2 piece wheels

[tigertank]

CAN U WELD THESE TOGETHER? and has anyone done it? I was thinking it would help finding tire shops that will work on them..... no shop around here will mess with split rims

 

[Lawdog734]

Just curious, but why don't you leave them as is? They're easy enough to work with without having to pay someone to do it for you.

 

[tigertank]

don't like messing with tires plus I want to run with out the beadlock just have them mounted like regular wheels and tires also I have a tire guy that works for me mounts mu 11 r 24.5 on buds and he wont mess with the beadlocks

 

[gringeltaube]

CAN U WELD THESE TOGETHER?

Yes you can... and then what? Have nice paperweights?
As a wheel it would be completely useless of course, since you (or anyone in the world) would not be able to mount any tires, that way.



G.

 

[tigertank]

and y is that wouldn't they function like a regular wheel............. we have wheeled loader big caterpillars they have welded the 2 piece wheels together and they mount tires just fine........

 

[DavidB]

On piece wheels have a dropped center to allow the tires to be mounted.Tire guy you use may not have done these and has no wish to learn.It is not that hard to do your self,and easier than deuce wheels.
DavidB

 

[MatthewH]

If your dead set against beadlock, or stock HMMWV rims, go find a stock H1 or H2 and buy those wheels, there a one piece alloy rim, so your "tire" guy will gladly mount them for you

 

[tage]

Just get some steel wheels from jegs/summit. I have my spare mounted on one. I don't like it as it's not diy friendly, but if you don't feel like beating on them with a duck bill hammer, I don't blame you. Plus I can throw the spare in the back by myself. Try that without blowing out your back with a normal bead lock.

 

[springbok]

One thing I have learned from owning MVs is that you need to be able to do a lot of work yourself or with the help of someone else that is a good enough friend to get dirty. I don't think I would trust rims being welded together. not sure how much it could change the structure of the steel and you run the risk of warping things. Hopefully you will not be changing tires very often so tread lightly when re-inventing the wheel...

 

[tommys2patrick]

CAN U WELD THESE TOGETHER? and has anyone done it? I was thinking it would help finding tire shops that will work on them..... no shop around here will mess with split rims

Why not do one as an experiment. You seem to be fairly confident that it might work. Would your goal also be to convert it from tube and flap to just tubeless? I think the welding would get a bit more complicated as you would have to make sure it was completely air tight. You would need to deal with the valve stem opening and leave a small hole to mount an insert type valve stem in the rim. While several people refer to these as "beadlocks", they are not true beadlocks as they do not pinch the tire bead to prevent it from spinning off the rim if it goes flat. You should also note that a number of the tires used on these vehicles require a tube and flap so you may note be able to use those type of tires afterwards. Sure would be interesting to see how such a rim works. Please provide photos and your results if you proceed. others will likely want to know as well.

 

[MWMULES]

Before this gets any farther are you calling a tire shop asking them to work on a split rim, or are you asking them to work on a bolt together wheel?
Reason I ask is split rims were last used in the 50's and are a wheel that no body wants to touch. I don't know if it was because it was by an Army base but the last one I had worked on was at the Wallmart auto center and they charged $10 more than regular flat.

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

You don't want to run with out a bead lock on the military rims....the run flats act as a bead lock. Not sure what the big deal is on split rims at shops other then ignorance....but I'm sure liability is in there somewhere.
i don't have enough room to post the story's from myself and customers on hmmwv/hummer tire mounting and balancing
from shops around the Bay Area....there is even one off-road only shop on the peninsula that won't touch them.
i do all my own mounting...I get the bead seated and tires balanced at a local shop with NO issues....most any shop will do it as long as the balancer will take 37in tires...and the key is to tell them it's not for a Hummer.
an issue that just came up was the date codes....Les Schwab won't touch any tire older then I think 2 or 3 yrs from the date code due to liability.

 

[KansasBobcat]

I agree the one piece steel H1 rims would be a good option. It seems many H1 owners replaced these so there should be some out there. I replaced mine because the 2 piece military wheels and radials were cheaper than buying a new tire!

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

The one piece H1 rims had out of round issues...they are not desirable...I have a set with tires on them for sale.
had them for years...find a set of Cepeks 1 piece aluminums and paint them black.

 

[tommys2patrick]

Tigertank--can you confirm what wheels you are referring to please? Is it a true two piece bolt together rim with an O ring gasket between the halves? Or is it a Budd type wheel with a ring on the outside of the main rim that snaps into place holding the tire on. The latter being called a split ring rim as opposed to a two piece rim. What vehicle are these mounted to? Thanks.

 

[KansasBobcat]

The one piece H1 rims had out of round issues...they are not desirable...I have a set with tires on them for sale.
had them for years...find a set of Cepeks 1 piece aluminums and paint them black.

Did not know about out-of-round issues. Maybe that is why my first set of radials wore so badly!

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

If you have the old first series 12 bolt 2 piece, they use a larger balck o-ring I beleive...the newer 12 bolt with the centering hole and the 24 bolt rims take a smaller red o-ring.
dont confuse with the large o-ring used in the early 8 bolt split rim.

what color were your o-rings?

 

[tigertank]

mine are the older 2 piece 12 bolt with black orings... my original thought was to run the normal military tire without all the runflat stuff inside.. I was hoping to make a 2 piece wheel into 1 seemed simple enough I have 2 welders who work for me that could easily weld wheels together and I know it would be done right my welder said it could be done easily hes been welding for 30+ yrs from underwater to buiding vessels in plants but considering all the above posts and the shape of the inside of the wheels seems that it might not work .... was hoping to be able to change wheels tires out like a normal wheel off a pick up truck!! I like the look of the military wheels and want to keep them seems like I may have to reconsider unless someone can come up with something else? btw H1 wheels look goofy lol

 

[gringeltaube]

....... my original thought was to run the normal military tire without all the runflat stuff inside...

You can always convert the regular runflat donut into a flat beadlock rubber band, only. See this post... and this before/after picture.

I think the beadlock is a must for all 16.5" wheels, due to their steep 15deg shoulders, and missing the so called safety humps.



G.

 

[ClarkeF]

I think the beadlock is a must for all 16.5" wheels, due to their steep 15deg shoulders, and missing the so called safety humps.

Correct. The 2-piece wheels used on the HMMWV require either a beadlock or a run flat insert to use safely. There is no safety bulge to keep a deflated tire on the rim, the lip is not designed to retain a tire when deflated, nor is there the recessed area in the rim to allow mounting a tire using traditional methods. You take your life into your hands by using these wheels without the designed safety features.

If if you don't want to mess with the two-piece design, I suggest you give Tom Cepek a call and get some of his Hummer spec wheels for your truck.