Upgrades....

[cwissing]

All,
I currently have a stock 03 H2 and I want to improve the look of the truck without spending a fortune. I also am not into the bling so chrome is not high on my wishlist. I want it to have a cool look but still be able to go through the mud and snow. Here is what I am thinking. Could you please take a look and let me know your thoughts....

Small lift from www.truxxx.com (not sure how well this works so if anyone knows please tell me)

18" Black Rockstar rims http://www.kmcwheels.com/html_pages/xdseries.html

37" Nitto Mud Grappler Tires

I would like to get some fender flares but the only ones I have seen are like 700 bucks. Anything else out there with a cool look?

Anybody know how to get the door handles/side mirrors to be black rather than shiny chrome?

Thanks all!!!!

[SMYL_GR8]

A friend of mine COMPLETELY blacked out his SUT. He just bought everything he liked the shape of and had it all powdercoated black matte. Looks evil.

[cwissing]

Thanks guys... So running 37" tires and just cranking up the stock suspension as PhilD mentioned should work fine I take it? The tires are 13.5" wide so about an inch wider than stock. As far as the backspacing on the 18" rims, what should I go with?

Also any idea on how many miles I will get out of the Nitto MGs?

[TXSUT]

Originally Posted by PhilD

I don't know how many miles people are getting from Nitto MG's, but I'd expect somewhere between 30-40k. Just make sure you rotate them often.

22k here. Admittedly though, I only rotated them twice. I could have gotten another 5k out of them, but after burying my truck in mud up to the doors two weeks ago, they had to go. And whoever said Toyo M/Ts were pretty quiet was lying their ass off...these things are SILENT!

Cwissing, my Nittos were 37x13.5x18 mounted on Weld 18x10s, 4.5" backspacing. For front tire clearance, I cranked the torsion bars up by almost two inches, and trimmed the lower 5 inches off the inner fenders. No rubbing on anything unless I hit a deep rut hard while steering is at full lock.

Speaking of Weld wheels, I was surprised when I went to order a 5th for my spare that Weld had been bought by American Racing. That has temporarily grinded Weld wheel production to a halt. I had a heck of a time finding my wheel.

[BLH2]

I was looking to do the Truxx kit also, Phil you said that going over 2 inches will lead to premature wear on suspension parts, if you keep it arond 2 inches is there anything negative of doing this. Why would it be necessary to use the Truxx kit if there is that much adjustment out of stock?

[MONSTERMATT]

I run the nitto grapplers and they 37x13.50 with 18 in rims, and they are loud as a bittcch and look cool, i rotate them evry 3k, that is what you need to do if u want to keep em as good as you can, my torsions are cranked all the way and i pushed the liner of the fender in with a heat gun and i rub a little with full lock, just crank the bars and have at the tires it will be all good, i hvaent had any issues and the torsions have been cranked for 9 months now and about 15k miles

[CONRAD II]

I'm running the 37 grapps on 22's without the lift and have added front keys. It barely rubs but not enough to damage the inside of the fenders. I still am considering bigger tires and a lift but I like my setup.

[BLH2]

what is the difference between the Truxx keys and the stock keys? How hard is it to crank on the stock keys?

[ree]

Originally Posted by BLH2

How hard is it to crank on the stock keys?

Easy, as long as you jack up the corner you're adjusting and aren't using a stubbie wrench.

[ree]

Originally Posted by PhilD

I just stick a floor jack in the middle and lift the front end up. You don't need to raise it off the ground, just lift it enough to take the majority of the load off the t-bars.

Yep. If you have a floor jack (which is useful for straightening the stock ladder UCP as well besides it's normal uses).