Humvee H1- any good?

parts may shortly become an issue with GM's published intention to stop making Hummers.
Posted on internet today.

Graham

You can still buy parts for a ModelT Ford...hehehehe

Peter

I have to admit that I would kill to own a Humvee.

What are they like on fuel?

Bob

Bob,

Be Careful for what you wish for.

I meet Peter and his Humvee at Craigs hut. What was met to be a short stop for him turned out to be a guided tour of his vehicle. Everybody wants to know what it is like to drive one of these, including myself.

I am sure this would happen a lot.

Wayne

Graham
GM stopped retailing civilian Hummer H1's in 2006, AM General (the actual manufacturer) stopped making them at the same time.
GM only made the H2's and 3's which are based on chevy trucks and are basically trading on the Hummer name which they bought the marketing rights to in 2003 (I think that was the correct date).
The Humvee/H1 is totally different animal, designed to follow tracked vehicles across country during an invasion ;-)) as well as support a variety of roles in warfare from basic supply carrying to a light armoured vehicle. They were never intended or designed to deal with post invasion urban warfare in Iraq.
As far as parts go there is absolutely no problem, there is a huge surplus market in the US with every part available plus AM General has a very good parts network with FREE shipping in the US on all parts. We can order parts online and have them delivered to the door here in Oz within 5 working days, try that with your normal 4wd sold here.
The actual cost of parts is very good, typical prices in $AU landed at my door for brand new parts are $35 for balljoints and tie rod ends, a full set of injectors $200 for eight, glowplugs $20 for 8, fully reco injection pump with all new internals $600, consumables like filters atc are available locally as the engine and trans are standard items fitted to chev's like Suburbans etc. A full set of six radiator/cooling system hoses is $85, set of fan belts (six) $30, A arm bushes $& each, uni joints $15 etc. Tyres cost $320 each delivered to the door and last around 80,000k.
Body panels are pretty cheap, front 1/4 panel (bit between drivers door and front wheel are $200 and can be fitted at home with epoxy and pop rivets. The whole body tub is high tensile aluminium , bonnet and doors are kevlar composite, the paint is CARC which is very hard and tough and doesn't mark easily.
Fuel economy is pretty good, on a trip typically 10 -15% more than a mates 79 turbo traytop with camper on the back.
Bob I usually get around 16l/100k on the freeway sitting on 95 -100 kph and the worst ever was on the Madigan line where it got up to 25l/100. A 3 litre grenadier Patrol on that trip with us used 21l/100 so with a fair bit more weight and more than twice the engine capacity plus I was making the track a lot of the time I can't complain especially as it rides and handles off road so much better than the typical 4wd.

You are not wrong there Wayne, I have a printed A4 sheet which answers most of the usual questions like:
Q: It is very wide, how wide is it?
A: 30mm narrower than a 100 series is to the outside of its mirrors. Actually comparing body to body it is 200mm wider than a 100 series.

I should have said HUB single, they decided to leave the hub that was OK alone and just replace one. At $2,500 I am not surprised !

That's where you are wrong, the Humvee and H1 are made by a defence contracting company called AM General, nothing whatsoever to do with GM. If anything they had their roots back in the old AMC company which spawned Chrysler and the original civilian Jeeps.
they also produced the H2 for GM who had designed it and supplied the components for AM General to build into vehicles, this came about as a condition of the sale of the Hummer name to GM.
They even bought the design of the 6.2/6.5 Chev diesel from GM and reworked it to solve a few initial design problems and have sold the engines under their own name for about 5 or 6 years now.
Here is link
http://www.amgeneral.com/

Ok no problem my mistake, So they are the same width and length as standard land cruisers and land rovers ?

I reckon that mechanic did not have a clue and needed to say something in his defense. I do the service on my GMC 3500 Dually myself and have all the service manuals for all American cars on DVD up to the year 2008. To remove a hub and spending 4 hours .. well somebody did something wrong. I agree with the above that parts are lots cheaper for my truck also than the "common" jap car and usually are quicker from the US than from Sydney.
I was told about the problems with width and tracks and so far I had only a few tight moments but mostly it is better to run outside the track. Warren beach for example is tight in some places but got through without problems. The little bridge at the south end towards Nannup (4t max) was actually more of a problem since my outer tires were just inside the bridge with a total width of the truck at 2.50m.

have fun
gmd

D200dug see the follow up to second reply, no they are wider but not as much as you think 2160 o/all, approx 200mm wider in the body than a 100 series.
I have done quite a few trips outback and plenty locally in NSW plus plenty down into most of the Vic high country and never had a problem with width on tracks. Some of the detours around trees across the track require a second bite and some logs cut when across tracks have only a 100mm clearance but I've yet to have to trim any. With a wheel at each corner the biggest problem as any Landy 130 driver will tell you is the hairpins as the Humvee has the same 130" wheelbase. Overall length is less than a troopy.