Shocks and Intake/Exhaust

[Peter]

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since I've been here. Hope all is well. Everything is good here. I’m bringing my truck to the Hummer dealership in Cerritos tomorrow for service and I was thinking about having them install some new shocks and intake/exhaust.

I was looking at the Edelbrock Xtreme Travel shocks with remote reservoir and Ricor IAS (Inertia Active System). If any of you have these shocks or have driven a truck equip with them please let me know how these shocks work on and/or off road. This Ricor IAS function is supposed to give excellent ride on pavement and off-road… I wonder. If this claim is true it sounds great. I want "same as stock" or better off road handling but what made me think of doing this is because I want better on road handling. The h2 is such a flying brick on the highway if you have to pull a move to avoid a stupid driver with stock shocks it's a real handfull. It will be nice if those IAS shocks really work as well as they claim.

I’m not sure about the intake/exhaust, I was thinking intake, headers, and fat pipe to the rear. I would rather that my h2 be quiet but I want some more zip, also a little better gas milage would be nice too. I would like the tail pipe to be hidden up under the truck like the stock exhaust. The Airaid Air Intake seems to be good but I really have no idea. It seems a lot of people sell the short headers but there don't seem to be many long headers out there. Anyone here know what the difference is?

All comments are very welcome.

Thanks,
Peter

By the way: Do you follow Formula 1 racing? They’re at a new track in Bahrain today, pretty good racing. The race was live on SpeedVision early this morning but they usually have a few replays the same day and the next couple days. Bahrain is desert and hot so breaking was tough, the front discs were bright orange coming into the turns. It was a pretty good race and a brand new track, check it out if you get a chance.

[Peter]

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since I've been here. Hope all is well. Everything is good here. I’m bringing my truck to the Hummer dealership in Cerritos tomorrow for service and I was thinking about having them install some new shocks and intake/exhaust.

I was looking at the Edelbrock Xtreme Travel shocks with remote reservoir and Ricor IAS (Inertia Active System). If any of you have these shocks or have driven a truck equip with them please let me know how these shocks work on and/or off road. This Ricor IAS function is supposed to give excellent ride on pavement and off-road… I wonder. If this claim is true it sounds great. I want "same as stock" or better off road handling but what made me think of doing this is because I want better on road handling. The h2 is such a flying brick on the highway if you have to pull a move to avoid a stupid driver with stock shocks it's a real handfull. It will be nice if those IAS shocks really work as well as they claim.

I’m not sure about the intake/exhaust, I was thinking intake, headers, and fat pipe to the rear. I would rather that my h2 be quiet but I want some more zip, also a little better gas milage would be nice too. I would like the tail pipe to be hidden up under the truck like the stock exhaust. The Airaid Air Intake seems to be good but I really have no idea. It seems a lot of people sell the short headers but there don't seem to be many long headers out there. Anyone here know what the difference is?

All comments are very welcome.

Thanks,
Peter

By the way: Do you follow Formula 1 racing? They’re at a new track in Bahrain today, pretty good racing. The race was live on SpeedVision early this morning but they usually have a few replays the same day and the next couple days. Bahrain is desert and hot so breaking was tough, the front discs were bright orange coming into the turns. It was a pretty good race and a brand new track, check it out if you get a chance.

[Peter]

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since I've been here. Hope all is well. Everything is good here. I’m bringing my truck to the Hummer dealership in Cerritos tomorrow for service and I was thinking about having them install some new shocks and intake/exhaust.

I was looking at the Edelbrock Xtreme Travel shocks with remote reservoir and Ricor IAS (Inertia Active System). If any of you have these shocks or have driven a truck equip with them please let me know how these shocks work on and/or off road. This Ricor IAS function is supposed to give excellent ride on pavement and off-road… I wonder. If this claim is true it sounds great. I want "same as stock" or better off road handling but what made me think of doing this is because I want better on road handling. The h2 is such a flying brick on the highway if you have to pull a move to avoid a stupid driver with stock shocks it's a real handfull. It will be nice if those IAS shocks really work as well as they claim.

I’m not sure about the intake/exhaust, I was thinking intake, headers, and fat pipe to the rear. I would rather that my h2 be quiet but I want some more zip, also a little better gas milage would be nice too. I would like the tail pipe to be hidden up under the truck like the stock exhaust. The Airaid Air Intake seems to be good but I really have no idea. It seems a lot of people sell the short headers but there don't seem to be many long headers out there. Anyone here know what the difference is?

All comments are very welcome.

Thanks,
Peter

By the way: Do you follow Formula 1 racing? They’re at a new track in Bahrain today, pretty good racing. The race was live on SpeedVision early this morning but they usually have a few replays the same day and the next couple days. Bahrain is desert and hot so breaking was tough, the front discs were bright orange coming into the turns. It was a pretty good race and a brand new track, check it out if you get a chance.

[PARAGON]

I have bought 2 sets of the Edelbrock shocks, not the ones you are looking at but the original ones. They are much, much better than any stock shock I have seen. I put a set on a '97 4 wheel drive Expedition and it made a huge difference in the ride. It dampens differently depending on the speed of the bounce (to put it simply). I also put a set on my '99 F250 and it will make the front end settle down much better than stock.

I had ranchos on a Jeep about 10 years ago, but have not done ranchos since then.

[DRTYFN]

Formula One is the shiznits!!!

Ferrari 1 and 2!!!! Schuie 1st and Barrichello 2nd!!! Schuie is gonna take another title and so is Ferrari!!!

A few of my friends went to Bahrain for that race.
I'm thinking about going to the Shanghai GrandPrix in Sept. It would be fun to see the first F1 race at the track.

Here's a couple of the best F1 sites:

This one has the best news:
http://f1.racing-live.com/en/index.html

I like this homepage because it's got a cool countdown to each race.http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
http://www.formula1.com/

[KenP]

F!? Give me a break. Those little princess cars can't even bump each other without falling apart all over the track. And they have those little rice and lasagna engines whining like a two-stroke go cart. No thanks.

Give me big American V-8's, three wide at 190, bumping off each other, bump drafting, and victory by .08! Give me a race where the cars finish looking like they were in a demolition derby and still running. Give me a race where a driver can tag another one in the rear quarter and sneak by underneath in turn four for the victory. Retaliation rocks at the Rock. Bitch Slap at Bristol and the scary Big One at Talladega. Nervous cars entering turn one sliding on the exit to the wall and giving it a gentle tap with the right rear.

And.... did I mention entering turn three, three wide at 190, bouncing off each other...

Boogity...Boogity...Boogity...Let's go racin'. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[PARAGON]

Open wheel, stock car, dirt track, 1/4 mile, moto, APBA...if it has engines and it's racing, I like it.

[Peter]

Well I ended up going with the following setup:

Airaid Air Intake
The resident expert at the dealership recommended the Airaid Air Intake saying it would give me the best performance.

Edelbrock Headers
I went with the shorty headers because they bolt right on with no customization. I chose the Edelbrock headers because I like their work .

SMA cat-back offroad exhaust
SMA has a couple different exhaust sets but the one I chose is the one that has the tail pipe hidden up under the truck like the stock pipe.

Edelbrock Xtreme Travel Remote Reservoir Shocks
I went with these shocks because I like the engineering. Also a friend of mine has an H2 with these shocks and said he liked them.

While I wait to get the truck back from getting the new toys installed I get to test the performance of the Deville they gave me as a loaner.

F1 and NASCAR have some similarities like cars, drivers, and pit-crews, and the excitement, but the racing is very different. Both F1 and NASCAR are great! I love all racing.

Peter

[Klaus]

I used to like NASCAR, back when you could buy a car in the showroom that was at least reasonably close to what was on the track. It was great for the manufacturers to have to make and sell what they raced. Plymouth Superbirds and Talladega Torinos were a result of that policy.

Hell, now they race cars like the Ford Taurus as a rear wheel drive, but you can only buy a Taurus as a front wheel drive car in the showroom.

Sorry, but I'd like to see the "stock" put back in NASCAR. Maybe Chevy would then build a rear wheel drive V8 Impala SS again.

Race on Sunday and Sell on Monday was great for car buyers. Maybe one day that day will come again.

[Peter]

What about a software update? I noticed that SMA is pushing three performance kits. The stage 2 kit includes intake, headers, and exhaust. The stage 3 kit includes the same as stage 2 but adds what they call "Computer Software Upgrade". The stage 2 kit is supposed to add 34hp and the stage 3 kit adds 58hp. That's an additional 24hp! Do any of you know what this computer upgrade is/involves? I asked the service manager at the hummer dealership if I needed any computer reprogramming and he said no that the computer auto adjusts to the new intake/exhaust. What do you people know about this?

Thanks,
Peter

[Bevo]

Para,
Never thought I'd see or read APBA on here.... Love boats and used to race OPC Sport E, now its SST 60. There were a bunch of guys from Biloxi that we raced with all over the gulf coast. Tons of fun but gave it up when I went through a couple of boats in 1 year. Hard to keep up when your just starting to make your way in life. Nothing like a ride in a tunnel boat. Hard to explain the dynamics to people. think 85 - 90 mph down the straight and then set the boat for a turn with a 30 foot radius and come out of it at about 65 or 70 mph. Now thats some fun pulling lots of G's. Champ and F1 boats do the same thing only much faster... 120 - 130 down the straights. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[PARAGON]

I'm more familiar with the Deep Vs and deep water racing. Those little boats on big engines you race are little much for me. I don't think I would have the balls to try one. They do look like they are on rails in a turn. It's amazing how far to the edge you push those boats and one little hiccup hooks you or gets you squirrelly.

I have friend here that used to race (don't know what class). His was the Boatworks boat.

[KenP]

Bevo, when you say Tunnel Boats, do you mean those little ones with the co-pilot giving hand directions? If so, or if not, I think those little boats rock. Watching them shoot down a staight and then neck nap it back the other direction. Somehow that driver can understand the directions two or three turns in advance through all that noise and confusion. Wow.

The golf course community we are moving to is on a river. There is alot of marsh around it with natural canals. Whenever I am there and see that I think how much fun it would be zipping in and out of the turns. FUN.

Peter, get your computer reprogrammed. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Bevo]

Para,
Hooking a boat was really difficult to do. The three things you really had to worry about were stuffing the nose of the boat, barrel rolling it in a turn or blowing it over down the straight because of too much air under the boat. Here's a good image of a blow over in the making.

[Bevo]

KenP,
The boats that you're talking about are not even close to a tunnel boat. Most are jet drive v-bottom boats. Think of a MasterCraft with three center skegs and a jet drive. Fast and turn well but not like a tunnel hull. Here's a good pic of the class of boat that I used to race. 75 hp 3 cylinder OMC... boat motor and I had to weigh at least 650lbs and a top speed of 90-95 mph. The only difference between then and now are the enclosed cockpits made of kevlar and carbon fiber. The idea in my day was to be thrown away from the boat in the event of an accident. Not very fun hitting the water at 90+ mph. Now, you're strapped in, have good protection around you, on board O2, and the boat or the cockpit if it gets separated from the boat floats nose up.

[PARAGON]

The blow over is probably what I have seen happen most. I guess I should have not used the word "hook" since on cats that means "hooking" the front of the inside pontoon. I was referring to the rollover and how a little wake or something looks like it just grabs the boat and doesn't let go.

I generally like to try most things, especially involving motors. But those always scared the crap out of me. It's like why don't you just get on top of the outboard and ride it instead of fooling with a hull. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Hell, you're drafting only a few inches of hull, it might as well be an airplane. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[belezeebub]

Bah Pickel Fork Boats Suck there not stable, I'll take my 1977 Tahiti Speical any day 22.5 Foot Deep Vee, sure it sucks gas but I have pulled 5 skiers out of the water with it. and best off all it has a panther jet drives and 500CuIn Caddy engine.

[Bevo]

Great, can you do a 180 degree turn at 90+ mph within a 30 foot radius, pulling 4 + G's, stay in the boat, come out of the turn at 65 - 70 mph, and repeat for 20 laps?

[Bevo]

Para,
Blew over my boat in Beaumont, TX one time, knew it was going to happen as soon as I came out of the turn and hit the trim. Flew the boat almost 3/4 of the straight and couldn't save it... finally just gave up and let it happen. The worst crash I had was a barrel roll at the end of a long straight. Top speed, set the boat for the turn, lower unit puked and I was in the water about 100 yards from the boat. That one hurt!

[PARAGON]

Nothing like the drive going out at 90mph heading into a turn, that's some heavy-duty braking. I assume you would be trimming it in then and plus blowing a shaft or gear, the hull just sat down in the water and flipped it.

I've seen a couple going down the straight and it seems like the front is up for several seconds and you think, "why doesn't he just let up on the throttle some to drop the nose back?" and then some were obviously hit with a puff of wind and the pilot didn't have time to think much less try to save it.

[KenP]

Thanks Bevo. Now I know what you two are talking about. Darn boats are BAD. I've seen them on ESPN. It never ceases to amaze me how fast and agile they are. What a blast that must be whipping those little buggers around like that. HUMMM...