Out of Round Tires

[slantflat]

Hi everyone.

I get a death wobble in my Deuce around 35-40 mph. Steering wheel shakes pretty hard but the truck doesn't wander. I'm suspecting it's the front tires; I bought a used pair of take-offs. They look okay but might be out of round or unbalanced.

Question, can I swap the front wheels for two of the back wheels, or will I get a different wobble that affects the truck in the back? If I just swap them side to side, so they rotate in a different direction, will that do anything?

Question two, what if I just get two new tires, who would mount them for me? Love's, a truck repair shop, a truck stop?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Elk1111]

Mounting and changing tires is part of the hobby. Make it a family event…. There plenty of videos showing how to do it.

 

[topo]

When it comes to truck tires you will never do enough of them to get good at it.

If you do enough of them and get good at changing them that is not good either.

 

[williamh]

Rotate them to the rear and see if the issue goes away , the bias ply tires can get flat spots in them but usually go away after awhile of driving. If they start to fail the tread will look like it’s got high spots (twisted) and those tires are junk.

 

[G744]

Make sure there is no slop in your steering system, any at all can induce that problem.

 

[HDN]

I'd take the regular rims to a tire shop that does truck and ag tires and have them do the tire swap.

if they were bolt-together rims I'd do them myself, and I have - and I lost about 10 pounds doing that job between restoration and mounting six super singles

 

[Computerdoc08]

Have you check the tie rod / tie rod ends for excessive movement? I replaced my ends which helped wobble at increased speeds. Steering at slower speed also feels much better now too.

 

[williamh]

A lot of places will no longer do split rims. Bolt together are different. Duces and up were split rims. Usually there’s someone around to teach this but not so much lately.

 

[slantflat]

Thanks guys. Steering has been checked and it's relatively tight. The problem didn't start until I put on the "new" tires.

 

[williamh]

Did you rotate the tires to the rear yet ?

 

[banditt1979]

A lot of places will no longer do split rims. Bolt together are different. Duces and up were split rims. Usually there’s someone around to teach this but not so much lately.

split ring not split rim

 

[slantflat]

No I haven't rotated the tires yet. It's on the list. I'll post up my findings once I do. Thanks again everyone.

 

[msgjd]

When it comes to truck tires you will never do enough of them to get good at it.
If you do enough of them and get good at changing them that is not good either.

My neck, "missing parts" lower back, reconstructed shoulder, bad knee, and damaged other shoulder keep yelling the second stanza !! ! Somehow my whistling ears are not receiving

 

[msgjd]

A lot of places will no longer do split rims.

Technically not split rim but we all know what you mean... M37's, M715's, deuces, 5-tons, and 10-tons all have a split lockring type wheel..

A true "split rim" is exactly that, and a rare sight these days... The rim itself is split entirely all the way across its width. It uses a solid lockring.. They are an open-center Dayton-type wheel that's only used on spoke-type hubs. When I saw my very first one as a kid, I thought the tire had gotten water in it, froze, and busted the rim wide open..

The only military trucks I know of having actual split rims are 1950's IH commercial trucks of the L, R, and S-series, model 160 and larger .. I have about five of those trucks sitting outside, one of them a '51 or '52 L172 ex-army commercial dump.

Actual split rims are at the lowest level of re-inflation safety, however they are much-easier to swap rubber upon compared to all other lockring types. The design is very easy to work with but requires extra attention to detail upon reassembly. Earned a bad reputation when detail was ignored. Their stigma has been universally misapplied towards all of the better / "safer" lockring types for many decades. But that's not to say we don't have to be very careful with all of them

There are truck shops out there that have no problem changing out lockring rims as long as they have no rust and the "lip" and ring is in good shape. Usually it's the oldest shop guys or shop owner that will work on them. Be discreet when you ask, and if your rims are in in good clean no-rust undamaged shape, let him know it and ask him to look.

 

[msgjd]

Hi everyone.

I get a death wobble in my Deuce around 35-40 mph. Steering wheel shakes pretty hard but the truck doesn't wander. I'm suspecting it's the front tires; I bought a used pair of take-offs. They look okay but might be out of round or unbalanced.

If your front end play is good , your "new" tires likely have a flat spot from sitting a long time. Jack it up, spin the tires and see if you can see a flat spot. If there's a spot going outwards in the other direction, yikes. But most-likely you have a flat spot and they will do one of three things. With use, they might straighten out as they warm up and stay good. Or they will straighten out as they warm up but go back to having a flat spot as they cool.. Or they are too hard and will not straighten out at all. In any case, you can put them on the back and put something else on the front you know is perfectly "round"

 

[msgjd]

For those out there pounding on tires, I've been changing big tires since 1974 as well as loading them with liquids and done plenty of bead and sidewall repairs. Learned a lot of tricks the hard way or by observing the professionals. A neighbor introduced me to his bestest shop friend about 20 years ago, and I have since bought its little cousin.

My bestest shop friend is the "AME Little Buddy" .. Got it for payloader and farm tractor tires, but it works great on small stuff too ! products I do not have to pick up the bead wedge and 5-pounder ever again.

If the Little Buddy is a chicom product, I would have to eat a little crow and endorse it. It's rugged, well-made, and under $150, but without digging it out I don't know where it's made. AME has distributors in the US, UK, Europe, DE, etc. They have some manual and hydraulic tools you won't see elsewhere .. There are popular "mailorder" US outfits that carry it, as well as online auction or sales sites.

If Wile E. Coyote reads this post ,, I want him to know they have an ACME division as well