Need H1 shop/mechanic in SF Bay Area

[drhodgie]

I can not find anyone to work on my H1. I live in Santa Clara and am desperate to find a knowledgeable shop that can service my H1.
I have had bad results from a tire shop who totally screwed up my CTIS system.
Thanks

[GracingHMC4]

What do you need help with? Im in SJ. Im doing a rebuld on my truck right now.

[drhodgie]

I just need general maintenance stuff like oil change, tire rotation, CTIS problems and electrical (batteries do not hold charge more than 10 days). Just general stuff.

[GracingHMC4]

I just need general maintenance stuff like oil change, tire rotation, CTIS problems and electrical (batteries do not hold charge more than 10 days). Just general stuff.

I could probably help with most of that stuff. I'm taking my truck to SWAT in Fremont for my Ball joints and shocks and putting on my new wheels (purely because I don't want to have to muscle the 180lbs wheel/tire set up).

But for CTIS issues and hooking all that up, I'm going to do it myself. Which means I'll have to show up to the shop and probably get my hands dirty while its up in the air, cause yes I agree, I don't trust anyone but myself with that CTIS system. Its so easy to screw up and the quick release valves aren't the cheapest equipment to replace.

The Batteries issue is proably a bad ground. That plagues H1's constantly. I just fixed one on my truck that would kill the batteries in 2 days if not sooner.

Oil change is an easy one. Do you have the double oil filter set up or single?

I'll be around this weekend some and will watch this post, so if you need help soon.... let me know.

[drhodgie]

Thanks for information. I finally got my Hummer back from Americas Tire on Stevens Creek. I gave them new stainless CTI valve stems by GT, new shrader valves and cleaned and polished the braided air lines. I went to pick it up my Hummer and found that they had broken a braided air line and disconnected all the CTIS lines. My line have schraders on both ends (tire and axle). I drove it home so I could sort it out. Next morning the right tire was flat with another broken bead. I should have checked and watched the air pressure. Carl (the manager) said to have it towed in again (3ird time) and he would fix it. I asked Carl how the tire (it was a slightly used military tire for my 16.5 rims) could pass the submersion test and still leak. He said the tire was too big to test. I have not checked the wheels yet (hate to look).

My name is John and if you can email your phone # lets try and get together. Thanks

pacimp@gmail.com

[superluke]

I talked to a local H1 mechanic on the phone. Seems that he is willing to look my truck over I'll let you know his situation after I talk it over with him.

[theromero]

Hi, I have a 2000 H1 Wagon (red) that just blew a rear tire. I have run flats and the tires are MUD T/A B.F.Goodrich. R16.5(?).

I had the truck towed to Putnam Hummer and to replace the 2 rear tires with new MUD T/A's is going to cost $2500.

This is the cost breakdown they gave me:

$550 per tire. $1100 total.

$40 runflat grease per tire. $80 total.

4 hours of labor per tire. $1300.

I need to know if this is a rip-off and if i can get this done drastically cheaper.

Thanks, guys.

[JustinOK]

Hi, I have a 2000 H1 Wagon (red) that just blew a rear tire. I have run flats and the tires are MUD T/A B.F.Goodrich. R16.5(?).

I had the truck towed to Putnam Hummer and to replace the 2 rear tires with new MUD T/A's is going to cost $2500.

This is the cost breakdown they gave me:

$550 per tire. $1100 total.

$40 runflat grease per tire. $80 total.

4 hours of labor per tire. $1300.

I need to know if this is a rip-off and if i can get this done drastically cheaper.

Thanks, guys.

Rip off.

$162/hr for their labor rate? Holy crap.

If you shop around for tires you can probably get something for cheaper. Heck, my new BFG All Terrain (37 x 12.5 x 17) were $350 a piece. Are your 16.5" wheels one piece or two piece?

The price on runflat grease seems high but I don't remember how much grease you would need.

Why are they replacing both rear tires? Did you lose air pressure in the other side and trash that tire as well?

Are your BFG tires 35" I don't think BFG makes a commercially available 37" tire in 16.5" rim. There are some military BFG tires out there though in 37" that will fit the 16.5" rim.

What part of the country are you in?

[theromero]

Yeah, that's what I thought.

I do think that I have 17" rims - i think i was wrong about the 16.5.

My wheels have runflats on them right now but maybe not after the tire change.

I replaced both tires because they are all pretty worn. The previous owner didn't take great care of the truck.

I'm in the Bay Area near SFO. If any of you are nearby it would be great to get together sometime.

[JustinOK]

If you are using a two piece wheel it really should have a beadlock device on the inside. That can be in the form of a combination runflat/beadlock, or just a beadlock-only insert. I use the beadlock-only insert on my 17" two piece wheels. The beadlock only insert for the 17" two piece wheels are about $190 each. But they are very easy to remove/install.

[theromero]

I'll make sure to ask the service guy at Putnam what I have.

I hope that's the last time I use them. My previous visit cost me $4000, and that was only a couple weeks ago.

[theromero]

I got my truck back today after a couple weeks in the shop just to change 2 rear tires.

I forgot to ask my service manager about my wheels.

Can you tell just by looking at my pix what kind they are? (Wheels, not tires)

http://planetromero.com/rome.ro/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_9284.jpg

http://planetromero.com/rome.ro/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_6154-2.jpg

How much should it cost to replace one tire? I'd really like to do the front tires.

Also - how much for an alignment?

[JustinOK]

I got my truck back today after a couple weeks in the shop just to change 2 rear tires.

I forgot to ask my service manager about my wheels.

Can you tell just by looking at my pix what kind they are? (Wheels, not tires)

http://planetromero.com/rome.ro/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_9284.jpg

http://planetromero.com/rome.ro/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_6154-2.jpg

How much should it cost to replace one tire? I'd really like to do the front tires.

Also - how much for an alignment?

Those are the 17" one piece aluminum wheels.

You can find those BFG Mud Terrains at many online retailers, often with free shipping. Check ebay out as well.

Alignment is tough to say. Before you get an alignment, you have to have all the suspension in spec. You might need some new ball joints, idler/putman arms, tie-rods, shocks, etc. Once everything is in spec, a 4 wheel alignment takes about 4 hours per the book, if I remember correctly. Multiply that by the shop's hourly rate and there you go. Make sure they have the Hunter alignment rack. It uses reflective plates that affix to the wheels, and sends back a laser signal to the machine. The machine will read camber, castor, toe, etc. The Hunter rack/equipment should have the HUMMER in the database.

[BigK]

Tustin Hummer [southern Californa] mounted 5 new BFG KM2's onto 5 of those wheels and removed the 2 piece runflats and did a toe in alignment for me for around $500.

I could have had 4 wheel parts do the tires for $240, but I wanted Tustin to do the alignment [they have a brand new Hunter-HD laser 4 wheel alignment machine that can easily fit an H1].

I got charged book time which for AM General is 1.1 hours per one piece wheel and 2 hours I believe for 2 piece wheels with the big donut. The 17" and 16.5" alloys aren't as bad because you can reach in with a tool and separate the runflat.

Alignment costs will vary. If your truck is relatively in spec, it's a quick toe adjustment and you are looking at $100-150.

Most expensive alignment was my initial alignment which was around $500, they had to loosen all the control arm brackets and remove/add shims on all four corners to get my truck to align right.

With the 1 piece wheels I'd toss the run flats and get a spare tire/wheel. That way you can go to American Tire or Costoco, order the tires and pay 5-15$ per tire to get them mounted and balanced. I did that before.

So basically if you got 2 piece wheels, it's 2 hours labor per tire deal with those type of wheels. Most tire shops wont touch them.

The 1 piece wheels like the type shown in your posts above are no different than any other suv / pick up wheel once the runflat is removed. You can ask the tire shop to cut off and trash the old tires, then you can use a socket wrench to unbolt the runflats and toss[or sell] them. Then you can install tires on the 1 piece wheels like any other vehicle at any tire shop that can fit 37" tires on their machine.

Some [but not all] dealers treat H1 owners like wallets on legs, the service managers will just pad the heck out of the bill and hope the customer isn't wiser.

What I did recently was:

-Purchased tires at 4 wheel parts
-Got the awesome warranty from 4 wheel parts which covers off road damage for the first 50% threadlife of the tire
-Took tires to Tustin and had them remove my runflats and mount/balance and align my truck.

If I had the runflats already removed I would have taken the tires to walmart and had them mounted and balanced for $5-10 a wheel and then took the truck to Tustin for an alignment if I wanted to save some money.

Lots of 4x4 owners run big tires... just got to find a shop to do it if the dealership wants to put the screws on you.

[theromero]

Ok, so what you're saying is with my one-piece wheels, if i remove the runflat from the wheel, then I can have my H1's 37" tires changed pretty much anywhere?

What about a beadlock? What about the CTIS connect/disconnect (if needed for tire change)?

Someone said earlier that a tire company screwed up their braided CTIS hoses when they changed their tire.

I love the idea of getting a $500 alignment at Tustin Hummer. http://www.tustingmc.com/MiscPage_20

(Kinda lame seeing the Hummer H1 Service page filename is MiscPage_20)

Did your toe-in alignment cost $500 or was it $500 for the alignment + mounting 5 tires?

Also, if you have a spare tire on your Hummer, what kind of jack do you have to lift the truck??