Why stock strut length on coil lifts?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:33 pm

The M151 is still in service today,though only in the Marines.Back in '99 my team got tasked to replace all the suspensions on all the M151's in the 3rd MEF,all 1200 some.Sure glad they all had the rollbar mod already done since we just used the overhead crane to lift it(by the rollbar) and one person at each wheel changing the springs and shocks,after the 1st day we were pumping 5 out a hour.In my personal opinion they were never that tippy to begin with unless you had a M2 mounted.Sure miss working on them,nothing was complicated nor heavy,you could lift the engine out by yourself without a cherry picker/crane just needed a 20sec burst of strength.

InCommando · **Posted:** Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:09 am

Good info.

I had thought that they were all phased out around 2000, & then some versions were replaced by some guy making a vehicle called a Carolina Growler. He bought tons & tons of M151 stuff as scrape for practically nothing from Uncle Sam, rebuilt the pieces into more ATV-like versions of the M151, & then sold them back to the Gubmint as a different vehicle, primarily light attack & deep recon things. Truly a great businessman, there.

Like a lot of vehicles, the M151's were greatly improved in later versions through running changes, but the rep built by the early death-traps were hard to shake.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:32 am

InCommando wrote:

Good info.

I had thought that they were all phased out around 2000, & then some versions were replaced by some guy making a vehicle called a Carolina Growler. He bought tons & tons of M151 stuff as scrape for practically nothing from Uncle Sam, rebuilt the pieces into more ATV-like versions of the M151, & then sold them back to the Gubmint as a different vehicle, primarily light attack & deep recon things. Truly a great businessman, there.

Like a lot of vehicles, the M151's were greatly improved in later versions through running changes, but the rep built by the early death-traps were hard to shake.

Yeah they decommissioned alot of them in about '00-'01 but not all,manly used as training vehicles for Force Recon.They where looking at replacing them with a Mercedes "fast attack vehicle" but that didn't pan out,boy where those a SOB to work on with that fully computerized 5-cylinder turbo diesel.Heck it took 10 hours just to get the labtop that was supplied with the prototypes switched to English :roll:

.The Mercedes rolled way easier then the M151 ever did,I know I laid one on it's side.

Well so much for staying on topic,sorry :lol:

.

Jeep4me99 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:41 pm

its all good info

the IFS and the CVs limit the amount of lift. and sure wheeling ability can take presidence over tire/lift.

But we all know there are IFS vehicle out there that can get much more lift than the KJ without major mods to the k frame ect. IE...Bummers.

Never really looked too much into the bummer front set up.

But still the D30a will always dictate the size of tires we can run without taking a major risk. More front suspension travel would be great though

InCommando · **Posted:** Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:58 pm

If you are referring to an H1, you may have a point. But the H1 gave up much in other areas and were hugely expensive. The other Hummers do in fact have the diff & axle shaft issues that we do. Hummer owners tend to be a little less then truthful about it, but the ones who actually go off-road blow CV's, shafts, etc... just like their other GMT900 platform buddies. Why do you see SFA swap kits for IFS GM's? Because they are very popular swaps. People are not doing this due to the strength of the GM IFS. H2 people will flat out deny it is a GMT900, but it is. And H3 owners rarely fess up to being a colorado/canyon stablemate, but they are. Factory lifted with bodies that have better overhangs, maybe, but that is about it. None of these other GM vehicles have off-road credibility despite sharing almost all mechanical parts with the two GM hummers. The H2 & H3 ability is in marketing.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:05 pm

My cousin is a parts manager at a GM dealership in the Southeastern part of Ohio , they keep at least one front diff in stock all the time he said, mostly for the Canyons/ Colorados since he said he didn't think anyone they sold H-3s to ever went anywhere but the mall, they do sell lots of chrome add ons though for them he said! :wink:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:37 pm

H1's have aluminum F/R diffs also,though they are severly more stout then the D30A/M,they are based off a AMC20 center section and the addition of geared hubs drastically reduces CV angles to gain 18" of nominal ground clearance and the ability to run 150lbs 37" tire/wheel combo without much problems and not to mention a weight of 8tons are not uncommon either.

Boblemoche · **Posted:** Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:08 pm

H1 weight 8 tons :shock:

or is it the load the axles can handle.
no wonder they get such crappy mileage :roll:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:18 pm

Boblemoche wrote:

H1 weight 8 tons :shock:

or is it the load the axles can handle.
no wonder they get such crappy mileage :roll:

A base M998 is 5400lbs,the newer M1123's are 6000lbs,a M1113(uparmored) is 12,000lbs without battle gear,and after the "mad max" armoring to my M1097A1(AKA contact truck,a portable workshop,10,500lbs loaded) and extra gear/tools/fluids/spares came in at about 15,500lbs(all with a 155HP non-turbo diesel).Granted I had to use the rear uparmored springs on all 4 corners to hold the weight.The M998's and similar models were rated for 1 1/4 ton payload,the newer series(M1123 series) is rated at 2 1/4ton payload,the heavy variants are rated at 5ton payloads,and the uparmored's I really have no idea of there payload capacity but it is over 5tons payload.

Boblemoche · **Posted:** Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:11 am

wow thats some serious weight and I thought my KK underbelly armor was heavy :lol:

at 15k lbs and 150 hp you must use the first gear a lot :lol:

thats remind me of a story of my grand father back when 18 wheelers had a wooping 90hp. on steep hills when heavely loaded they would put it in first gear with a brick on the skinny pedal then get out to strech outside while the truck crawls

InCommando · **Posted:** Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:04 am

Again, keep in mind that the military humvee and the long-gone civilian H1 have NOTHING in common with the H2 ( tahoe/yukon/avalanche) & H3 ( canyon/colorado) but the nameplate. The AM General design is about as different in their design/layout/drivetrain as you could be from the GM units.

Boblemoche · **Posted:** Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:12 am

InCommando wrote:

Again, keep in mind that the military humvee and the long-gone civilian H1 have NOTHING in common with the H2 ( tahoe/yukon/avalanche) & H3 ( canyon/colorado) but the nameplate. The AM General design is about as different in their design/layout/drivetrain as you could be from the GM units.

I know that. recently I peeked on the ifs of a h2 and the stock front cv's angle look like a kj with a 4'' lift. :lol:

I wonder how much you can lift a h2/h3 without issues

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:12 am

InCommando wrote:

Again, keep in mind that the military humvee and the long-gone civilian H1 have NOTHING in common with the H2 ( tahoe/yukon/avalanche) & H3 ( canyon/colorado) but the nameplate. The AM General design is about as different in their design/layout/drivetrain as you could be from the GM units.

That is very true besides most of the drivetrain since the H1's use a 6.2/6.5/6.6 GM diesel and trans.The H1's use a bolt together frame also so you can replace just one frame rail with no welding/cutting.

InCommando · **Posted:** Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:17 am

(I hadn't actually intended that for you. So often people hear "hummer" and try to apply H1 abilities to the others, as well...)

The H1 is a pretty neat design that is almost 30 years old when you consider its first bidding spec dates and the first models were put in service 25 years ago.

Why stock strut length on coil lifts?

Who is online