M35A3 Tires with Tubes

[gary1978]

Has anyone put tubes in their M35A3 wheels with 14.5-20 tires? I'm trying to salvage my "rusty" M35A3 wheels that look too rusty for the o-rings to seal.

 

[patracy]

Has anyone put tubes in their M35A3 wheels with 14.5-20 tires? I'm trying to salvage my "rusty" M35A3 wheels that look too rusty for the o-rings to seal.

Kinda defeating the purpose.

I suppose it could be done. But you'd have to find a flap wide enough for it. Also, I'm not sure what you're going to do with the valve.

 

[gary1978]

The purpose is just to avoid buying more "old" M35A3 wheels and wanting to keep air in the tires so I can drive. They are going on an A2 so there isn't going to be a CTIS system to work with. I saw a local guy's A3 with tubed 14.5-20 tires and the tube's valve stem comes out of the original hole in the A3 rim and makes the 90 degree turn to pop out the rim hole just like the original 3/8" pipe stem. It seems to work, but he doesn't drive it very much or very far. One problem is that the shop that performed the work for him shut down and no one seems to know how to do this around here anymore. I'm trying to see if anyone knows of any pitfalls or solutions (other than buy new wheels.) If I'm stuck, I just need to know.

 

[patracy]

Did they put flaps in it?

 

[gary1978]

That's part of the problem. The shop closed down and the A3 owner doesn't know. So without breaking down the wheels, there's no way to tell. That's why I'm trying to find out if anyone else has done this, and if there are any problems with doing so. One of the problems I find with sourcing the tubes is that the location of the valve stem, and type of valve stem seems both critical for using them on the A3 wheel, and it seems hard to figure out what kind of valve stem the inner tubes have on them when you try to find them on-line. The detail info just isn't there.

 

[Special T]

I Cannot speak directly to the kind of wheel you have. I have seen tubes used in 1400R20 on the 10 hole bolt together wheels with mixed results in comercial use. The correct kind of valve is necessary, and if the hole for the stem to come out of the wheel is not dead center it will stress the rubber around the stem and cause a leak that can only be fixed with a new tube. Lowering the air pressure, carrying a load, and/or placing a lot of torque on the tire will increase the likelyhood of tearing the rubber around the stem. Is it not possible to wire brush the wheel wheel enough to recondition it? I would guess that the correct tubes and flaps are going to run your about $50 a wheel. Probably need 9-10" radial flaps and 1200-1300R20 tubes.

 

[av8or]

Try using a larger diameter O-ring the A3 O-rings have a small cross section or diameter. There larger 20" O-rings ( cross section is 20 present or so ) truck tire people should have local. Beats tubes!

 

[wreckerman893]

Use a wire brush or have them media blasted. Unless they are rusted to crap you should be fine. As stated above slightly larger O rings might be the ticket. Take them to a tire shop that does skidder tires. Most of them have O rings.

 

[hklvette]

Use a wire brush or have them media blasted. Unless they are rusted to crap you should be fine. As stated above slightly larger O rings might be the ticket. Take them to a tire shop that does skidder tires. Most of them have O rings.

This. I sorta cheat and use 19" dia. x 1/4" thick o-rings from mcmaster in both M35A3 and 5T combat wheels. A few minutes with a wire wheel on a drill to clean the seating surface on the wheel and outer ring makes them seal just fine. You can use a small bit of silicone for insurance, but I never have and haven't had problems.

 

[welldigger]

This is exactly why I had my wheels blasted and powder coated inside and out.

 

[goldneagle]

I agree with the wire brush on a drill or get a small air grinder that can use abrasive discs similar to Scotch-brite pads. I did that on my HMMWV rims to remove the rust where the bead of the tire contacted the rim. Then I primed and painted over the cleaned area. I am sure you can get those right angle sanders from HF or Home Depot cheap.

As far as the O-rings. I had to silicone the o-rings to on side of the rim to hold them in place on the HMMWV rims. The way they were packaged they would not sit in place. I used blue tape to hold them in place overnight for the silicone to harden. You can use rusty metal primer over the cleaned are. It will fill in some of the pitting from the rust.

We used some slightly thicker o-rings on the 5 ton rims cause some of the o-rings that came in the crate were crushed and unusable. They seem to hold the air really well.