Xmods Evolution Series: Hummer H2 Review

[truckian]

I just got my Hummer H2 on Sunday afternoon, took me till six P.M. to finish putting upgrades on, but here's my review.

THE BODY

I bought the Hummer H2 kit because I have always been a fan of Hummer. I liked the Humvee and H1, the H2, and now the H3. I also got the Hummer because the Orange F-150 is ugly in my opinion, and I'm waiting for the blue body top. Anyway, The Hummer H2 is a good all around kit. The body has many many many holes in the bottom to allow various attachments, like lightbars, roof racks, hoods, tail-lights, head-lights, and more. I lovethe way they put the new rear body clip. Instead of having a peg that goes through the middle of the chassis and locks like the gen 1, it has two fingers that go around the gear case in front of the rear wheels. It allows for alot of movement from the rear pivoting axle. In the future, I hope there are more attachments for the many ports on the H2. Trailer hitch would be good for a new bumper for example.

Body-***** out of 5.

THE CHASSIS

The chassis is a big step up from the old gen 1 car chassis. Although the two don't really compare. The suspension has a good amount of travel and the rear axle pivots, giving a good amount of offroad capability. The "box" that holds the board is great. It's about 3/4 of an inch high, 2 1/4 inches long, and 2 1/4 inches wide. Forming a nice little square electronics pack. The reciever and main board have been combined to reduce space greatly. The crystal now mounts horizontally on the top. Instead of one port for Command Logic lights, there are now two. No more plugging in an adaptor if you want lights and neons. I don't know why you'd want neons on the Hummer though, unless you used the lowering kit. The motor now sits on the very back sideways at an angle. There is now a red wire and black wire coming from the motor. On the end of each wire is a small metal contact "plate". To connect them to the chassis, just put the wires up through the holder arms and screw them onto the chassis in their correct spots. The instructions mention that the battery holder can be shifted around to allow for a better center of gravity. I haven't tried it yet, but I expect it to be true. The only wires visible on the outside of the chassis are the ones connecting the motor to the chassis. So now you don't have to worry about breaking your antenna wire or anything. Upgrading is easier due to fewer outside wires, however the amount of mechanics and vague instructions make it much more difficult. There isn't a whole lot of ground clearance so don't expect to do any off-roading yet. Oh, and the motor hauls butt more than any stock car of gen 1.

Chassis-****1/2 out of 5.

OFF ROAD UPGRADE

If you're going to buy a truck, you won't be offroading without upgrades. I recommend this as one of the first. The kit comes with one front and one rear upper arm, two front and two rear lower arms, four small driveshafts for the wheels, and four BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tires. The installation is pretty basic. Take the old arms off and replace them with the new ones, put the new driveshafts in to connect each wheel to the differentials, put the tires on, and your done. After using this kit, I noticed that it really lifts the chassis up. 1/2 inch more about. The main problem is that the lower arms still are only about 1/4 inch or less from the ground. I also noticed HORRIBLE bump steer, but this doesn't really detract from the performance much. The tires certainly are bigger, but they aren't big enough. So, the kit makes the truck chassis much better than before, and certainly makes the trucks look better and more offroad ready. But due to the slightly larger tires, and the thin suspension arms on the bottom, it won't be easy to offroad. Higher bodyclips, and sturdier, thinner arms would difinately make this kit much better.

Off Road Upgrade-***out of 5.

TRUCK ALL WHEEL DRIVE KIT.

This kit comes with what you'd expect. Two center drive gears, one front differential, two large bushings, four small bushings, three driveshafts, four screws, one second gear, and one second gear shaft. At least that's what the package says. Basically it's some drive shafts, gears, and bushings. Let me tell ya, this kit was a real (insert mean word here) to put on. But that could just be me. Once it's all together though, it does it's job. There's not a whole lot to say here. So I'll just get to the rating.

Truck All Wheel Drive Kit-****out of 5.

So, those are my reviews, I was in a hurry, so I probably left a few things out. If you have any questions on these kits, or found an error or something I should mention, just let me know here, and I'll get back to you. Hope you liked my reviews! See ya next time!

*edit* I'll put up a gallery probably tomorrow afternoon.