i bought a 06 h3 always been parked in the garage and never been off road not a spot of rust because colorado i ripped the whole suspension out rebuilding it everything new rebuilt front axle put timken bearings in u joints cyclinder head everything trans next i sold my new car with payment sold that this h3 i will keep for the rest of my life love it
wow dedication! The more i get into this beauty the more i appreciate what a fine machine she is :D doing timing chain soon here and some other things. Also going to make sure to record full video on transmission rebuild, mine hopefully lasts that long lol it's not in good health ..
I'm the very happy owner of an 09 w/Adventure (front+rear locker in 09/10) & rare 5 spd manual. It's been a very fun vehicle to own. I bought mine in 2018 with ~65K miles on it. Now have about 115K miles on it and it still runs fine, just requires maintenance and occasional parts. Tips: The non-adventure tire size 265/75R16 is best if you want good highway performance (higher mpg and low noise) and want a dedicated set of winter tires as you won't find many offerings in larger sizes. SL load tires will ride better and roll easier for road use. Only select aggressive LT tires if you're going to take it on really rough trails. Up to 315/75R16 will fit (I run this) but it's very hard to keep the vehicle in alignment with this size (the forces like to pop the UCA's out of position) and it's hard on power and fuel economy (I get 14-15mpg in town and on highway with big aggressive tires). You can get 18-20mpg in these with mild SL tires. The OE wheels are best for this vehicle as they have the proper offset to tuck the tires into the wheel wells and reduce bump steer by placing the scrub center where it belongs. I would suggest getting rid of the aftermarket rims and seeking out all-OE rims for this vehicle for the best handling characteristics. I would recommend replacing the steering rack mounts with a heavy duty upgrade from MMW or outfitter design. This will help keep the rack from shifting when you hit something hard, keeping the vehicle in alignment, it also stiffens up the steering a lot, making it easier to handle on the road.
excellent advice, especially for replacing the steering rack mounts / tie rods with the heavy duty ones, there's a lot of videos online of these oem ones snapping going over very small obstacles. I am currently getting 200 miles per tank with these 33" knobby tires, horrible! but i feel there are also other things at play like engine compression, pcv, etc I must add though, having the adventure package with front AND rear lockers is pretty amazing, hard to find up here, and i've never actually seen a manual in person before, definitely a unicorn worth keeping :D At some point i'll be adding the rear lockers to this one and making a video on the conversion
@@bloodyKnucklesGarage Yea if you're only getting 200 miles per tank something else is wrong. I'm usually approaching 300 miles when I fill up and running 315/75R16 STT Pro. I also have all the Swartzy skids/slider, and the leaf spring shock mount relocation skids, and a 10K synthetic winch. If I can't drive over it I can drag over it.... The F+R lockers are indeed nuts. I've had it on some very challenging "roads." Lookup Wheeler Lake, Chinaman Gulch, EagleRock, Suran Wrap, China Wall, Metburry/Hackett Gulch, Holy Cross (broke CV at french creek, replaced with spare and continued to city, did not make any attempt to go up the cliffs beyond)... I've done some of these multiple times.
I also just purchased a 2006 Hummer H3 in red a few months ago and I’m enjoying it!! Need to do a few things on him like brakes, rotors, bushings, and a few other things… it’s going to be fun! Thank you for your videos!!
I just picked one up myself. Very fun on trails so far! Still trying to get the smoke smell out from the previous owner! YUCK! and I have some loose (popping noise) in the front suspension but all in all it's great for what I paid for it. Not sure if I want to just have fun with it till it breaks or if I want to go down the money pit rabbit hole of making it new again. Time will tell.
definitely fun! if you can do some repairs yourself and source parts from somewhere like RockAuto it won't hurt the bank account too much, after that it's just finding time here and there to work on it. i've had a couple vanilla scented tree hangers in mine for a while now, finally got the wet dog smell out (i think) goodluck! happy wheeling!
@@bloodyKnucklesGarage Yep, I've used a whole tub of cleaning wipes, sprayed 90% of a large can of Ozium and opened up 6 New Car smell trees, stuffed them under the seats, left the doors open for the day and it still smells to high heaven like I haven't done a thing. lol YUCK!
seems like once I get everything fixed it'll be pretty decent! Poor things have been abused and driven into the ground for the past 18 years LOL needs a little TLC to get back into shape
Ciao dal Canada amico mio! is your hummer difficult to drive on the roads there? are they wide enough? i would guess the main roads are fine but smaller towns might be a smaller?
@@bloodyKnucklesGarage No no no no problem.... Consider that h 3 is not that big. Italians love luxury SUVs, here there are rangers rovers Gle Q7 Q8 which are much bigger than me and expensive. But do you want to know the truth when they see my h3 they are all curious because in Italy there are very few of them. Have you never been to Italy?
I’ve had my H3 for close to 6 months first car I’ve ever owned I love it , not as pimped as this one but maybe one day it’s got 183,000 miles I don’t know if I should put money into it (lift kit new mirrors side steps etc…) I’m worried about reliability issues and then not having the money to replace something lmk what you think
the Hummer community is a strong one i'm finding that people who own one don't just kinda like it, they love it :D If i was in your shoes i would start with mirrors, side steps, etc, start small. In looking for lifts online they can be quite expensive, i got lucky i think there. What year is yours? does it have the 3.5L or 3.7L engine? Generally speaking the only real issue with the engine (i think it only affected the 3.5 but i could be wrong) is the possibility of the intake valves building up carbon so the idle goes to crap and it stalls for no reason. If yours idles fine though now you might not be affected. the other big one was the automatic transmission slipping but this seems to be from abuse or heating up the trans too much while towing..
i bought a 06 h3 always been parked in the garage and never been off road not a spot of rust because colorado i ripped the whole suspension out rebuilding it everything new rebuilt front axle put timken bearings in u joints cyclinder head everything trans next i sold my new car with payment sold that this h3 i will keep for the rest of my life love it
wow dedication! The more i get into this beauty the more i appreciate what a fine machine she is :D doing timing chain soon here and some other things. Also going to make sure to record full video on transmission rebuild, mine hopefully lasts that long lol it's not in good health ..
I'm the very happy owner of an 09 w/Adventure (front+rear locker in 09/10) & rare 5 spd manual. It's been a very fun vehicle to own. I bought mine in 2018 with ~65K miles on it. Now have about 115K miles on it and it still runs fine, just requires maintenance and occasional parts.
Tips:
The non-adventure tire size 265/75R16 is best if you want good highway performance (higher mpg and low noise) and want a dedicated set of winter tires as you won't find many offerings in larger sizes. SL load tires will ride better and roll easier for road use. Only select aggressive LT tires if you're going to take it on really rough trails. Up to 315/75R16 will fit (I run this) but it's very hard to keep the vehicle in alignment with this size (the forces like to pop the UCA's out of position) and it's hard on power and fuel economy (I get 14-15mpg in town and on highway with big aggressive tires). You can get 18-20mpg in these with mild SL tires.
The OE wheels are best for this vehicle as they have the proper offset to tuck the tires into the wheel wells and reduce bump steer by placing the scrub center where it belongs. I would suggest getting rid of the aftermarket rims and seeking out all-OE rims for this vehicle for the best handling characteristics.
I would recommend replacing the steering rack mounts with a heavy duty upgrade from MMW or outfitter design. This will help keep the rack from shifting when you hit something hard, keeping the vehicle in alignment, it also stiffens up the steering a lot, making it easier to handle on the road.
excellent advice, especially for replacing the steering rack mounts / tie rods with the heavy duty ones, there's a lot of videos online of these oem ones snapping going over very small obstacles.
I am currently getting 200 miles per tank with these 33" knobby tires, horrible! but i feel there are also other things at play like engine compression, pcv, etc
I must add though, having the adventure package with front AND rear lockers is pretty amazing, hard to find up here, and i've never actually seen a manual in person before, definitely a unicorn worth keeping :D
At some point i'll be adding the rear lockers to this one and making a video on the conversion
@@bloodyKnucklesGarage Yea if you're only getting 200 miles per tank something else is wrong. I'm usually approaching 300 miles when I fill up and running 315/75R16 STT Pro.
I also have all the Swartzy skids/slider, and the leaf spring shock mount relocation skids, and a 10K synthetic winch. If I can't drive over it I can drag over it....
The F+R lockers are indeed nuts. I've had it on some very challenging "roads." Lookup Wheeler Lake, Chinaman Gulch, EagleRock, Suran Wrap, China Wall, Metburry/Hackett Gulch, Holy Cross (broke CV at french creek, replaced with spare and continued to city, did not make any attempt to go up the cliffs beyond)... I've done some of these multiple times.
Some good info .. thank you
I also just purchased a 2006 Hummer H3 in red a few months ago and I’m enjoying it!! Need to do a few things on him like brakes, rotors, bushings, and a few other things… it’s going to be fun! Thank you for your videos!!
welcome, and enjoy! I love my h3 !
Best vehicle i ever owned !!!!
I just picked one up myself. Very fun on trails so far! Still trying to get the smoke smell out from the previous owner! YUCK! and I have some loose (popping noise) in the front suspension but all in all it's great for what I paid for it. Not sure if I want to just have fun with it till it breaks or if I want to go down the money pit rabbit hole of making it new again. Time will tell.
definitely fun! if you can do some repairs yourself and source parts from somewhere like RockAuto it won't hurt the bank account too much, after that it's just finding time here and there to work on it. i've had a couple vanilla scented tree hangers in mine for a while now, finally got the wet dog smell out (i think) goodluck! happy wheeling!
@@bloodyKnucklesGarage Yep, I've used a whole tub of cleaning wipes, sprayed 90% of a large can of Ozium and opened up 6 New Car smell trees, stuffed them under the seats, left the doors open for the day and it still smells to high heaven like I haven't done a thing. lol YUCK!
All those lights, "Afraid of the dark package"
now the dark is afraid of ME XD
Looks like you lifted it from the brothers in the Bronx 😂
shhhh! it's a secret! xD
@bloodyKnucklesGarage Oh tay...lol
I just got mine 2006 , I'm happy with it it's worth the money and way better than Jeep Wrangler as space and maintenance cost
i like it also because it's different! so many jeeps on the trails
be sure to upgrade the steering tie rods if you plan on going on any trails, it's by far the biggest weak spot on these.
The HUMMER H3 is pretty reliable you can still get it with a CD cassette radio dealerships refuse the CD cassette radio it's all about money
seems like once I get everything fixed it'll be pretty decent! Poor things have been abused and driven into the ground for the past 18 years LOL needs a little TLC to get back into shape
Hello from italy i have hummer h3 5.3 2008 i love it
Ciao dal Canada amico mio!
is your hummer difficult to drive on the roads there? are they wide enough? i would guess the main roads are fine but smaller towns might be a smaller?
@@bloodyKnucklesGarage
No no no no problem.... Consider that h 3 is not that big. Italians love luxury SUVs, here there are rangers rovers Gle Q7 Q8 which are much bigger than me and expensive. But do you want to know the truth when they see my h3 they are all curious because in Italy there are very few of them. Have you never been to Italy?
I also just bought a Hummer H3 despite the flack lol. 😂. Looks liek your also in Alberta!
you bet! Calgary here :D
I just bought one too and Im in Edmonton
@@NO-px2ys i think the fulltime 4x4 will really be amazing in alberta winters!
I’ve had my H3 for close to 6 months first car I’ve ever owned I love it , not as pimped as this one but maybe one day it’s got 183,000 miles I don’t know if I should put money into it (lift kit new mirrors side steps etc…) I’m worried about reliability issues and then not having the money to replace something lmk what you think
the Hummer community is a strong one i'm finding that people who own one don't just kinda like it, they love it :D If i was in your shoes i would start with mirrors, side steps, etc, start small. In looking for lifts online they can be quite expensive, i got lucky i think there. What year is yours? does it have the 3.5L or 3.7L engine? Generally speaking the only real issue with the engine (i think it only affected the 3.5 but i could be wrong) is the possibility of the intake valves building up carbon so the idle goes to crap and it stalls for no reason. If yours idles fine though now you might not be affected. the other big one was the automatic transmission slipping but this seems to be from abuse or heating up the trans too much while towing..
the lift in that h3 is probably worth more than you paid for the whole truck FYI. :O
it was definitely a selling point for me! just hope it holds up, I doubt there's a bunch of spare parts for it laying around online
Adventure package and by that he means it doesn't come with truck nuts
sadly no :( the only thing missing
How much was the H3 to buy in that condition?
$8000 CAD, most in the area go for 11-14k
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