Tires

[Rhodesia]

jesus Joseph Mary, $1,500 for 4 sets of Military grade tires for my M37 that are 10 ply 9.00 x 16LT, just like the ones you see in the 1950's, they are coming from PA the tire center here does not have anyone trained to do split ring mounting, they are like gun shy when talking about changing the tires. If they do and if they find a problem with the ring then I have no new ring to replace it with. So my question is what makes these so difficult for someone to change these tires.?

 

[mhb285]

insurance companies & can be dangerous with inexperienced people doing it.....
Pfff, just bought 8-M35a3 rims for my m35a2. Now for tires @ $500 per tire + shipping for a 365\80R-20"..... +new O-rings($25) & New valves ($45 -+/- each)
Wanta trade?

 

[Special T]

If it is a complete restoration your kind of stuck. If it were me I'd find the outfit that makes the 8.25x16.5 wheels with the right centers and run 37"hummer tires. Or buy some hummer tires and wheels and a re centering kit.

 

[NDT]

Take them to a grungy nasty 18 wheeler truck tire repair place on the side of the road to be dismounted. Then take the rims home and paint them well. Then mount the new tires yourself, it is child's play. As long as the ring snaps down and the ends are about 1/8" apart, all is well.

 

[Rhodesia]

It almost takes two people to lift these tires on full rim, at least with the spare we had to lift in the back to be mounted behind the cab, not a one person job unless you are George Atlas, LOL My goal is to keep it as much as a M37 as possible, I have seen some M37's with HUMV tires and their rims as well seems like the truck was out of place because they look like this just did not fit the style of the truck. My tires have to come off all 4 are pretty well bald mostly in the middle. I did find a tire company here in town that will do the tire changing, Les Schawb Tire Company has 3 guys that use to bust down tires on 18 Wheeler's at a truck stop here in Oregon, they said it would not be a problem unless when they take off the split rim and find that they will not go back on, and there is another part that might need replacing but won't know untill they take the rim down which means I need to have parts in hand for the rim for the M37 because I doubt that Napa has it on their shelf, LOL

 

[foxtrk2]

if I can chime in I did all five on my truck , m56b1, 900/16 split rims hardest to take apart but with tire hammer and small sledge the beads all broke then sand blasted all rims and rings re painted then reassembled good tip it ot put safty chain around the tire and rim while inflateing go slow and lightly hammer rim in to place as you add air

 

[M543A2]

In this case fear comes from lack of understanding, and there is a lot of fear about them out there. Find the right person(s) and this will be a no problem exercise. Cleaning the rims and rings, especially the groove the ring sits in, and repainting will help re-seating the ring and increase the safety. Just be careful not to spring or bend the rings when you take the tires off, get the tire bead down low enough toward the center of the rim so that the ring's flange that goes under the tire bead can clear the bead as you work the ring off the rim. Actually these are quite safe when done right, but the chain wrap or in a cage during inflation for assurance is highly recommended. Foxtrk2 has good advice to offer about watching the tire bead come up over the ring flange, tapping the ring with a hammer to keep it seated while gradually adding air until the tire bead comes up over the ring flange (with safety chain in place). Once the tire bead has come up over this flange the ring cannot come off. Some shops, including mine, have a machine that removes and installs the tires on these kind of wheels up to 24". We do it for our 5 tons, deuces, and M715 and M37 with our machine. Saves all of the sweat of the hammer method which I did for too many years before I got the machine from GL!

 

[SturmTyger380]

Another good place to find that can mount the tires on the old split rim (I meant to say lock ring rim), is a place that works on farm tractor tires. Some of them are still being used that have lock ring rims. Alan

 

[MWMULES]

They are not split rims and SPLIT RIMS are bad! When you contact tire folks ask them about lock rings which is the type of wheel on you M37, or Deuce has. Lock ring rings only go bad if they have been 1/2 buried in the ground or were beat to death by someone that doesn't know how to change. I have had hundreds changed and never had a bad ring yet. I did have an old truck with split rims and 2 of the 4 were bad.

 

[M543A2]

I agree with MWMULES. Actual split rims are split in the middle of the rim section width. They go back many years, became obsolete long ago. Semantics can be everything here. Too often the lock ring rims are called split rims which scares off potential repair guys with good reason. They are usually so old that they have become rusty beyond repair and safety. Virtually all heavy equipment rims such as loaders, earth movers, log skidders etc. have lock ring rims, even when equipped with tubeless tires so shops that do field service or shop service on them will have experience with lock rings. Most of them even have two rings, the one that goes up against the tire bead with an O-ring inside of it against the tire bead for tubeless sealing and a locking ring outside of that that retains that tire bead ring to the rim.

 

[TAKPAK]

Which part of Oregon are you in? Have you already ordered your tires?

 

[hndrsonj]

I would go with STA superlugs 9x16. They are about $250 each unless you can find some surplus (I paid $100 for my 4 like new).

 

[Rhodesia]

I live in Southern Oregon by Medford

 

[garm]

Hadn't heard of the STA Super Lugs. Looks like a great tire.

What size tube for original wheels?

 

[OutpostM37]

Just ordered 4 STA (Specialty Tires of America) Super Lug D range 8 ply in 900 x 16 for my 1963 M37. These are American made tires, Pennsylvania i think.
Shopped all over online. No real discounts on them. Most places are $255-260. Jegs has FREE shipping. Most places wanted $200 to ship them. All the reviews I have read on these tires, are very good.

 

[nattieleather]

You should be able to take your lock ring tires to any commercial truck tire place and have them unmounted and then the new tire put on if you want or unmounted and take to clean and repaint before the new tires. When I had a M35 I took my tires to a commercial truck tire shop and they unmounted the old tires and mounted the new ones on in like 40 mins and that was for 10 tires for a duce. Commercial truck shops deal with this type of tire all the time.

 

[M543A2]

One time years ago I bought 4 new military tires for my M37 and decided I was not going to do the hard work of changing them. I took them and the old wheels and tires to a local tire sales and truck shop. They told me that because I did not buy the tires there they would not change them! So I went to another shop in town of the same kind. the older guy there told me "H#(( yes, bring them in. I get a lot of work from them because of their attitude about that!" I thought that that was the right attitude!

 

[OutpostM37]

Installed the Super lug tires this week. These should be a lot safer on the paved roads versus the 35 YO Denman tires. Tire center charged $35/tire to change out.

 

[garm]

Can someone describe what the original tires feel like? What's so bad about them?

 

[NDT]

Can someone describe what the original tires feel like? What's so bad about them?

They feel great and are awesome off road. The bad is that they have pitiful grip on wet or icy roads and they wear out in maybe 5000 miles.