I can get through most of it just fine but I have to have some momentum to go up the hard stuff.  My truck is nothing compaired to those rock buggies though.  I only have a little trouble with getting the front wheels over the big stuff.  

I wuold go with the fabtech 2.5" performance kit along with the 3.5" spindles.  It is cheeper than buying the 5.5" ultimate kit and they contain the same exact parts.  Just be sure to buy the spindles by themself and not the spindle kit.  You can buy 2" blocks for the rear just about anywhere if the 2" add a leif isn't enough in the back.

I was only describing the overall vehicle specs which if you don't mind it being 85 inches wide it's pretty incredible. Yes, they are heavy and slow and I'm not surpised the stock tires cake up with mud, but with some great mud tires like Super Swampers, Boggers etc. this wouldn't be a problem. The stock tires are only 12" wide, you probably could easily put some 15-16" wide ones under it to help with flotation.

About the slow motors, I believe 400 something ft.lbs and 190 hp, I heard there's a company that does motor swaps and they put in hot 502 cu. V8's in them. They aren't slow after the engine swap. While swapping motors is a little expensive, if you can afford the $80,000 or higher price tag a motor swap and tire upgrade would be peanuts.

You can also put a 502 in a truck and some big tires and put the hummer to shame.  Either way a hummer is still just a heavy turd

Yeah, ok.   I'll just stick with my 2wd and save $60,000

I saw what you wrote to Jason, and I had some words....good observation there mister man, but still....sadly....it is still there.  No matter how small the writting it is still there, otherwise, we wouldnt have a problem with fine print, now would we.  So, I personally believe your "poinion" is utter crap, because, i have no idea what a "poinion" is.  Could you enlighten me on what this strange vegetable is?  Is it a cross between a Potato and an Onion?  Perhaps, it is the only thing you can reference to because it has an equal IQ as you.  You see, yours is an opinionated statement, mine is fact.  No matter how much you gripe and moan, the words are still on their mag.  2WD ROCK!!!!!! 

The point of H1 is not to save money. It's not a bargain by any stretch of the imagination.... But it's still a good offroad vehicle and the most capable version of Hummer. My other point of mentioning the tires and 502 was that you can also turn an H1 into a mud bogging truck of acceptable, not specatular performance if you want while still being lower and wider than a fullsize truck similarily equiped.

How about deep water crossings with a hard rocky bottom? The 16" of clearance would be excellent and the heaviness would be a benefit, being too light would make it easier for the current to take you down stream.

It has an incredibly low center of gravity for a 4x4 since its 85" wide. The biggest fullsize trucks are only 80". (not including duallies) For drier mountain terrain, like a lot of trails in the south west this would probably much better than any fullsize with a 6" lift and 37's; H1 would be less prone to rollover on weird grades.

Well! Obviously that play on werds 'jes wint ovur 'yer pointy head there son!! 'Yer a pretty fart smeller err.. smart feller there! Cain't get 'nothin past you huh ? Maybe 'ye should stop havin so many potatoes and onions and have 'ye a steak!  I heerd it's good brain food!

Re: that original post, it just caught me at a bad time, and hit a nerve. I apologize to Jason, and anyone else who was offended. ...and if you read any further on this thread, and any other threads with me and 'legereb' you would know that's not how I really feel on the subject! I was Just having a bad hair day, that one.

...and 'opinions' are like a**holes, everybody's got one.  My opinion don't count for sqwat compared to anyone elses! ...so don't take it so personally next time. Relax, 'an take a chill pill - you'll live longer that way. It keeps yer blood pressure down, and that vein from bulgin in yer forehead.  Act yer age son, not yer shoe size!

I have heard that about the stock tires they come with, but these are the military's idea of an 'all terrain' tire for highway and off-road use, and not nessesarily for mud.  The Diesel engine does not give me the warm fuzzy either. Diesel engines are good for off-shore boats and highway driving. More economical than gasoline engines, and more reliable as far as maintenance and durability - not very high on the wish list for any mud bogger, or rock climber. The general vehicle specs are what grab me - once you take all the armor plating and '50 cal guns off'n it. - And it does take up most of the lane driving on the highway - not the most desired feature for a rock crawler either.

I do agree that a built-up K5, or other truck could probably take an H1 for a lot less money and effort, but just the idea of taking an H1 to the limits of a mud monster build gets my juices flowing. - I'd go with the boggers myself, and at the least a 14-inch wide tire.

That sounds like the opposite of what most other reader's have been asking about. (a budget buildup)

This could be titled "Break the Budget/Bank Build-up." Imagine some kind of big-block Chevy installed, maybe with a very nice level of boost and/or nitrous...

How about the 18x39x15 or 18x39x16.5 Boggers? I believe they mean it's 18 inches wide on a 15 or 16.5 inch rim, not the other way around. That'd only be 2 inches taller than stock but 5.5 inches wider.

Since this is any expensive truck anyways, how about 'glass front fenders and maybe a 'glass hood? Dual Snorkels and a mean dual exhaust? Dual smoke stacks? 

Try taking a hummer through 6 feet of water!  Hummers already come with fiberglass and the biggest tires that you can fit without rubbing are 38/12.50s.  They also have about as much articulation as a geo metro.   

Very true about the articulation, but they are so wide they make up for alot of that. How bout a pic of your truck? I hate to continue ripping on something I haven't seen, maybe a picture will enlighten me. 2wd's do kill it in the dunes though, when tehy dont get stuck.  

I'll have a picture for you in June when I get back from Iraq.  

all of you are idiots this is a 4x4 mag im so sick of seeing people waste thier money and time into a 2wd and lifting the 2wd rangers get stuck , ive had my share of pulling out those guys with the lifted 2wd it makes no sense sell your truck buy a car if u own a 2wd  

Like I said, I get carried away sometimes, what can I say.

In my book, 'a budget build' would definately include a 70's - 80's K5 - You can find a base truck anywhere around my neck of the woods for $1500 or less, add an NP-205, a GM-14 bolt in back with a detroit locker, and a Dana-44 in front - (The weak point, but you did say budget). A 350ci with a Rochester Quadrajet for reliability, and a TH350 or TH400 Tranny. Ya just can't go wrong on a budget with this rig. - Just watch out for the hairy stuff with that '44 up front. (until you can afford to upgrade to a Dana 60)

...and If were' going nuts with 'dual stacks', and 'mean dual exhaust' then ya might as well throw in 'mean dual axles' in the back!

All that I am saying is that my 2wd truck is more capable than 85% of all 4wd trucks and that you don't need 4wd to go muddin if you set the truck up right. And that it should be recognized by Petersen's 4-Wheel & off-Road.

As for H1s my 2wd truck puts them to shame at the Little Rock Air Force Base hummer course.  Maybe you should drive a hummer before you start praising them.  Also they have 3 different tires that they use on the hummers  36/12.50-16.5 mud tires, 37/12.50-16.5 Good year M/Ts and also 37/12.50-16.5 Super Swamper SSRs.  Even with the swampers they still suck.