Originally Posted by HummBebe

Well I just heard from my rep at the 4 wheel parts shop. He called Bilstien, and they swore up and down that we do not have Bilsteins on our H3's.

He said the shocks are an up graded Monroe shock that they put the Bilstein name on.


How do ya like them apples??


Now I'm pissed.:rant:

Originally Posted by timgco

Bebe, I don;t have the truck here now, but I know for a fact that the bumpstops on your are higher thatn our. My guess is double of what ours rides at. The H3 is getting a new....well a few warranty things done. That suck you went through that many shocks. I did check and the Rancho 9000's that I have on there are the "zero height" ones.

That extender pic you posted is the Trux kit? Or is that what your local 4X shop did. When I saw the pic of what you had made from the threaded rod had me concerned on safety. If it were to come loose or break (the longer that rod, the weaker it will be when/ if it is felxed). Extending the other end I think is the safer/ beefier way to go. I like the last pics of that setup. I don;t think we need it on ours, but like I said, i think ours isn;t cranked up that high.

Originally Posted by HummBebe

Yes, thet is the one from the Truxx kit.

I also called ReadyLIFT, who makes a kit for the H3, though it is not on their website yet. They use a a stud extender, vs the clevis extender that Truxx uses.

Some others pointed out to me that I had assembled it incorrectly. One of the bushings needs to be on top of the shock tower. So if I put the hex nut extension on the pin first, thread in the threaded rod, then put the bushings on, then the lock nut, it will be stronger. (I can alway use a couple of nuts at the bottom to support any thread still showing at the base of the pin).

The top of the threaded rod should only be 1/3 inch above the lock nut on the top of the tower. (Having it tack welded or some locktight would keep it all in place?)

The torsion bar lift measures 24 1/4 from the center of the axle to the base of the fender. I am currently sitting at 22 1/4. (Stock RH is 20 3/4) An exact gain of 2 inches.

Tim, thanks for pointing out the bumpstop issue. Are yours stock? I know you had the lift on it, did they change those back to stock when they took it off?

The original measurements show that there is only 2.34 inches of travel in the 0" Rancho. The extender will hopefully prevent the shock from over extending, and if I adjust the bumpstops, that will keep it from bottoming out.

Plus I want to be sure that all the added weight from my H2O goodies doesn't cause any more shock issues, as all 4 of the breaks happened prior to the installation of said goodies.

Originally Posted by DemoDaddy79

can the H3 be modified easily to fit a standard shock type?

What I mean by this, is could we modify the way the shock attaches at the bottom, so that we could use a more common shock?