M185A3 Tire and wheel advise.

[Fireriders]

Hi all and hope this is the right forum for this question. I picked up a 1960's era M185A3 shop truck in really nice shape. Only issue is the tires are really beat. 9:00x20. What would be a good replacement for these since I need all ten or six if I go singles. Does anyone here have experience with putting singles on or should I stay with the dual's? Militay tires are not a must for me but a good commercial replacement is ok if anyone has had experience with this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WillWagner]

NDCC tires are readily available still, but there are other tires available in the commercial world that will do a good job and most likely work better on wet roads and mud/snow. 10.00 or 11.00 will work, however, the taller the tire, the more top speed you can get, but the taller tire makes the 3-4 split a bit larger. I did not like the way my truck was when I tried 1100's. Larger tires also make turning a bit more difficult with no PS.

In order to run singles, the rear hubs need flipping, well, I guess they don't NEED flipping. This spaces the tire/wheel out so it tracks more in-line with the fronts.

IMHO, I would stay with duals, you will always have more than one spare and will be able to safely get to the side of the road or out from your back roads off road trip and deal with the flat as you see fit. And, your truck has a bog 'ol box on the back that can get heavy when full of stuff, stay with a 9.00 or maybe a modern 10.00

That is just one idiots view! A mess have singled these out, gone to larger tires and they do just fine.

 

[Fireriders]

NDCC tires are readily available still, but there are other tires available in the commercial world that will do a good job and most likely work better on wet roads and mud/snow. 10.00 or 11.00 will work, however, the taller the tire, the more top speed you can get, but the taller tire makes the 3-4 split a bit larger. I did not like the way my truck was when I tried 1100's. Larger tires also make turning a bit more difficult with no PS.

In order to run singles, the rear hubs need flipping, well, I guess they don't NEED flipping. This spaces the tire/wheel out so it tracks more in-line with the fronts.

IMHO, I would stay with duals, you will always have more than one spare and will be able to safely get to the side of the road or out from your back roads off road trip and deal with the flat as you see fit. And, your truck has a bog 'ol box on the back that can get heavy when full of stuff, stay with a 9.00 or maybe a modern 10.00

That is just one idiots view! A mess have singled these out, gone to larger tires and they do just fine.

Thank you for the quick response. Yes I am thinking I will stay with the duals also. Do you know if anyone has put 7.5x20 on these trucks. I believe it's a slightly narrower tire but half the price of the 900x20. I will only be using this truck in parades and a show here and there. I think your spot on about a good commercial tire maybe 1000x20. I will try and research it more and thanks again.

 

[WillWagner]

I believe the 7.00 20 were used on WWII trucks, smaller OD also. I think the wheel is too wide on the M35/M44 series trucks. If you aren't gonna be using it except for parades and such, just go with the NDCC. There are a bunch of surplus dealers that have the tires.

 

[Fireriders]

Thanks I will look into them.

 

[DavidB]

Feltz tire here in Marshfield, Wisconsin is a good start for your search to begin . Some on site may be closer to you.

 

[M813rc]

WillWagner covered the essentials well above.

I will add that, in my personal opinion based on driving my M109A3 and M185A3 for many years, stick with the duals on the back.
The trucks are "tippy" with that big heavy box on there, and having driven another chap's M109 with singled 11.00s on it, hubs flipped, it felt uncomfortably wobbly and I did not like it. Again, personal opinion.

That said, I did have another guy's M109 on singled 395s for a couple of years, it was very stable, just didn't have any power pushing those big tires. There was a lot of expense in tires and custom wheels to make that setup.

One final point, and this has varying degrees of importance to different people, is "cool factor". Those trucks just look reeeeally good with the stock duals.

Cheers

 

[Fireriders]

WillWagner covered the essentials well above.

I will add that, in my personal opinion based on driving my M109A3 and M185A3 for many years, stick with the duals on the back.
The trucks are "tippy" with that big heavy box on there, and having driven another chap's M109 with singled 11.00s on it, hubs flipped, it felt uncomfortably wobbly and I did not like it. Again, personal opinion.

That said, I did have another guy's M109 on singled 395s for a couple of years, it was very stable, just didn't have any power pushing those big tires. There was a lot of expense in tires and custom wheels to make that setup.

One final point, and this has varying degrees of importance to different people, is "cool factor". Those trucks just look reeeeally good with the stock duals.

Cheers

Thank you for the comment. I have decided to stay with the duals and am looking for a good price on the 900x20 military tires. Again thanks for the input

 

[NY Tom]

Occasionally they pop up in auctions decent tires. Couple years back I picked up 8 tires out of Chambersburg. They were in good shape or nearly new. All held air and were on rims. Probably cost me about $125 per tire back then.

Eastern Surplus might be the closest place to get them to us. If you know any fire department guys someone might have some they don't need anymore for a brush truck but most I saw around were 11.00 since most are running 5 tons now.

 

[Fireriders]

Occasionally they pop up in auctions decent tires. Couple years back I picked up 8 tires out of Chambersburg. They were in good shape or nearly new. All held air and were on rims. Probably cost me about $125 per tire back then.

Eastern Surplus might be the closest place to get them to us. If you know any fire department guys someone might have some they don't need anymore for a brush truck but most I saw around were 11.00 since most are running 5 tons now.

The fire departments is something I never thought of. Will give it a shot. Thanks for the response.