Sold - 1998 White Hummer Wagon
with Toyo Tires

© Copyright 2010 Chuck Kopelson 02/27/2010
Updated


Description: See Slide Show - See Sticker

My 98 Hummer is now history. It was sold on April 8, 2010. It's been a great 12 years with this truck and the new owner is really happy with it. Most of this article was written as a sales piece.

This 98 H1 wagon is my third Hummer. I'm the original owner. This truck is my baby and has been taken care of and maintained by me to exacting standards. Over the years I have gained extensive knowledge about these vehicles through this web site and as a member of the board of directors of the National Hummer Club. I enjoyed a relationship with AMG and knew many of the tech's and engineers. I wrote the tech articles for the nationally published Ultimate Hummer magazine. I also served as a consultant to one of the 1st GM dealers to take on Hummer. This truck has been the basis for many of the tech articles written on my Flashoffroad.com web site.

This truck is NOT equal to the trucks you typically see on Auto trader and ebay! Why?

Your talking about:

  1. Trucks that often time are not owned by their original owners.
  2. The trucks that are at car lots?
  3. Trucks with older 16.5" wheels and tires
  4. Trucks that never had a front end alignment or a brake job
  5. Trucks that are thousands of dollars behind in maintenance
  6. Trucks with incorrect wheels and tires
  7. Trucks that have accessories installed with crummy wiring jobs
  8. How has it been stored and driven
  9. Trucks with no records

Let's face it. This truck was an 89,000.00 vehicle new. Most Hummer's on the market are not owned by the original purchaser and have been bought and sold numerous times. The original owners had the warranty, monitory resources and the Hummer dealer network to keep these trucks in good repair. Due to the economy many trucks were sold off fairly inexpensively to owners who either could not afford to maintain them or simply didn't know any better.

The trucks that are being sold by used car lots are the same as above or they bought one at auction cheap. They don't have the knowledge or the desire to put the truck in good repair. When I was doing consulting for Weil Hummer they got a truck that the Chevy dealer across the street took in trade. I knew the techs in the garage and they told me that the truck needed 3 or 4 thousand worth of work to bring it back to saleable safe condition. I'm not sure what the Chevy dealer did. Most likely they sent it to the auction. Most of the used car lots simply detail it up nice and sell it off as is.

I see many of the trucks advertised with the old 16.5" wheels. The problem is that hardly anybody makes 16.5" tires anymore. Go to tirerack.com one of the biggest internet tire dealers and see how many 16.5" tires you can find. Then look for 17" and you will see what I mean. A new set of wheels and tires can easily cost 3 to 5,000.

Back to maintenance again. I can tell you that just about all the Hummers that were built came off the assembly line aligned incorrectly. Ask me how I know. You can wear out a brand new set of very expensive tires in a less than a couple thousand miles unless the truck's front and rear is in alignment. If a truck hasn't been aligned on a regular basis the adjustment bolts and tie rod ends will probably be seized. You are looking at 1000's of dollars to put it right and that's maybe after you cook 1500.00 worth of tires. When I bought this truck I stipulated that it be aligned by the dealer and the dealer take apart and anisieze the tie rod ends.

A couple of thousand behind in maintenance is easy to do. It wasn't unusual for a Hummer dealer to charge 15 or 16 hundred for a comprehensive 12k maintenance. Add a couple of other odds and ends and you're at 2k.

A common complaint the tech's always had at the dealers was screwed up wiring. There are all kinds of butchers out there installing alarms and music systems. Aside from actually messing up the wiring they wire accessories so it's nearly impossible to remove the dog house trim and get to the rear of the engine without cutting wires. I was talking to an owner who bought a used 97.5. He said the the prior owner wanted to disable the door locks on the right and simply went into the door and cut the wires.

One of the biggest complaints voiced by Hummer owners over the 15 years I've had trucks was vibration and shaking. I actually got into the hummer wheel business because I learned that the biggest reasons these trucks shake is because of bent or incorrect wheels and out of round tires. If you test drive a hummer take it up to 65 or 70 and make sure it doesn't have any shakes. Don't let anyone tell you it's normal for a truck to have a few shakes here and there.

I see trucks for sale all the time with cheap aftermarket wheels with the wrong backset and incorrect load capacity. Right now on ebay and autotrader there are numerous trucks with incorrect wheels. The hummer has a wheel bolt pattern that matches a GM pickup truck so you can bolt on many aftermarket wheels. The reason the Hummer has a unique backset is because it is the only vehicle with geared hub axles. This truck weighs 8000 pounds which means you need a strong wheel and load range E tires. Good 17" tires for this truck are going to cost you at least 350/ ea. Wheels with all the hardware and CTI will easily cost you 500 each. Any wheel that's bigger than 18" or doesn't have any CTI fitting at the rim is going to be wrong. The wheel has to have an actual fitting screwed into the rim, not an air valve adapter.

Hummer H1's are not made to be driven fast. It puts lots of strain on the engine and drive train and overheats the oil in the transfercase not to mention the fuel economy. Driving at 65 will get you 13.5 to 14 mpg. By fast I mean over 70. If you're traveling on the highway just put the truck at 65 and it will be happy and run forever. Push it to 75 and 80+ and you'll be stressing the hell out of it. I've drained brown burnt oil from many transfercases due to this.

How has the truck been stored? This truck spent it's life in a heated garage, not outside. Lots less wear and tear on the starter and engine because there weren't many cold starts in it's life.

Because I'm the original owner I have all the service, warranty and receipt records for this truck.

I bought the truck in 1998. It has all the options that a stock truck came with except the electric winch because I installed a hydraulic winch. When the factory warranty ran out I bought a GMPP extended warranty which was active between May of 2001 and May of 2004. When the warranty ended I decided to completely clean up and make it like new. It just so happened that a friend of mine who is another hummer owner also has a shop nearby where he restores vintage Rolls Royce's. He offered to let me work on my truck in his shop as long as I wanted. I removed just about anything that came off the truck and repainted it the same exact color; white. I removed all the lights, trim many of the windows, door hinges and replaced anything that was warn or showed evidence of corrosion. I replaced all the screws with stainless steel and completely redid the roof seams. The truck was repainted with Dupont paint, this time with clear coat.



1998 is considered by many to be the quintessential year because it has all the improvements and is the last year before Hummers were equipped with mandated ABS and TT4 electronic traction control traction system (which many off-roaders don't like) that caused the Torsen I differentia to be replaced with a Torsen II. The Torsen differential mechanically routes the torque to the wheel with the most traction without any driver intervention. The Torsen I in this truck can transfer torque to a much wider range of traction conditions than the newer trucks with a torsen II. Anotherwords, in order to put the mandated ABS in the trucks they had to get rid of the excellent Torsen 1. BTW, the Torsen 1 is still used in the HMMWV's.

The method for caster and camber alignment adjustments was changed to cams instead of the labor intensive shim system. It could take 8 hours to do an alignment on a pre 98 truck. This truck came stock with the new improved hvac system. The older hvac systems were discontinued by AMG because they were so bad. Your only option if you have a truck with the old system is to spend 1000's of dollars retrofitting the new system. There are no replacement parts available for the old systems.

This truck is quieter then any of the previous Hummers and has the axle ratio that AMG is using in all the Hummers built since. In a nutshell this truck has all the design improvements gleaned from 1992 and up without any of the mandated problematic electronics.

Turbo diesels produced from 1996 (when they were first offered on the Hummer) to some say into 2000 are at risk for a cracked engine block due to a GM design defect. The defect had to do with the block casting near the #8 cylinder. This truck had the complete engine, not just the block replaced by AMG under the standard factory warranty in 2001 when the truck had 26,000 miles. Once I had the new engine I installed a rear head cooling kit that enhances circulation of engine coolant to the rear of the cylinder heads. If you are looking at buying any truck in this year range you want the truck to have had it's engine replaced.

The truck has been meticulously maintained. I always use Stanadyne fuel additive. The oil and filter have been changed every 3000 miles and I always use Shell Rotella oil and the finest waterproof grease. The transfercase is filled with synthetic oil. Any time anything went wrong it was repaired immediately with the highest quality parts available. Because I'm a dealer for many accessories the truck has been the recipient of many upgrades.

 


Interior Photos

Features:

The truck has a hydraulic Mile marker winch which is very powerful. I like it because it doesn't stick out reducing the front approach angle, It doesn't rely on the batteries for power so it can pull and pull all day without overheating and it's much lighter than an electric winch. I installed the AMG winch springs which gave the truck close to 18" of ground clearance and affords super control with the Cepek shocks. For convenience, I installed the winch control connector in the body of the military blackout light which keeps it high and dry. I also installed a second rocker switch inside the cab so the driver can actuate the winch without having to run the controller and wire into the cabin. The 3 round switches under the winch switch control the 6 lights in pairs on the front light bar.

The Hummer uses power steering pressure for the steering, brakes and in this case the winch. I retrofitted the truck with a new heavy duty power steering pump with a remote reservoir.

The truck has a Detroit locking differential in the rear. This locker requires no driver input to operate and is the most reliable, bullet proof locker on the market.

The custom cross member is stronger than the stock OEM part. Unlike the stock part it's underside is curved so it slides over terrain instead of getting caught and bending like the stock part.

The exhaust pipe in the rear left wheel well is wrapped with header tape to keep heat off the rear tire preventing wear. it also keeps heat from rising into the truck.

The horns that comes with the stock Hummer are really anemic so I swapped them out for these much louder stainless steel electric boat horns and they don't require an external air compressor.

The Hummer heated windshields use fine heater wires embedded in the glass. The stock 98 had thick wires that often times were distracting while driving. I retrofitted the truck with the newer design which have very fine wire.

I always liked the look of the Military marker lights over the stock plain truck lights that AMG put on the trucks so I retrofitted all the lights including the rears to the Military parts. Since the hood is the same one the military uses it has a large opening in front for a convoy blackout light. I simply filled the void with the part that always was supposed to be there.

The mushroom air intake cap is comes flush with the top of the hood. Adding an extension to the cap looks much better.


Accessory Photos

The Hummer comes with standard round headlamps. These Hella H4 units put out a very nicely defined beam of bright focused light which improves nighttime visibility.

The off road straight pipe replaces the catalytic converter thus reducing heat created under the truck, weight and improved engine breathing. The original cat and pipe will be supplied with the truck.

At one time I had a CB radio mounted in the upper console. I sold the whole console with the cb to a friend who replaced it with a nice new console for a 2000 model year truck. This trim package also has windshield pillar trim. When I had the console out I installed another map light in the headliner next to the console for added convenience.

The standard Hummer glove box is all plastic. The hinge between the door and box ends up cracking on many trucks. I finally got fed up and went looking for another glove box. The only mfg that 'once' made one stopped making them. I was out in Denver visiting my friend who builds airplanes. We went down to the shop and made a nice custom box from aircraft grade T6 aluminum.

I really got lucky when a popular Hummer accessory company Off Road America went out of business. They had one custom made wheel well tool box left that I was able to grab. This is an all aluminum welded box with a strong locking lid that fits flush into the passenger rear wheel well. Because its flush it doesn't take up any room in the truck and holds a ton of stuff.

In the earlier days when my wife would go out wheeling with me I installed the console cutout to give her more knee room. The passenger side of the hummer is a little tighter than the drivers side and this cutout opens up the area.

For a truck as massive as the hummer it comes with a pretty anemic thin steering wheel. The horn on the stock hummer blows when you push the turn signal stalk in. I installed a nice comfortable Momo steering wheel and wired the horn switch to the center button so I could have a normal setup.

AMG quieted down the Hummer a little bit every year. My first truck was a 95 and drove me nuts until I sound insulated it. The 98 was much quieter from the factory so I set out to see how much more I could reduce the noise. I installed sound insulation in the doors, in the doghouse cover, under the hump behind the aux heater unit and under the rear cabin carpet.

I removed all the trim and headliner and installed high performance Reflectix aluminum coated bubble insulation to the steel roof. This really makes a difference in the summer when the hot sun is beating down on that large expanse of metal.

The GM Monsoon stereo head was just too old. I wanted something that could play an MP3 cd as well as have a USB and Ipod connector. I installed a Sony CDX-GT610UI radio that feeds the existing Monsoon setup and got rid of the cd changer. I gutted the changer and made it into a cubby hole which is handy for gloves, maps etc.

When you put a GPS in any hardtop hummer it's good to have an external antenna. The vertical windshield doesn't give a view to the sky like a slanted car windshield. If you have a heated windshield the heater wires further block the signal. That's why I installed a skymaster bulkhead mounted gps antenna on the roof. After I sold the truck the new owner said that he had good luck with a standard Garmin GPS on the dash so having an external antenna may not be necessary.

AMG left out 2 of the most important gauges for a turbo diesel, a boost gauge and a exhaust gas temperature gauge. I installed a Westach aircraft quality dual gauge.

If you drive the truck too fast you can overheat the transfercase oil. Too monitor the oil temperature I installed a dual Westach transfer case, transmission oil temperature gauge.

I had the OEM tubular brush guard for years. I never liked the massive heavy steel guards that come up and over the hood that lots of owners put on their trucks because it makes opening the hood a real chore. A company in MN called Luverne makes the steel brush guards for the military. It's way more substantial than the stock unit and folds down the same way.

The injection pump on the Hummer turbo diesel is electronic. A part called the PMD sends electronic pulses to the pump originating from the computer. The PMD is originally located on the injection pump deep in the center of the engine where it's exposed to extreme heat causing it to fail. This truck is equipped with a remote mount heat sink and has a new PMD.

When I was out on photo shoots there was nowhere handy to set my equipment on while I was setting up that was off the ground. When I had the opportunity to get the step bumper it solved this problem. It's also great for standing on if you need a higher vantage point or for resting heavy objects on that you are going to slide into the back. It also makes a great picnick table and looks great. and has a hinge hole for an external tire carrier. This unit was custom made by a guy in Florida who used to make the Off Road America welded parts.

The truck has 4 17 x 8.5 aluminum wheels with 37 x 13.5 x 17 Toyo open country MT tires and the stainless steel cti kit. The wheels are in brand new condition. The set has around 3000 miles on it.

 


Standard Exterior Accessories:


Standard Interior Accessories


Maintenance and Improvement Items


1999 AM GENERAL HUMMER H1 6.5LITER TURBO DIESEL V8 ENGINE 4-SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ENCLOSED WAGON WHITE EXTERIOR GRAY INTERIOR CENTRAL TIRE INFLATION SYSTEM MONSOON PREMIUM SOUND SYSTEM with AM/FM SONY STEREO 4-PASSENGER SEATING POWER DOOR LOCKS DETROIT LOCKER 2 SPEED TRANSFER CASE TORQUE BIASING DIFFERENTIAL FULL TIME FOUR WHEEL DRIVE 16.5 INCH WHEELS BLACK BRUSH GUARD WINCH Trailer towing package, Heated windshield, power side mirrors, Air Conditioning, Aluminum Rocker panel protection, driveline protection, Remote keyless entry, cruise control, custom hummer rubber floor mats, power windows, power door locks
Overview
Model: 1998 HUMMER H1
Body style / driveline: 4 - Door Wagon, 4-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle
Manufacturing location: Mishawaka, Indiana
 
Engine
Type: 6.5L turbo-diesel V-8
Displacement (cu in / cc): 396.7 / 6500
Bore & stroke (in / mm): 4.06 x 3.82 / 103.12 x 97.03
Block material: cast iron
Cylinder head material: cast iron
Valvetrain: OHV with rocker arms, pushrods and roller tipped lifters
Ignition system: compression ignition
Fuel delivery: indirect injection (IDI)
Compression ratio: 21.5:1
Horsepower (hp / kw @ rpm): 195 / 145 @ 3400
Torque (lb-ft / Nm @ rpm): 430 / 583 @ 1800
Recommended fuel: No. 2 diesel
Maximum engine speed (rpm): 3400
 
Transmission
Type: Hydra-Matic 4L80-E, 4-speed electronically controlled automatic
Gear ratios (:1):  
First: 2.48
Second: 1.48
Third: 1.00
Fourth: 0.75
Reverse: 2.08
Final drive ratio: 4.92:1
Transfer Case - New Venture 242
Differential - Zexel Torsen front and Detroit Locker Rear
 
Chassis/Suspension
Front: independent double A-frame, front stabilizer bar diameter 27 mm
Rear: independent double A-frame
Traction control: brake intervention
Steering type: power-assisted
Steering ratio: variable 13/16:1
Steering wheel turns,
lock-to-lock: 		2.5
Turning Radius (ft / m): 26.5 /8.1
 
Brakes
Type: Hydra-boost 4 wheel power disc brakes

Rotor diameter x thickness
(in / mm):		 front: 10.5 x 0.94 / 266 x 24
rear: 10.5 x 0.94 / 266 x 24
 
Wheels/Tires
Wheel size and type: std: 17-inch one-piece aluminum wheel
Tires: Radial, Goodyear GSA, 37x12.50R17LT or Goodyear MT/R, 37x12.50R17LT
 
Dimensions
Exterior
Wheelbase (in / mm): 130 / 3302
Overall length (in / mm): without winch: 184.5 / 4686
Track width (in / mm): without mirrors: 71.6 / 1819
Overall height (in / mm): wagon model: 75 / 1905
Track (in / mm): front: 71.62 / 1819; rear: 71.62 / 1819
Minimum ground clearance
(in / mm): 		16 / 406.4
Curb weight (lb / kg): 4-Door Wagon: 7050 / 3198
Payload 10,300 GVWR
(lb / kg):		 4-Door Wagon: 3250 / 1474
 
Interior 4-Door Wagon
Seating capacity
(front / rear): 		2 / 2
Head room (in / mm): front: 41.58 / 1056
rear: 40 / 1016
Leg room (in / mm): front driver: 38.06 / 967
rear: 29.86 / 758
Shoulder room (in / mm): front: 77.07 / 1958
rear: 77.07 / 1958
Hip room (in / mm): front: 23.10 / 587
rear: 22.42 / 570 		front: 23.10 / 587
rear: 22.42 / 570
 
Capacities
Cargo volume (cu ft / L): 58.3 / 1651 (wagon)
Trailer towing maximum
(lb / kg): 		4-Door Wagon: 7592 / 3443
Fuel tank (gal / L): 25 / 94.6 + 17 / 64.3
Engine oil (qt / L): 7 / 6.6
Cooling system (qt / L): 26 / 25
 
Vehicle Performance Data
Cruising range (miles / km
at an average of 30-40 mph (48-64 km/h) over a hard surface and rolling terrain): 		500 / 644
Grade capability: 60% (31°)
Side slope capability: 40% (22°)
Approach angle: 72°
Departure angle: 37.5°
Fording depth (in / cm): 30 / 76.2

The truck has been sold.

Terms of Sale:

I hold a clear title to the truck. The title will be signed over to you with a bill of sale and the truck given to you once payment is wired to my account or your check clears. Unfortunately there is rampant fraud these days. There are many occurrences of forged cashiers and bank checks; that's why the check has to clear before the vehicle and title will be handed over. Another way to do this is to meet in person at your bank where the transaction can be completed. I have a perfect ebay seller rating and have been a paypal commercial seller with absolutely no charge backs.