pfdemt133

I like the looks of the h3, but not the I5 engine. I am on road 95% of the time except for the occasional fishing adventure, and I drove a few h3 hummers when I was a technician and they do ride nice. Anyone have any experience with an alpha? Fuel mileage isn't much of a worry to me, I live 4 blocks from work and work 10 days a month full time.

SoCalxJ4.0

They are built for nothing but profit. Seen way too many in and out if the shop.

pfdemt133

All h3 models or just the alpha? I know the early 3.5 sucked, but the 3.7 was far more reliable.

SoCalxJ4.0

All h2's and 3's.

DougyFresh

If you want a Hummer type vehicle, IMO the ONLY option is to buy a Mil surplus HMMWV. AKA a REAL Humvee...

One of my bucket list vehicles for sure

muffinman

You come on the Cherokee forum and ask about the H3? Of course everyone is going to say it sucks! Lol If YOU like it and it fits your needs get it. Don't ask a bunch of Cherokee yahoos like us.

bakas

I drove H3 once, and it wasn't really disappointing. It has the presence of a Suburban, a nice exhaust sound, and it was very fun to drive. I'm not very into them, but it might be the most badass vehicle to go grossery shopping. I wouldn't even try to park on a curb tho.. It has this feeling that it can be broken anytime.

zone zero

Well I have a wealthy friend that had both an H1 hummvee and an H3 alpha

Being in New England the H1 was a ***** to deal with it would not fit down any trails, and it was a nightmare to park

The H3 he had was not a bad little truck he had a 5 or 6 speed manual and it was not bad on gas, he ran a set of 35s with no lift and a winch on the front.
It could go most places any of the boxy 4x4s can, but it began to have some issues he had to replace the transmission and the rear locker, there was an issue with front CVs and wheel bearings.

If it was me and I'm going off what he had to say about them in general he would get a surplus HI or a civilian HI with the 6.7LT
It's like owning a landrover defender, they go great they look bad ***, but they cost a **** load to fix and run as a daily driver.

Cerveja

My buddy just built an H3 alpha and lifted it 4" with 35's and wheeled it in Colorado and Moab this summer. He has the I5 and five speed manual. He upgraded to the cast iron locking front differential, locked his rear diff as well, and really wants to upgrade the T-Case to the lower 4:1 ratio for serious crawling. I think every model but the adventurer comes with ??2.42?? T-case. Milder wooded trails are not an issue, but really slow crawling leaves him slipping his clutch. He is also concerned that the ifs steering rack is the next weakest link and carries a spare rack along with spare half shafts when we go on bigger more aggressive trips.

Unfortunately your choices of lift kits are going to be slim. I think a 4" ??rough country?? Is your only real option. Even after the lift your ground clearance will not be that awesome as a jeep cherokee or wrangler with the same lift. While the H3 surprised quite a few folks out west, he had to be really picky with his lines to keep the obstructions out of his drivetrain. While it seems like a big vehicle, he didn't have nearly as much trouble through the tight spots as we thought he would. Also he complains about the high end power but is limited to the axle ratios the diff can handle. Its not bad around town in flat michigan, the mountains out west were rough.

We also spent a few days in Moab wheeling with a friend from Texas with an alpha. He was virtually unmodified with 31" all terrain tires, a winch, open diffs and maybe just an inch lift. He did fairly well but the terrain wasn't super aggressive, lots of slick rock, no big boulders or super tall boulders requiring extreme departure/approach angles or high centering possibilities.

I won't jump on the anti-alpha band wagon quite yet. If you have your heart set on it, just understand that lift options, bumper options, and service parts are not going to be as plentiful as an XJ,YJ, TJ, WJ, ETCJ and raiding a junkyard for parts is likely never going to happen. But depending on your plans and what you want; it may suit you just fine.

pfdemt133

Dougy fresh, oh yea, the milspec humvees are badass, but well, can't really afford one of those. And muffin man, I like the way you think! Like I say, the only "of road" I do is accessing my fishing spot and the ****ty snowy weather we have in northern Illinois here. No lifting for me. I had plans to lift my xj, but after buying my house I decided its way cooler to have a nice house and property than a bad *** vehicle. Oh wow is that the responsible adult in me coming out?!?!?