[Aaronator808]

Did something similar. Took the suspension from a 08 Silverado. Also took the drivetrain. Truck was originally a 2wd with torsion bar suspension now it’s a 4wd with coil overs and a wider stance. Still working on wiring, got it starting up, just need to do the electronic 4wd and tie in wires to the fuse box. One day I’ll make a forum but that’s so much typing😵

 

[BackInBlack]

Nice setup. What roll bar you have there?

 

[Aaronator808]

Nice setup. What roll bar you have there?

Made it myself. Doesn’t serve a purpose except for looks😂

 

[4x4McLeod]

hhhhmmmm Silverado eh lol how was the control arm bolt up or did you have to change a whole bunch of stuff

 

[Aaronator808]

Basically changed everything. Only kept the from crossmember

 

[Aaronator808]

Basically changed everything. Only kept the from crossmember

Front

 

[4x4McLeod]

So been chatting with the guys at Michigan metal works about their custom colorado/canyon/h3 control arms, since I'm doing the H3 conversion I wanted their tubular upper arms but also inquired about tubular lower arms with an eyelet shock mount over the clevis mount, just need to send them a H3 lower arm so they can jig it up so guess I'll be the guinea pig and give it a go cost should be about $900 to $1500 USD for the set.
Also asked about steering knuckles and they said they could do them too but bit pricey if anybody wanted to forward and get them, I'm not planning onto least right now little too steep for my wallet with everything else I would need on top of just the knuckles, plus I can still get the travel I want once I get the coil-over mounted up and a upper mounted bump stop, don't need my tire jamming in the wheel well since I'll be cutting mine off to squeeze the coil-over in.
Be about $1000 to $1500 for the FOA 2.0 dual rate 8" travel reservoir coil-over depending on the upgrades and tuning I get, really like the 2.5 reservoir upgrade with external adjuster not too sure if I want the triple rate kit with a tender spring maybe if I can squeeze a 10" in but doubt that with the factory crossmember.
Did think if I can push the lower shock mount closer to the tire like the long travel arms are I might be able too but not entirely sure if I can get any closer
How far does the shock sit on the H3 lower arm does anyone think it's possible to move the shock closer since I could get them to leave it off the control arm so I can weld it in myself after I got everything lined up or do you guys think there would be tire/rim rub of some sort or the arm hitting the upper control arm ? I know if I can get the angle just right I can get some good travel out of the setup, how much travel do you guys get now with the bump stop cut off roughly ?

 

[DustybirdmaN]

Just bought a 2007 Hummer H3 3.7l that was in a rollover....$950cad. All the running gear looks good and already has 35s. Stoked to start the swap(s) haha the 3.7 is going in too!

 

[Clear17Mud]

I have just finished this swap as well, after finding this post. Here are some things I learned.
If you have these stock rims it won't work. The calipers are too large and the top ~4mm makes contact with the rims. I thought the 4mm difference in offset between these and the stock hummer rims wouldn't matter.


I wanted different rims anyways so It didn't matter much, and I think a 1/4" spacer would fix this.
Then I got my new rims and they made contact with the front of the brake caliper, so I had to buy a 1/4" spacer. Really I only needed like 1/16 of an inch to clear it.

Anyways while it was on jack stands before I realized that the rim was touching and had caused the truck not to move. I had taken the wheels off and was testing some vibration that I noticed in the front drivers side which ended up just being the rotor not being held against the hub. I had a screw driver in the other rotor to make the side I was interested in spin. Then the truck wouldn't apply the brakes(scary as hell even on jack stands) and it threw an ABS code. I think it was only because I had that wheel stopped. Now that I have test driven it around the ABS light when off, so splicing the wires together does work!

Here are some pics I took.

This is how much longer the upper control arm is.


Some things I learned:

• I ended up removing the sway bar, because the Colorado's sway bar has smaller sway bar link holes than the H3. (I want to try drilling them larger, but I broke the drill bit trying)
• Also the lower control arms has that bracket with the nut in it for the rear mount. You don't need them. You need to find an extra set of the front mount nuts, because the bracket just hits the differential/differential shaft, and its impossible to put them in with that nut bracket deal.
• I cut the bump stop off before I installed everything, because I didn't care to test if it was in the way or not.
• If you want to paint the lower control arm, don't get it powder coated... they weigh too much to paint...

I still need to add it up but It was around $1000, but I got almost entirely new parts. When my ABS light came on I was mad I didn't just do an SAS, but with no light I'm glad I did it! I can't stand when the DIC displays codes...
Oh here are some reasons I wanted to do this swap:

• I needed new brake rotors and pads
• I needed new shocks, and didn't like that the Colorado didn't have any Monotube options that I could find.
• I wanted more braking power(I think I need to do the rear swap as well)
• I wanted more suspension travel
• I plan on getting bigger tires, maybe eventually 35" tires. I have 33" tires that I need to put on once I get it lifted. I couldn't get the rear shackles off, and I think I put the keys in on the wrong position. The front is currently at 3/4" taller than the rear, and the CVs seem to be level if not pointing up slightly.

 

[Clear17Mud]

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.
View attachment 340817

What size front fenders are those? I see one place that sells a 4" prerunner fender and another that sells a 5" fender.

 

[4x4McLeod]

Awesome job on the swap Clear17Mud and thanks for the photo of the arm lengths that so makes me want to buy the tubular arm set now to setup my long travel coil-over setup.
Giantmotorsports is an awesome place to get rear suspension parts if anybody is searching for cheaper 4-link parts and bed cages.
Think he using the Mcneils Racing ones I've been looking at getting that set myself, but that's because I have a crew cab and Fiberwerx doesn't make bedsides for the crew cab, if you got the extended cab I'd go with the Fiberwerx ones but only if your going bigger than 35" tires but both are super nice but even still it looks on a 35" tire it'd cover the tire a bit better, also recommend to anyone to get the suspension max stage 2 diff spacer kit to fix the CV angle or at least a stage one, I'm going with the stage 2 myself but I also got a bit of lift on my truck I just got to get those diff bolts out their stuck in there pretty good and those stupid nut retaining clips GM uses over welding stuff is absolutely the most stupid thing.

 

[Clear17Mud]

Ok, 2 more things I learned.

1. H3 sway bars bushing mounts are larger and don't bolt up to our frames, and I didn't want a thicker sway bar and new holes in my frame... so I just bought another 1/2" drill bit to make the stock Colorado sway bar fir with the hummer links. The ball joints of the links are at a bad angle...
2. I think I had Chinese part syndrome with my inner tie rods, because they ran out of threads to align it (~2.8 degrees toe out). I think a better H3 inner tie rod would work, because I compared mine to a Napa one and it had another 1/2" of thread past mine. The H3 tie rod is 11" long excluding the thread that goes into the steering rack and the Colorado is 10" long. I am sitting at 9" at the moment, so The Colorado one will have an inch of thread in the outer tie rod. The Colorado inner tie rod has the same size thread and bolt 16mmx1.5. The thicker bolt on the H3 inner tie rod might be part of the problem because it takes up ~3/8" of the thread. The Napa ones had 3" of thread where mine has about 2.5". The outer tie rod is drilled out to about 2.75", so a thinner nut might solve the issue. I don't think it would bottom out, but it might. I am going to get a Colorado Inner tie rod, because they are cheaper and it should also work. I wish my stock one wasn't rusted together and then cut in half by me, so I could test it...

This is the Ultra-Power RockAuto brand, which is basically just re-boxed Chinese parts that were made for someone else, or maybe didn't meet the standards of who ordered it. RockAuto also doesn't have it for sale anymore.

 

[DustybirdmaN]

Just did the swap. Took me about 16 hours yesterday to getter done.

 

[DustybirdmaN]

I just cut about a 1/2 inch off the threads of the inner tie rods

 

[Talonxracer]

Nice!

I love the stance that the H3 suspension provides the Colorado!!! I think my itty bitty 4banger would also appreciate the 4.56 gearing!

 

[WV NATIVE]

Just did the swap. Took me about 16 hours yesterday to getter done.

How did the ABS system work out?

 

[DustybirdmaN]

Spliced wires, works fine. I usually run with no abs fuse though

 

[WV NATIVE]

Spliced wires, works fine. I usually run with no abs fuse though

I've been debating this swap for a while but wondered about the potential ABS issues that could arise.

 

[WV NATIVE]

Spliced wires, works fine. I usually run with no abs fuse though

One more thing. What did you do for the bumpstops?

 

[DustybirdmaN]

Cut em off and welded em back on about an inch towards the rear