break something off.

Also, while I was crawling around under the H3, I noticed that while the part number for the two leaf springs are the same, they're also marked with an "L" or "R". On mine, the "R" is on the left and the "L" is on the right. Could someone else take a look at the bottom of their leaf springs and, if you still have the sticker on them, let me know if your "L" and "R" are on the correct sides? Drew, could yours be reversed too?

I live hundreds of miles from a dealer and can't look under new ones.

Thanks!

:)

[Phil H.]

I just found out that the gas tank skidplate can be dropped without the gas tank coming with it and the tank has a molded clearance groove to remove the spring hanger bolt. Cool! I'll let you know what happened and if it really works that way.

:D

[Desert Dan]

Phil H

I think my rear springs may be reversed also? I'll check the tags and bar code stickers if the are still there.

My H3 leans to the left when looking at it from the rear?

[Phil H.]

I dropped the gas tank skidplate and sure enough, there was a clearance groove molded into the tank so the spring bolt could be easily removed. I swapped the springs, which were indeed marked differently. Here's what I found:

Right leaf pack part #15278386 RPN 1126

Left leaf pack part #15278386 RPN 1076

I got everything tightened down, lowered the H3 and voila! It STILL sits 1/2" lower on the left (although that's better than it was). I'm going to wait for the replacement pack I ordered and install it, as long as a left spring shows up.

I'll keep you updated.

[Drew Slothower]

Phil-

I only have one sticker left. Not sure which are the part numbers, but here's all of the identifying info on the sticker. It's on the driver side:

0457945

leafspring R 8386

P137053
01/13/06 @ 09:42:03

What are your front height measurements? Is the suspension off there?

-Drew

[Hummer3]

I just checked my leafs and the one marked R is on the left and the L is on the right...

[Desert Dan]

I only have one sticker left too.

Looking from the rear of the H3 the left spring has a sticker thats say "Right"

My torsion bars are marked correctly right and left.

I can't believe that many people wouldn't know right from left?

Could it be the springs are put on the frame when it is upside down??

[Phil H.]

My torsion bars are marked "L" and R", too, and are on the correct sides.

I looked at some new H3s on the trip I just returned from and found that every one I looked at had the leaf springs marked "R" and "L" on the correct sides.

Maybe there are more than a few of us with the springs reversed?

[NEOCON1]

some of the guys must of been looking from the front and some from the rear when they attached them to the frame :eek: i guess they finally got everyone to face the frame from behind :p :D :D

[Hmmm2]

This probably sounds dumb, but can you view the stickers on the leaf springs WITHOUT going under, or without lifting it? Of course, mine is still at the dealer while they TRY to figure out the problem .. but I'm wondering if when the leaf springs were put at the factory, if they either judged left/right while looking from the front back? When I get mine back, I want to try to find my stickers, or, at least take a look while it's still at the dealer and ask them. Does anyone think it makes a difference being in reverse, if they are in reverse?:eek:

[NEOCON1]

you gotta get under there part way . just checked mine and they are right on left and left on right :rolleyes: maybe some were done while upside down ???????????????????????????????????? who knows :eek:

[lance-n]

my leaf springs are left on right and right on left, too. :confused:

i'm just glad they aren't both lefts or rights!!!

[Phil H.]

I received my replacement leaf pack today. While the part number matches, the RPN is 1416, which doesn't match anything. Obviously, the RPN isn't a left-right number stamp like I thought. It's probably some production number or something.

GM's parts system shows only one part number for both left and right rear springs. Maybe the left and right stickers are to entertain the assembly line workers and it doesn't matter which side they're installed on (leaf springs, not torsion bars, that is).

I'm going to install this new pack anyway and see what happens.

[KJS]

I guess I suck at searching, trying to find a thread with a pic or two of exactly where at and which ones to turn! anyone help a newb out w/o being a smatass lol! And its clockwise right too?

[StarsnBars]

The bolts are right under the driver and passenger seat area. You will see the T-bar running down to the cross member from the front. The bolts are located in the cross member If you lay down right at the front -back door pillar you will be right were the bolt is. Jack front end up with floor jack right in the middle. and turn each bolt (clockwise) 2-1/2 turns. I used a sharpie to mark bolt and metal around bolt to keep track of how many turns. Drop jack and go, See ya;)

[Drew Slothower]

I found this in the Colorado forums:

http://www.coloradofans.com/viewtopic.php?t=30332&highlight=rear+lean

----
Basically, you do the same trick that was done on S10s to level the rear. Since your right side sits higher than the left I will use your truck as an example.

If you want the right side to sit lower like the left side, use a floor jack to lift the right side of the axle until the tire is about 5"-6" off the ground compressing the right leaf spring. Then you loosen the upper and lower bolts on the right-rear shackle. You will notice the leaf and shacke shift a little. Then re-torque the bolts and lower the truck. The truck should be more even now.

If you want the left side to sit higher to match the right side then you lift the frame on the left side using a floor jack until the tire is just off the ground to extend the leaf pack. Loosen the left shackle bolts until the leaf shifts then re-torque and lower the truck.
-----

Two questions -

Could this apply in the same way to the H3? If the shackles adjust, it may be enough to level out the rear.

If this is worth trying, what is the torque required on these bolts?

[Phil H.]

Like Drew asked, does anyone know what we should torque the shackle bolts to?

Thanks!