Rear Springs

[justcuz]

Any body thought of putting H2 Hummer springs in the rear of their 00 and up Suburban. I just towed a 6x12 UHaul to Monterey from the LA area and even though I have Autoride on my 00 Suburban the rear was pretty low. I was thinking about heavier rear springs and wondered about H2 springs. I do not want to lift it too far but do not want a lot of sag when I tow or have 6 people and gear in it either. Those poor rear autoride shocks got a workout man! I run 285/75x16 tires on stock 2004 wheels. Minimal trimming of the wheel well plastic and they work just fine. Does Moog make cargo coils for this application? I have a co-worker with an H2 and am going to check out his rear springs next week (wire diameter and height). Just thought I would ask if anybody has done this.:happy:

[unplugged]

You might want to check out the Roadmaster (http://www.activesuspension.com/index.htm) active suspension. Easy to install and they work.

[justcuz]

The only thing they show for coils springs is for a Crown Victoria.

[omegafiler]

Ahh, if you have autoride (shocks & coil springs), things do get a bit more tricky. I'm sure you can replace the springs, but it might mess with the autoride system. I know people have put a whole new non-autoride suspensions in there and just disable autoride, but you would like get a DIC message everytime you turn on the vehicle. Which I'm guessing could also be turned off via a custom PCM tune.

I'd call a few places that sell/install suspension components for our trucks and see what their experience is with autoride.

[justcuz]

I only want to lift an inch or 2. Autoride on mine kicks in when the car is loaded and needs to come back to level, so if was level with weight in it (due to heavier springs) the autoride would kick in less.

[justcuz]

Just to update the H2 springs have a larger wire diameter, but same outside circumference as the suburban springs but are 1.5 inches taller. As soon as I locate a set I am going to try them out. I've talked to a couple 4x4 shops and when they do a lift on an H2 they will call me to pick up the stock springs.

[justcuz]

Just so you all know, I looked for used H2 springs for a year and could not find any. So I broke down and bought a new set. Today I installed them. I took some measurements but the pictures did not turn out well of the tape measure. Overall I gained an inch and a half to two inches of ride height. We will see when they settle down what the total is.
Picture 1 Stock height
Picture 2 New springs
Picture 3 Spring difference
Picture 4 How it looks on the street

[retired2001]

Looks like you came out well. Has it caused any problems with the auto ride?

[CarpenterGuy]

Get some of those air bag things, or you could add a leaf. It raises up the back 2 inches though.

[justcuz]

Looks like you came out well. Has it caused any problems with the auto ride?

No the pump came on but not for as long as usual. My shocks leak down after a couple of days. So they pump up pretty often. No trouble with the SES light and no codes as yet.

[dwill3015]

Great info! thanks for the write-up.

[justcuz]

I took a couple more pictures on level ground so you can see how it looks. The front is still stock...for now.

[justcuz]

Get some of those air bag things, or you could add a leaf. It raises up the back 2 inches though.

Air bags are out of the question, it has autoride from the factory with air shocks. Can't add a leaf either, it has coil springs in the rear brother.

[newdriver]

any issues in replacing them with H2 springs? did it seat very well? any modifications? thanks for the write up.

[justcuz]

No issues at all. Springs even used the stock isolaters (rubber anti-squeak pieces at the ends of the spring).
No modifications required, just undid the lower shock mounts and the upper sway bar mounts and let the axle droop. Then istalled springs and re-installed shocks and sway bar link bolts. I've had them on for a couple of weeks now and have about 300 miles on them. The ride is a little stiffer, but there are no negative effects on my auot ride and no codes have been thrown (SES light). Over all I am happy with it and best of all I have had no conplaints out of the wife (it is her daily driver). She loaded it up with six people to go to a funeral the other day and she did no have to readjust her rearview mirror.

[cduke123]

How is the vehicle running now? Were the springs easy to replace?

[cascott325]

that sound pretty cool. glad its workin for ya

[justcuz]

It is running and towing just fine. No issues what so ever. Easy to replace, remove lower shock bolts and upper sway bar links, let axle droop remove and replace springs, reassemble. Probably took less than an hour.

[flamecop]

Great info!

I want to lift my autoride just a little and have wondered how the autoride would react to front key replacement. Anybody with an idea?

How much do the H2 springs run? Did they settle in at all? Are you still at about 2" of lift in the rear?

Thanks,
:great:

[flamecop]

Anyone else have any thoughts?

[justcuz]

Great info!

I want to lift my autoride just a little and have wondered how the autoride would react to front key replacement. Anybody with an idea?

How much do the H2 springs run? Did they settle in at all? Are you still at about 2" of lift in the rear?

Thanks,
:great:

The H2 springs were about $200 a pair from GM Parts Direct. I have the part numbers if you need them. No settling issues, still 1.5 to 2 inches of lift.
For the front I doubt you would have any trouble using heaver torsion bars. The Suburbans with autoride have the lightest torsion bars in them from the factory. You could upgrade to 3/4 ton truck ones and easily gain front heigth. I plan to do this but have other projects in front of this. I run 285/75x16" tires on this truck with stock wheels and have no rubbing issues.
My wife somehow blew up the G80 Gov-lock on this vehicle, so it now has a open carrier with a Lock right easy locker in it. Have only used it on dirt roads and at my buddys ranch in Wyoming. My wife went up a road that normally requires 4x4 in 2wd with the new locker!:great: