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Squeaky SAS thread

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,505
Location
Meridian, ID
They do bring back good memories! Squeaky was a lil baby back then.

I also borrowed my friends 3100PSI gas power washer and cleaned up. The garage is cleaner then it was before the project started and same with the driveway.

Also on the do list is a new windshield :sigh: I took pride in having the original windshield...seeing it is almost 10 years old and with all the wheeling I have never had a rock kill the thin. Well on my final IFS run my brother kicked up a rock and put a nice little chip in the top corner of the windshield. I had no idea it chipped because it was by the tint portion. It was fixable then but now its not. As the swap progressed the crack spread across the windshield...now its definitely not repairable. I have heard of all the horror stories of leaking windshields so I really hope that doesnt happen to me.
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,505
Location
Meridian, ID
Looking good! That front track width is with no spacers correct?

With 1.75in spacers. They match the rear because the rear has 1.75in spacers also. It looks like if I ran a stock rim with no spacers A) it would hit the knuckle and B) your turning radius would suck because it would hit the control arms barely turned.
 

4speedfunk

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,250
Location
Tardville
The 70's-era Dana 44 likes 70's-era wheels. I'm running -11mm offset on my 17x9 Eagle Alloys...no problems. These were the same wheels that I originally bought when I installed the Rancho.

DIY Alignment:
Now that you've got a few miles on the truck...take it to a perfectly level spot and do some double-checks on the suspension. Drop a plumb line from the center of all four hubs to the pavement, and check the wheelbase on both sides...shorten or lengthen the lower links if needed. Then check the caster angle...shorten or lengthen the upper link if needed. Also check to make sure the axle is centered (right to left) under the truck...shorten or lengthen the track-bar if needed. Then center the steering wheel, and adjust the drag-link and tie-rod lengths to get the correct toe-in. You can do all this stuff with a piece of string, and you'll be surprised how accurate this method works. Obviously, you'll want to do all this with the springs you plan to run...so swap those first.

Camber is the tricky one. Most of the time, GM housings will have some camber built-in to them (tires will appear to lean outboard at the top). Big tires need very little camber and you will probably need to install some camber correction sleeves in the upper ball joints to get the tires sitting closer to true vertical. You can use a carpenter square with one leg on the concrete, and put the other leg up against the tire. You can then measure the gap between the tire and the straight edge, and do some simple math to figure out how many degrees of correction you need. Its usually around .5 to 1.0 degree. I'm not sure what effect (if any) wheel spacers will have on the caster.
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,505
Location
Meridian, ID
Its amazing! Granted I dont have a ton of seat time and I have only put it in 4lo twice, once I put it in lo on my street and unlocked the front hubs so I dont have any binding and let it crawl in a straight line and it just wants to do its own thing.

2nd time was to go up a dirt hill by my house. It basically crawled itself. I need to bumpstop it before curiosity gets the best of me and I really **** things up. I may work on that today. I am trying to track down some coils first.
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,505
Location
Meridian, ID
So today I did not work on the Hummer, I worked on my brothers jeep. He was quite jealous of the droop he saw when I hi lifted up the front end do adjust the shock mounts. Jealous to the point that he wanted more flex. While his jeep flexed nicely it didnt seem like he was using up all 12 inches of travel. He has 2.5 King shocks and seeing the shock body is bigger then stock what would happen is that the shock would hit up against the frame when cycling the suspension. It was binding bad enough it was limiting him 1.5in of droop and limiting his uptravel (didnt get a measurement on that) It is a somewhat common problem on the JKs. So what we did was take his old AEV shock brackets and use them to push the shock outboard so it wouldnt hit the frame. We did that to both sides and man what a difference in ride quality and flex. Projects like that used to take me all day but after the SAS any other project seems so easy now. So he went up the street with a friend to test out the new flex.

He called me up telling me to come up the street to see the improvements. I will tell you compared to before its much better!!!



Well I had to show off my new flex. I am still not bumpstopped so I had my brother watch the suspension as I slowly climbed the wall.









I still had plenty more flex to go but I wasnt bumpstopped and didnt want to push it. Overall I am very happy. Now that I am driving it more and more I am getting a better feel for it. Overall excluding the body roll from the very soft springs I like the ride quality better then I did before the swap. Its much smoother. The steering is also pretty good, I was expecting far worse but it steers like stock, I just need a new box, there is some play in it. The only thing that I view worse is turning radius. My tires hit the arms but if I brought out my tires a bit more that would help.
 

4speedfunk

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,250
Location
Tardville
That's what I'm talking about!

BTW...are you a vampire or what? Do you ever come out in daylight?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

zackcrum

Well-Known Member
Messages
543
Location
Corinth MS
That's what I'm talking about!

BTW...are you a vampire or what? Do you ever come out in daylight?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've always wondered the same thing with all these night runs, driveway nights, night time flex tests. Not to mention he drives a blacked out hummer[emoji15]
 

4speedfunk

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,250
Location
Tardville
Hey...one more thing to check: Next time you're flexing it like that...take a close look at the front driveshaft. Mare sure you aren't in danger of pulling the slip collar off the front of it. You can get a longer one if needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,505
Location
Meridian, ID
I've already got 1.75in spacers. Turning radius is still better then a JK so it's not horrible but it's not as good as it used to be. I will get some new rims with less backspacing in the future thanks though!
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,505
Location
Meridian, ID
Lol! Idk maybe I am a vampire and never even knew it...work and school keep me busy during the day so night time is my only free time. I'll get some good daytime pics. I'm slowly getting closer to it becoming a reliable DD

I'll check the driveshaft. Good thinking.
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,505
Location
Meridian, ID
Thanks guys! I appreciate it. I just drove on the freeway for the first time. I kid you not its damn smooth at 65-70 mph. My biggest complaint is body roll and my steering box was a junkyard box so its leaking as has play in it. I was going to get a new one the first go around but when I found out how much the core was I almost fell over. The core is almost as much as the box so I figured I would get a cheap junkyard one and then replace it. I will do that soon.

I went down to 4 wheel parts to return some shocks I bought for the rear. I bought them thinking my rears were blown when they werent. Anyways when I returned them they came outside to look at the SAS. He was like you must get some pretty good bumpsteer outta that. Ughh...Dude the damn track bar and draglink and flat and parellel. I have no bumpsteer. Half of those guys make me wonder how they even work there. This thing is very daily drivable and will only get better with time.

Here she is back to daily driving duties.



I ordered new coils, Bronco coils. We will see how they work out. I think they might be softer then the one's 4speedfunk runs but we will see.

Call me crazy but I like to put myself and vehicle in for huge tasks right off the bat. My buddy is turning 21 and a few of us are going to vegas next friday for the weekend. 2 are flying and my other 2 buddies want to drive. One doesnt want to take his car because he doesnt think its reliable, another buddy's car is small so he is seeing if he can have his dads truck we will all drive together but I can drive us in the hummer. First concern was gas but seeing he would be taking his dads truck I am sure we are similar in gas anyways. 268 miles one way so a nice 536 mile drive to vegas round trip would be a good on road test. I am not set on it yet as its only been on the road for a few days but we will see.
 

High Five H2

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,627
Location
West Texas
the guy at the shop just figures he's an expert cuz he works at a shop. he's gotta say something because he's never done anything like that. You're the one driving it and doing the work, not him.
 

rascole

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,847
Location
Bellflower, CA
the guy at the shop just figures he's an expert cuz he works at a shop. he's gotta say something because he's never done anything like that. You're the one driving it and doing the work, not him.
So harsh, give the guys at the counter some credit. I have had all good experiences with them going back 20 years.
 

derian06

Red Rockett
Messages
1,866
Location
Madison, AL
Thanks guys! I appreciate it. I just drove on the freeway for the first time. I kid you not its damn smooth at 65-70 mph. My biggest complaint is body roll and my steering box was a junkyard box so its leaking as has play in it. I was going to get a new one the first go around but when I found out how much the core was I almost fell over. The core is almost as much as the box so I figured I would get a cheap junkyard one and then replace it. I will do that soon.

I went down to 4 wheel parts to return some shocks I bought for the rear. I bought them thinking my rears were blown when they werent. Anyways when I returned them they came outside to look at the SAS. He was like you must get some pretty good bumpsteer outta that. Ughh...Dude the damn track bar and draglink and flat and parellel. I have no bumpsteer. Half of those guys make me wonder how they even work there. This thing is very daily drivable and will only get better with time.

Here she is back to daily driving duties.


How did you paint your suspension?
 

scoreh3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,024
Location
SoCal
I like the locking hubs . It's a shame Hummer didn't do that from the factory. Looks very nice , GOOD JOB !!!!
 
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