[Dark_Knight_Coli]

Could this be done using the stock hubs and Rancho 4" lift knuckles if you keep the Colorado brakes? If so, it may be worth it to get the extra stance and travel. Also, I think heavy duty cv axles are available for the H3 off-the-shelf. Lastly, it looks like this set-up is more conducive to a coil-over conversion down the road since the LCA is "beefier" and the UCA is "skinnier".

Im not sure my truck is not lifted. I did it to get the brake upgrade and get rid of the stupid hub design

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

Not trying to hammer an old question, but did you figure out the ABS yet? I am seriously considering this upgrade for my truck. Also did the 355 sway bar work of did you replace that also?

Havent figured out the abs yet. I did not replace the 355 sway bar yet but i will in the future because i dont like the angles the sway bar links are. Thinking about maybe getting a silverado sway bar and getting it to fit because its bigger and uses different style links that i think are better and more durable

 

[ncohandy]

How much wider is the H3 setup over the stock setup? Both front and rear.

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

How much wider is the H3 setup over the stock setup? Both front and rear.

about 2.5 inches

 

[Turkishfried]

I tried splicing the abs sensors and still got a light. I figured it was because i used the sensors that were in the hub that i got from the junk yard. When u spliced them did u do black to black and white to white on the connector? I would love to get my abs light off lol

Yep, I just swapped the Colorado connector onto the H3 sensor and it worked. At least it dropped the lights off my dash, but the service ABS would still come across the info center. But that is from my bad ABS control module and has been doing that for years.

 

[Turkishfried]

Could this be done using the stock hubs and Rancho 4" lift knuckles if you keep the Colorado brakes? If so, it may be worth it to get the extra stance and travel. Also, I think heavy duty cv axles are available for the H3 off-the-shelf. Lastly, it looks like this set-up is more conducive to a coil-over conversion down the road since the LCA is "beefier" and the UCA is "skinnier".

Short answer is no. H3 upper wont go into the factory knuckle. Maybe if you keep the rancho knuckles stock hubs and brakes as well as the stock upper arm. But all you would be gaining there is the H3 lower arm. You wouldnt be able to use the H3 CVs.

A coilover conversion will require a custom upper control arm still. The H3 one doesnt provide enough room to squeeze a 2.0 coilover.

Its on my "to do" list.

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

Yep, I just swapped the Colorado connector onto the H3 sensor and it worked. At least it dropped the lights off my dash, but the service ABS would still come across the info center. But that is from my bad ABS control module and has been doing that for years.

Alright guess I’m gunna have to get some new hub bearings with sensors. Hopefully I don’t have to do anything else with the back being tbat the h3 diff has abs sensors in it as well.
Our trucks obviously don’t use them so it shouldnt be an issue. Especially being that there are no electronics that go to our stock diffs.

 

[caliheat]

Hey you h3/ 355 guys! I want to swap h3 spindles on to my 355 2wd.
Q1.). Are the lower ball joints the same??
Q2). Is there an upper balljoint that fits the h3 spindle??
I want to stick h3 spindle/brakes onto 2wd lower arm with a custom upper.
IF i can find upper balljoint that is press in or bolt in. And lower same.
“Please....help” , Lilu ( what movie??)

1. 5 th element. Lol

 

[DustybirdmaN]

Hey I'm thinking about doing this swap, how has it been so far?? Can you post a few more pics of the stance and whatnot please? Did you end up swapping to the H3 front diff?
I found a complete front and rear end for 1500 bucks.....very tempted
And deadly write up by the way!!!

 

[DustybirdmaN]

Bump

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

Hey you h3/ 355 guys! I want to swap h3 spindles on to my 355 2wd.
Q1.). Are the lower ball joints the same??
Q2). Is there an upper balljoint that fits the h3 spindle??
I want to stick h3 spindle/brakes onto 2wd lower arm with a custom upper.
IF i can find upper balljoint that is press in or bolt in. And lower same.
“Please....help” , Lilu ( what movie??)

1. 5 th element. Lol

The lower ball joints looked similar to the ones I took out but 4x4 lower control arms are different than 2wd because 4x4 uses torsion bars so I’m not sure if they use the same ball joint. Upper control arm would have to be completely custom.

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

Hey I'm thinking about doing this swap, how has it been so far?? Can you post a few more pics of the stance and whatnot please? Did you end up swapping to the H3 front diff?
I found a complete front and rear end for 1500 bucks.....very tempted
And deadly write up by the way!!!

Thanks, I haven’t swapped the front diff yet but I am planning to as soon as I can buy one lol. The swap has been awesome I recommend it to anyone who drives a Colorado. Front wheels stick out maybe like an eighth of an inch from the pre runner fender and the back sticks out maybe 2 inches it’s flexed a little in the pic. That’s also no lift.

 

[adkcolorado]

nice work.
nice to see a fellow bumper-deleter. what are the rock sliders you have there?

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

nice work.
nice to see a fellow bumper-deleter. what are the rock sliders you have there?

Thanks man. They’re from a 2nd gen Colorado. Perfect length but I had to make my own brackets to mount them to the frame. I actually put the bumper back on and cut the fog light sections out so it looks prerunner like until I make a bumper for it.

 

[4x4McLeod]

I have a few questions to ask if you guys who've done the mod are still around ?
I know you guys stated you don't have a lift have you guys replaced your torsion keys or cranked them up beyond stock, have you done anything to the rear of the truck ?
Why I asked is i wanted to know what type of angles your CV-axle, tie rods and specially your ball-joints look like, does it look like they could take more height ?
For example if you had the lower cross members from a 4" lift kit do you think the angles could take it with the H3 knuckle, upper and lower control arms, mostly your ball-joints, tie rods you could get Heim link tie rods if it absolutely comes to it.
I'd like to do a coil-over conversion too to get rid of the torsion key but don't think one will fit but I'll look more into it later on, cheap stuff 1st then build upon it a bit at a time.
Think I got a custom hydraulic bump stop plan all figured out be tight I think so it actually functions properly but take my time I'll get it mounted

 

[DustybirdmaN]

In order for the 4" drop crossmember to be used, you would need 4" lift spindles as well, and the torsion bar relocators (for the H3) No one makes them anymore and they're nearly impossible to find. But......I did some research and I believe I've come up with a solution, though I've yet to get all the parts rounded up to try it.
I believe the H3 hubs will bolt up to a Chevy avalanche spindle, and the brake rotors are the same. BDS sells 4.5" lift spindles separately for fairly cheap. You'd also need to get upper control arms, from Michigan Metal Works. They sell a pretty sweet set of uppers for the H3, just have to ask em to fit them with the avalanche ball joint style, so it will indeed work with the BDS spindles. And lastly, RealLift will make you a set of the 4" torsion bar drop adapters for fairly cheap as well, but with all the extra room the custom uppers give you, may as well ditch the torsion bars and throw on some coilovers!

 

[4x4McLeod]

yeah what i figured but took a shot in the dark.
nice, that's a sick set of upper control arms thanks on that one have you thought about the Silverado 1500 knuckle too, looks really close as well and BDS has those as well.
I had plans on getting the Skyjacker component kit, know id be stuck with a set of knuckles bet meh, maybe a can talk skyjacker to give me a deal without them or swap them for knuckles I need but that'd be doubtful think they make a Silverado and an avalanche knuckle for 4" lift.
I'll start off with just the H3 mod then work from there though.

got the zone off road 2" keys and add-a-leaf, leaf didn't do much but fix the weak oem spring pack plus their 1.5" body lift and 2" shackle.
want to go way farther on the cheap if i can and have a long travel setup, shame a lot of companies are stopping to make stuff for 355's
get my front figured out i'll do the back already found the main part i needed for the link rear end at camburg the shock mount lower links at 48" long should fit our trucks good, probably could use the ranger kit with some modding but pricey, i can get center links on flea bay or summit way cheaper and adjustable.

 

[4x4McLeod]

So think I got my game plan figured out took a lot of research and measuring to make sure but will be what I want and not cost me overly too much.

But plan for the for the front to just go with the H3 conversion it's a nice an easy bolt and gives me my wider base like I want, but for sure will me using the Michigan metal works upper arms, but everything else H3 OEM, for a start the shocks I'll just get some cheap sky jacker shocks, but later will get some 8" travel F.O.A reservoir coil-overs and custom mount them in, by measurement they are max you can squeeze in, could go with the 6" travel as well to be a bit safer, but I really think I'll be able to squeeze the 8" in though but for sure will have a hydraulic bump stop for safety over the crap rubber bumper, but F.O.A will help me tune it exact to the truck and not for some crazy amount like king and fox.

Rear for now I'll keep my 2" shackles and 1.5" add-a-leaf and rancho shock till I can get my 4-link parts together, but also it'll really help in doing my lining up and mounting.
But want the 4-link with 12" travel F.O.A coil over, then their bypass reservoir shock and bump stop, going with the 12" because I don't want to chop out my wheel wells and if I mount the shock the 12" to the inside the wheel well it fits perfect in length and yes on a shock hoop not to the actual inside of the bed lol

Still an expensive setup and probably be a few minor changes to have everything line up perfect, but should be a good basic long travel setup, plus a bit less frustration and headache.
But thank you F.O.A and Michigan metal works.

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

yeah what i figured but took a shot in the dark.
nice, that's a sick set of upper control arms thanks on that one have you thought about the Silverado 1500 knuckle too, looks really close as well and BDS has those as well.
I had plans on getting the Skyjacker component kit, know id be stuck with a set of knuckles bet meh, maybe a can talk skyjacker to give me a deal without them or swap them for knuckles I need but that'd be doubtful think they make a Silverado and an avalanche knuckle for 4" lift.
I'll start off with just the H3 mod then work from there though.

got the zone off road 2" keys and add-a-leaf, leaf didn't do much but fix the weak oem spring pack plus their 1.5" body lift and 2" shackle.
want to go way farther on the cheap if i can and have a long travel setup, shame a lot of companies are stopping to make stuff for 355's
get my front figured out i'll do the back already found the main part i needed for the link rear end at camburg the shock mount lower links at 48" long should fit our trucks good, probably could use the ranger kit with some modding but pricey, i can get center links on flea bay or summit way cheaper and adjustable.

I haven’t tried lifting or anything but with 35s on it all the angles r very good so u could definitely lift it at least an inch or 2 just by cranking the torsion bars. On the back the only thing I did was swap the h3 dif for the disc brakes, 4.56 gears, and wider track width no add a leaf or anything.

 

[Dark_Knight_Coli]

I actually just picked up an H3 front diff for $600 and I ordered up new hub bearings and cv axles so I can finally put my front driveshaft back in and with any luck get my abs light out. Once the parts come in I’ll do the swap and add a write up to this thread on what involved in swapping the front diff and if splicing the Colorado connectors onto new abs sensors gets the light out.