What to do?

[David J]

For the first time in my life I've slowed down and started to research my next vehicle. I'm am finally able to by a preowned H1 and make it my own. I'm not a stranger to offroading as you can see by my present beast. In case your IH impaired, it's a 71 800b (304 V8) Scout, ARB frt/rr, fully caged animal. ETC...Blah, blah, blah.
My dilema:
I'm reading about the horror stories about the H1 over heating in and around #8. Headgaskets warping, cylinder walls wearing thin only to reek havock. Now I would not own a hummer unless I planned to play with it. Not only that but I'm selling my scout, chopper I built frame up and my '96 F250 crewcab powerstroke that runs perfect with 164K to get it.
Would someone of knowlege and pursuation put my fears to rest. I was a former ASE mech in the 80's so I know what the logistics are in R&Ring an engine, but not something I want to do in my later years. Any advise will be much appreciated.

[David J]

For the first time in my life I've slowed down and started to research my next vehicle. I'm am finally able to by a preowned H1 and make it my own. I'm not a stranger to offroading as you can see by my present beast. In case your IH impaired, it's a 71 800b (304 V8) Scout, ARB frt/rr, fully caged animal. ETC...Blah, blah, blah.
My dilema:
I'm reading about the horror stories about the H1 over heating in and around #8. Headgaskets warping, cylinder walls wearing thin only to reek havock. Now I would not own a hummer unless I planned to play with it. Not only that but I'm selling my scout, chopper I built frame up and my '96 F250 crewcab powerstroke that runs perfect with 164K to get it.
Would someone of knowlege and pursuation put my fears to rest. I was a former ASE mech in the 80's so I know what the logistics are in R&Ring an engine, but not something I want to do in my later years. Any advise will be much appreciated.

[Beastmaster]

Depends on what year you're looking at.

Anything 2000 and up you're generally going to be safe.

My truck is a 97.5 (right in the middle of the largest batch of #8 issues statistically), and I've had head gasket problems more than anything else. Until I swapped to a good FelPro reinforced head gasket, I had problems.

The early head gaskets sucked. Leaked like a sieve. And I'd hazard a guess that this caused more actual #8 problems than the #8 did.

Either way, I would feel pretty comfortable with most used H1's out there now. The majority of the engines that had problems have been replaced and you're likely going to be fine.

Which year and style are you looking at?

-Steve

[NoMoGMPG]

I have a '99 wagon with 95K on it. I'm locked front and ear with Auburn e-lockers and I'm about to do a 2" body/2" suspension lift over the winter. I've driven to every event (Moab, Durango, New Mexico, etc), wheeled, and driven home without incident. (Knock on wood)

Most important: maintainence
2nd most importance: maintainence

Follow the severe usage maintaience guide no matter where you are located or what you do.
Going wheelin'? Grease everything first, when you're back, grease it again. Change your coolant every 2 years and your t/stats yearly. Oil changes should be religeous and no more than 3000 miles or 3 months. Did I say maintainence?

[HUMMERDOGG]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I'm locked front and ear with Auburn e-lockers and I'm about to do a 2" body/2" suspension lift over the winter. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

GMPartsGuy-

Whose 2" suspension lift are you going to use? JAFAB doing a custom one-off for you???