M101A1 How to Change a Tire

[kaupas758]

I have a very old M101A1 at our property well in the middle of no where in northern michigan. We blew a tire on it last week, and I need to take supplies up with me to fix it next week. I'd deduced I can put a 235/85/16 with a tube on it (it never goes over 55mph, we just use it to haul brush/wood etc around.

2 main questions, What size are the lugs? Its the old M37 5 bolt pattern, just need to know what sockets to take up with me

And I've never taken the two piece wheels apart. Is it pretty obvious? Will I need to take it into a tire store to get the new tire on the old rim?

Trailer just isn't worth the money to put 175+ tubeless wheels on it. But has just enough life in it, that I'm not ready to haul it in for scrap yet.

Thanks

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

The lugnuts should be 1.5" Make sure you turn them the correct way, the left side should have left hand threads. I would take it to a tire shop if you've never done one before, they aren't difficult to do if you know what you're doing but they can be deadly if done wrong.

 

[kaupas758]

Thanks for the tip on the lugs! It is the passenger side that blew. I figure the drivers side is likely not far behind. I was able to pick up 2 tires for 75.00 with decent tread and no dry rot.

 

[juanprado]

harbor freight sells the tire bar with the hook to work on these in the Pittsburgh brand.

You should also change the tubes to radial. Original are bias tubes.

Once apart, just make sure to keep the flap and tube positioned correctly when reassembled. Use a clip on air chuck with a long lead to air up. I take a binder chain and loop around the tire rim to keep it together in case of wrong stuff as you probably don't have a cage....

 

[dmetalmiki]

If those rims are not cleaned and assembled (absalutely) correctly, you WILL have a MAJOR (DANGER) issue. Read up on faulty rim assembly or watch utube vids. IF you then wish to RISK it, reflect on how much your LIFE and health are worth. (to you AND relations). Just take them in and get them done SAFELY and PROPERLY>

 

[fasttruck]

Tire shop.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Naah, its not bad, just take your time and watch what your doing, you'll be fine.

A quick heads up, the old M101s have a habit of the hub being REALLY close to the lug nut. Sometimes you can't get a socket on there if its not thin wall.


EDIT: if the tires you bought are radial, you will need to make sure you use a radial-rated tube. Tubes meant for biass-ply tires will not hold up to the heat generated by radial tires and will pop(burst) from the heat!

 

[rustystud]

Naah, its not bad, just take your time and watch what your doing, you'll be fine.

A quick heads up, the old M101s have a habit of the hub being REALLY close to the lug nut. Sometimes you can't get a socket on there if its not thin wall.


EDIT: if the tires you bought are radial, you will need to make sure you use a radial-rated tube. Tubes meant for biass-ply tires will not hold up to the heat generated by radial tires and will pop(burst) from the heat!

A trick we used in the Marines was to change out the tire then remount it making sure the ring was facing inwards towards the inner wheel (duals) . Then using a long air chuck, we would stand in the front of the truck and air-up the tire. This will also work for replacing a front tire, you just have to take a rear axle tire off first ! Remember this is a field repair technique .

 

[gimpyrobb]

Rusty, that does work, but I'd hate to cause damage to anything like brake lines(or the body) if the ring were to let go. Some chains around the tire while inflating works fine, just remember to leave slack as the tire expands when inflated. Most tires I've worked with will seat on the bead about 30psi. Just so you know when to expect that "pop" of the tire seating on the bead.

 

[kaupas758]

This is what I'm dealing with. My fault, I didn't realize it was a Tube tire, drove it too fast too long and blew it. After the wheel is off, does that silver ring come off seperate? I've googled and checked youtube for every version of "m37 tire change" "m101 tire change" etc I can. All I seem to get back are discussions about changing the rims themselves to accept tubeless tires, or completely unrelated videos. I can't seem to find a link where someone shows taking the rim and tire apart and putting it back together again. The trailer is up in a real small town. There's a Discount Tire about 40 minutes away, but I don't know if they are capable of changing a rim like this.

Anyone have a link to a video or site that actually shows someone changing the tire?

 

[gimpyrobb]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYBeph53Kto

 

[harleyhouse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b47CJsqFmSM