The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts WW2 era GM 1 1/2 ton and Deuce Wheels.

Hi Folks, This is Tony, a new guy here, and I've got a situation here that is new to me, but I have a feeling that some of you have seen before, so I'm looking for some feedback.
Just recently upon having purchased some fresh tires that I've needed for years for my 1 1/2 ton military panel I took my old rims and tires to my local shop here to have my new tires installed. I've done a lot of business with this shop and the owner had indicated that he had some experience with multipiece wheels in a previous discussion and to bring em in when I was ready. Well, upon disassembly of the rims, they balked because of an apparent quite rusty condition. Looking at them first hand I had to reluctantly agree. So I pick up all my parts and brought them back home thinking "what am I going to do now"?. I figure all of these rims are quite specific to these trucks and while there are lots of these (relatively speaking) old rigs around, they all have had old tires on them for years and they'll all be rusty inside.
Well, I figured I should just clean them up and see what I've got. What I've found, it appears to me, is that while there was a fair amount of, shall we say, bone loss, most of the loss was between the flanges, and particularly on the side closest to the integral flange. The area of lockring "contact" seemed to have maintained it's integrity pretty well. I figure it was the tightly maintained contact all of these years. Plus the metal there ( the lockring itself and the mating flange on the rim ) is beefy. Even across the inner face of the rim to the integral flange side where most of the cancer was (is) the metal seems thick.
But that being said, one has to be very careful with these things what with the pressure involved, so proceeding to mount the tires on these rims could be problematic.
I would love some feedback on this from anyone who is interested or has some experience with these. Here are the photos of what I've got.
http://s1293.beta.photobucket.com/user/Milibolt/library/Big%20Truck%20Rims
Thanks so much. Tony

Most small shops won't touch the older rims due to liability and I think a whole new generation that has very little experience. That being said is there an OTR shop that services large trucks? They generally have the cage, tools, and knowledge to service these applications. Get a second opinion from them, if you hear the same issues you may have to do some rim shopping.

seems most places just wont work with them any more , have even been told they where illegal to run on the hyway LOL i do tires in Prudoe bay Alaska , much of our equiptment runs multi piece wheels , pictures are not great but dont look that bad , but trust the man that is working on them , a first hand viewing is better then any picture

"some experience" probably means he's heard of them before. You got the old tires off which is the hard part and the rims look okay from the photos. I say paint 'em up and find a shop that aint scared of 'em.

Good points, fellas. I hear what your saying. Certainly I will get an opinion from an outfit that deals primarily with trucks, farm equipment, etc. There's a bunch of shops in the (San Joaquin) valley that cater to the big stuff.
Just thought I'd run it through this forum now because there are just so many of you out there with this interest and experience. It's really cool!
Actually, after reading the very informative Tech article in regard to wheels and tires for Big Bolts in this forum, I went to the Accuride website and checked out some wheels (in the 22.5 size). Lo and behold I found a rim that might work for me. My rim is a 6 lug, with a 8 1/2 diameter bolt pattern, and I need the center hole on the rim to be at least 6 1/4 inches. They have one like that (but I need to check the spec's with more care). But my inclination is not in that direction. It puts me into a tire size that is more like an 8.25 x 20 (instead of 7.50 x 20). So size could be an issue, not to mention the money. So I think I'll try to work it out with originals (find a few spares if some of mine don't work out) at this point.

Thanks folks.

Nebraska Tire http://www.nebraskatire.com/truck/overstocks.htm still sells 8.25 tires and they mount them. Most farming area tire shops still mount them. Tube required wheels are still being produced. I started switching my fleet to tubeless back in the 70's because they are the way to go with a fleet. However, I still use tube required tires on my old jalopies and there isn't anything wrong with them. I don't let the younger guys in my shop mess with them because they expect everything to be idiot proof. I have been told that multi-piece wheels are illegal, but no one has ever has been able to show me such a regulation. But it sounds better than admitting that they are too dumb to change them. I think it would be a real shame to put tubeless tires on an original military vehicle.

Agreed. And if I can find new tube required wheels in the bolt pattern etc. previously mentioned, I'll buy what I need to. That's a possible avenue to explore. My truck takes 7.50 x 20 tires. The 8.25 size I mentioned matches somewhat the 9 and 9R x 22.5 according to the "Tech Tip" article on this site. I gather that there are at least a variety of tires in that size. Still, not the preferred option.

These guys have the military type tires, but they are not cheap.

http://www.lucasclassictires.com/Military-Truck-Tires_c6.htm

Love your 506 panel, they are rare and beautiful to my eye! I recently acquired the correct size and type rims for my G506 and after looking at the photos of yours I'd say mine were in the same condition. As long as the pitting is not too deep and the ring and it's contact area are in good condition there is no problem with these wheels.

Although there is a garage in my area that mounts tires on Budd style wheels When it came time to mount my new tires I decided to do it myself. The hard part is breaking the old ones down which you have already done and like I did you'll be starting with bare rims and new tires which is a little physically demanding but not all that hard to do when mounting them your self. Take some simple safety precautions (you don't need a cage just chains) and study some of the excellent how to videos that are on the web and it can be a fun project, not something to dread.

In my over enthusiasm I did all six of mine in one day plus put them on the truck, if I were to do it again I'd spread it out over a few days and make it more enjoyable. There's a lot of bad stories out there about split rims but the Budd's are much better and with a little care can be mounted at home safely.

-Mike-

PS

I'd stick with the 7.50x20 NDT'S, the 8.25's are to tall and mess with the final drive gear ratio too much and make these trucks a lot less enjoyable to drive.

Crenwelge. Thanks for the info. I've been looking at and wanting those for a few years now. Just wasn't able pop for them due to other priorities. But I picked these 4 Denman Premium Express Traction tires http://s1293.beta.photobucket.com/user/Milibolt/media/DSCN6911_zpsd1f7001b.jpg.html?sort=4&o=0 for a song so I snapped em up. I don't think it would be too inaccurate historically for my purpose if I just added a couple of NDT's, say for the front wheels and run the Denman's on the rear duals. I am so close to having my rig roadable again and to save a couple of bucks is important.

sleeve. Good to hear your experience with these specific wheels. How bad were your original wheels and where did you find replacements ? So you went for it yourself, did you ? Way to go. I've been thinking about it. Yeah, chain em up, clip on air chuck, remove the valve core in case you need to deflate from a distance, use a remote regulator to up the psi gradually, check for even lockring placement, etc. How hard was it to get that lockring on? I watched a youtube vid and this wheel guy did it fast but pounded the crap out of the ring. But maybe that's just the way it is. What was your technique? Got any pix of your rig?

I had the three piece lock ring wheels it took me a couple of weeks working on and off to get them all broke down, cleaned up and painted. Mounting 6 in one day was no problem, my wheels were on the narrow side for 8.25's so getting the lock ring properly seated was the bigger challenge on the mounting.

Tony,
A previous owner had put later 900-20 military tires with 9" rims that's why I needed to change back. As mentioned before this threw off the final drive ratio and the truck needed constant down shifting for small hills because of their larger diameter and it was a lot more un-sprung weight that made the truck ride terrible. Through a military truck site connection I found the correct wheels but I have also found them in wrecking yards that have old big bolts in them. I only used a 5 lb hammer to put the rings on, the trick is to get the ring into the groove on one side to start with and then work it around. I painted everything first and then touched it up after as there's no getting away from having to use a little brute force, overall not that hard to do. One of these days I'll do the photo bucket thing and post pictures of my truck here but can't do it at the moment.

Lastly if your going to use your four wheel drive at all don't mix tire sizes it will bind up the transfer case.

Enjoy your project, you got one hell of a truck there!



-Mike-

Yeah, you gotta squish all of that rubber down and how many people can stand on a tire while you are setting the rings. Ha !

Wow. Huge wheels, 9-20's.

Thanks for explaining your approach on the rings, and I am well aware of the mixed tires sizes in regard to 4WD. Could only find 4 of the Denman's (and looking for more) but had to make the move due to the price and wanting to get the ole girl on her feet. Also, Denman's out of business now. Doh !! That's how I roll ! Crazy ! But I'll work it out.
If ya want to send a pic via email, that's ok by me.

Universal Tire carries the re-pop 7.50 x 20 Firestone non directional tread military tires and I got mine there as well as the tubes and tube flaps. These are the right tires but not cheap like any other big truck tire so it took me awhile to save up to buy six. The 7.50's sit on the rims nicely and don't stick up too high and get in the way of the rings so I just knelt on the tire and used a short handled 5 pounder to knock them on.

I'd be happy to email you pictures of "Monty" I always like showing the truck off!

Cool. You'll find my email address by clicking on my username, and then clicking on user profile.

If you intend to use 4wd with NDTs in front and Traction tires in back you'll have a real headache (plus it looks funny), invest in two more Traction type tires when you can, they needn't be identical to the Denmans just an equal or better tread. Multipiece rims arent especially difficult or dangerous to mount and should go back together smoothly, just take your time and dont cut corners.

You are probably right. That idea (even though it was mine) wasn't sittin well with me. My (flawed) logic was just to ultimately have all NDT's when I could afford it, so that would be a couple already bought. Diameter of course, is key. And thanks for the advice on rims.

tony