Longhorn-
The first time out after we bought it we were climbing a similar hill to the one on the Hummer outing last Saturday along with the Land Cruiser club we belonged to. We made a couple of attempts to get through a slippery spot and decided to give it one more try. We heard a bang and found ourselves with the front differential literally busted in half, the transfer case was toast, the passenger side tie rod was bent in half and the rear end had parts sticking out of the rear cover. This was with the rig completely stock. (Did I mention that none of the other rigs doing the same thing broke during the trip?). The first outing with the dealer Hummer Happening we were going down the same wash board road as the other dozen H2's and suddenly found the steering wheel turned to the left . We pulled over to find both front ball joints at the "A" arms had come completely out of the sockets they were pressed into. We were lucky and found a local guy who had a welder to tack the ball joints on so we could get back to the dealer (Did I mention that we were the only ones who broke anything that day?). It now had the lift on it but the service manager decided it was because of the first breakage that weakened the ball joints. This was the third time going out trail riding with our rig. Then the forth time out, sure enough, for the third time doing what every other rig was doing, we bent the wimpy tie rod on our $60K "Like Nothing Else" rig. My first thought were that folks on here have been through this a LOT and maybe would know of some good "fixes" for this tie rod issue. Understand that all of these breakages happened while doing mild, ordinary 4x4ing. The more I thought about it the more upset I got thinking that I need to consider paying somebody like Fly-n-hi $710 for a couple of tie rods to fix what shouldn't need fixing. I have the same parts and lift on my 1-ton dually which has been through a lot more with no problems. What can I expect if I go out by myself and wife camping and come up to a little hill I need to climb?
We were really hoping we could make it on just one outing without busting something else. I know this forum will blast us for saying all this, and believe me I hate coming to this conclusion, but I don't feel the H2 is what it is advertised to be. It might be fine for those who like fixing broken parts all the time or for those of you who never see the dirt, but I need something I can depend on. Damn, I hate getting rid of it, but we want to USE it.
partsguy -
A windshield wiper breaking out in the middle of nowhere isn't exactly the same as a busted tie rod. I understand what you are saying about the tie rod going before another more important part does, but these tie rods are bending WAY to quickly. It isn't just the tie rod, I am afraid of what's next.
Sorry for being long winded. We may change our minds again before the hour ends but I'm frustrated.