03 H2 Tcase issue

[Yogibear]

I have an 03 h2 that is having on going t case issues. I have owned truck for 5 years it has been great I now have 220000km on it. At 210 the factory original t-case lost rear out out shaft bearing and destroyed the housing. I replace transmission and t case factory gm parts right from dealer came on pallet they just had to bolt it in... Now I'm 10000km 15 months later and the bearing is shot in the rear out out shaft again.. I caught it this time before destroying the case.. I will give low down on truck repairs

I have owned it for 160000km. Well maintained I'm picky

all repairs in last 10,000 miles
- front away bar linkage and bushings
- ball joints and tie rods
- steering stabilizer
- power steering pump (x2)
4 shocks
new brakes
steering stabilizer
rear transfercase output shaft seal(x3) before it went boom
transsmission ( gm replacement)
transfercase ( gm replacement)
tail shaft / u joint ( once before replacing t case and then at time of replace
air suspension to spring kit
rear sway bar bushing and linkages
plug and wires
35.12.5 20 tires

The factory t case over the 5 years went threw 3 rear out out shaft seals before the transfercase bearing failed.

im going to investigate it a little closer in the morning sinething to me is wrong from either tail shaft ( maybe pre placed with wrong shaft , or out of balance drive shaft but there is no vibration since rebuild until now
or something changed in alinement after removing air out of the rear.. Any ideas or replacement parts suggested would be greatly appreciated

 

[alrock]

Good idea checking the rear drive shaft. No lift or other mods to the H2?

 

[Yogibear]

No lift on the h2, one thing I did notice tonight when I was under is one torsion key bolt is cranked until bottomed out and the driver side has about 1" or more of threads showing ( should they not be matching side to side?) but that should not affect my tcase I don't think other then maybe an unfelt vibration causing it to premature wear.

 

[The_Mountain]

My SWAG is that either your rear drive shaft is bent, or one of the U-joints is bad. The only thing that's going to tear up a rear output like that is vibration or orbital motion. You should be able to take the driveshaft to any good local machine shop and they can balance it for you. One other thing to check would be whether the t-case output face and the pinion face are parallel i.e. that they aren't pointing in different directions (disregard offset, you just want to be sure there's no unmatched angle). If your suspension is wonky, that might indicate that the frame took a hit sometime in the past, which could mean either the driveline or the rear axle isn't aligned anymore. If the U-joints don't have the same angles, it can also create vibration even on a perfectly balanced shaft.


Edited to add: at that age, you probably ought to have the bushings for the rear suspension checked too. Even if the frame is perfectly straight, if those bushings get worn the rear axle can shift out of alignment.

 

[Yogibear]

Thanks for swag, I don't beilve the truck was in accident, I put over 100000km on it with zero issues, but the bushing definetly could be the issue I have replaced everything but the bushings. I am not sure how to post pictures on here but I took a picture of my tail shaft and was wondering if anyone would be willing to take Peak under there's see if it looks similar. ( maybe give me a measurement from weld to weld on drive shaft and tcase housing to knuckle weld on out out shaft... To me the the drive shaft and out out shaft seem to short you can clearly see where the output shaft is traveling in and out of t case at least 1".. probably 3"+ showing of the out put shaft at all times...
I will order up bushings kit here today does anyone know of any aftermarket drive shaft?

Tossing around idea of lifting it I seem that bullet proof 12" lift anyone ever use this one? Is there a 6" lift that's better then another? There is very few places in Canada willing to deal with hummer lifts and exessories... So have to order from United States

 

[The_Mountain]

The movement is correct. That's the slipjoint that allows your suspension to flex without needing the driveshaft to change length (as the rear axle moves upward, the distance from the pinion to the tcase shrinks). Based on images I saw in a google search, having about 2-3" of the output yoke shaft protruding from the tcase sounds about right. It needs enough travel to be able to slide into the tcase under full rear suspension compression.

Thinking about that illuminated another bulb. Recall that the early H2s were notorious for a "clunk" noise from underneath. This noise was caused by the non-nickel-plated output yoke binding on the t-case output shaft. There is a GM Technical Bulletin about it, and the fix was to replace the output yoke with a nickel-plated one that slides better. I wonder if somehow you're getting bad binding, and that's forcing the driveshaft to wobble under compression, which could also damage parts.


ETA: As far as lifts go, make sure the shops you're talking to understand that you want to lift an H2, which is almost entirely a GM truck under the skin. I can understand shops being hesitant about lifting an H1, but the H2 isn't any more difficult to lift than a Tahoe or Suburban.

 

[Yogibear]

Thanks for all the swag it's perfect to hear what others think or have dealt with in past. When is this clunk present. I have done front suspension and bushings trying to aliminate a clunk I get over sharp bumps it has done it since I bought truck, been told everything from battery box clunking to needing ball joints I replaced with factory was told there crap so 25000km later I replaced front all with moog. Clunks still there only over fast sharp bumps ( could this be the culprit? )

i dropped the hummer off for warranty on the tcase last night and they were surprised to see it back I spent 7300.00 last fall ,, trans and tcase...

when I get it back I will be traveling to Montana for parts so far list looks like this any additions I need let me know..

rear suspension bushing kit
Nickle tail shaft
ujoints
headers
front drive shaft ? ( seen few topics about replacing it with something stronger) any sudjestions

as for lift..
There is a few shops around here one is really good they lift my Yukon 10" they are willing to lift the hummer but we don't know what kit to go with. There is not a lot of manufactures available in Canada and according to suppliers around here they say all the kits are not complete and are coming up from states but for us Canadians if kits not complete and the shops can't source the extra info needed
was told there
fabtec 3600.00cnd not complete 6"
rough countty 3200.00 ( needs front drive shaft)
bullet proof 12" about 7000 cnd says full kit.
has anyone found one company's lift better then others

 

[The_Mountain]

Thanks for all the swag it's perfect to hear what others think or have dealt with in past. When is this clunk present. I have done front suspension and bushings trying to aliminate a clunk I get over sharp bumps it has done it since I bought truck, been told everything from battery box clunking to needing ball joints I replaced with factory was told there crap so 25000km later I replaced front all with moog. Clunks still there only over fast sharp bumps ( could this be the culprit? )

i dropped the hummer off for warranty on the tcase last night and they were surprised to see it back I spent 7300.00 last fall ,, trans and tcase...

when I get it back I will be traveling to Montana for parts so far list looks like this any additions I need let me know..

rear suspension bushing kit
Nickle tail shaft
ujoints
headers
front drive shaft ? ( seen few topics about replacing it with something stronger) any sudjestions

as for lift..
There is a few shops around here one is really good they lift my Yukon 10" they are willing to lift the hummer but we don't know what kit to go with. There is not a lot of manufactures available in Canada and according to suppliers around here they say all the kits are not complete and are coming up from states but for us Canadians if kits not complete and the shops can't source the extra info needed
was told there
fabtec 3600.00cnd not complete 6"
rough countty 3200.00 ( needs front drive shaft)
bullet proof 12" about 7000 cnd says full kit.
has anyone found one company's lift better then others

The "clunk" is most commonly heard pulling away from a stop. There will be a subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) thud about 2 seconds after you start moving, as the slipjoint unbinds. Next time you go over a bump, pay close attention and see if your clunk happens just as the front wheels pass over the bump, or if it happens when the rears hit.

You ought to be able to get your u-joints locally; any autoparts store like Napa should carry them. They aren't anything special. Really, u-joints are pretty standardized, so you should be able to give the u-joint model (once you find which ones you need) and the parts shop can find them just fine. You'll need the part number for the nickle-plated output yoke (should be searchable here on this site, or google). The binding problem was also an issue on most other GM trucks of the same era, so any stealership ought to be able to look it up, and you might have better luck buying through them (though you may pay more). For the headers, you may want to look into ordering from a catalog, or at least working with a US shop ahead of time and ordering them in. I doubt many places anywhere will have vehicle-specific headers for the H2 in stock, especially not in someplace as remote as Montana.

 

[Yogibear]

Parts are available all over town for h2s but price of parts in Canada are unreal compared to USA! I save about 50% ordering and shipping my parts to plentywood Montanan. There is a company there that excepts parcels for Canadians and hold them untill pick up,.works excellent . There also is a lot of company's that won't ship directly to Canada. This is why I order my parts and drive to pick them up unless it's a need it right this second part..

clunk is definetly left front only when you go over short steep bump ( we have horrible roads ) so suspension don't last long but this clunk has been here since day one changed everything but front bushings.. So maybe time to just do all bushing front to back ....
Is there one brand of headers better then another seems like every brand I read about non are perfect...

 

[The_Mountain]

Parts are available all over town for h2s but price of parts in Canada are unreal compared to USA! I save about 50% ordering and shipping my parts to plentywood Montanan. There is a company there that excepts parcels for Canadians and hold them untill pick up,.works excellent . There also is a lot of company's that won't ship directly to Canada. This is why I order my parts and drive to pick them up unless it's a need it right this second part..

clunk is definetly left front only when you go over short steep bump ( we have horrible roads ) so suspension don't last long but this clunk has been here since day one changed everything but front bushings.. So maybe time to just do all bushing front to back ....
Is there one brand of headers better then another seems like every brand I read about non are perfect...

Well, if it's definitely front-left, then it's not the rear driveshaft binding. You say you've replaced everything. Does that include the halfshaft or CVs? The shock? I know these are probably stupid questions, but every now and then I manage to ask something that hasn't been looked at. I've seen shocks with the design the H2 uses where the top bushing isn't mounted properly, i.e. the two halves of the bushing together with the washers are all either above or below the frame tab, which allows movement and has hard parts knocking against each other.

There aren't a lot of choices for headers for the H2, especially if you want to retain the emissions stuff. Dynatech seems to have a good, if pricey, kit that has matching catalytic converters/pipes. Then you have Gibson, Banks, Flowmaster, and a couple of others. I am facing needing to replace nearly my whole exhaust, so headers is something I'm also exploring. One of my stock manifolds appears to be leaking, though I think it's just a gasket, but since I'll take the opportunity to replace the header bolts with ARP stainless studs, I figured I ought to look into headers too. I also have to replace my cat pipes (rust and what looks like at least one hole), and the after-cat exhaust (rust and several holes in the muffler). If you google "Hummer H2 Headers" there are a couple of hits for threads on "other" H2 forums discussing headers, including a couple of install threads.

Edited to add: How do you like your rear spring conversion? Did you pull the compressor completely? What did you need to do to keep the computer from complaining about missing sensors/compressor/etc? I'm really debating whether to do the spring conversion or not. I like the idea of not needing to ever worry about maintenance, but I don't want to diminish the capability of the truck too much. Although I only use it rarely, the ability to bump the rear clearance is neat, as is the ability of the truck to self-level when towing, and I like the function where it lowers the back by 2" on the highway for stability. Right now, I don't seem to have any leaks, though the left rear corner sits a bit low (still looking for a Tech2 tool to see if I can reset the sensor values and force the suspension back to level), and my compressor only runs for about 20 seconds in the morning, and then only now and then mostly to pump the system back up after driving over 50 for a while. I do get a bit of grief from the CFO over the cost of maintenance on the truck because I just had to have the lower balljoints done, and I'm already facing a $200 bill for fixing the rear passenger window regulator. I haven't even mentioned the exhaust or needing shocks, so I'm hoping the air suspension hangs on for a while longer.

 

[Yogibear]

I will check that shock hope to get my truck back here today I haven't heard a word from them...
The reason I am looking for headers is I have cracked exhaust manifold and 2 broken bolts one on each side lol they want to much in Here for exhaust manifolds 800 for set so I'm better off to ordering headers...

so air to spring was sad day lol I did really like the air but being in Canada and are lovely winters were it will go from +5 to -45 in a day the compressor hated the moisture and would freeze up cause all kinds of issues.. So after fight it for 2 winters i lost a bag while loaded trailer and I said to many issues... The rides not same but it's still great and handles great, can take loads no problem,, the kit I bought came with instructions how to trick computer tells u a wire to cut and cap off... A few times out of know where I will get a service air system but it doesn't flip codes or nothing....


If maintance scares you I have done over 11000 in less then 2 years. It's probably more then the trucks worth but it's paid off and I love it

 

[The_Mountain]

Thanks. Maintenance doesn't scare me, but it does raise some flags with my wife, especially the cost.

For the air system, if I swap to coils I want to delete as much of the air system as I can, i.e. pull off the compressor, disconnect any sensors and wiring harnesses, and so on. The less there is to go wrong, the better.