LT. Dan M35a2 Modification Thread

[Lieutenant Dan]

Yeah I'll take it sending pm now

 

[CDR]

nice work LT hopefully one day i'll own one.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Got a few more little things done on the truck tonight. This 60° is awesome and loving the time change. Just came in the house. Anyway I got the passenger side marker wired up and repaired some bad wires on the harness where the lights plug. I also made a bar out of angle aluminum and mounted 2 lights up there and have two more coming. Looks I good I think.....

Also before I left work I got one fmtv wheel cut and cleaned now I just have to pop a center out of a deuce rim and weld them up. Should look badass when it's done.....

 

[bonedoc]

Definitely want to see some pics of your wheels when they are done. I was figuring on MRAP wheels with adapter plates on flipped hubs. Figured it would be the easiest way for me considering I don't weld or have access to machining equipment.

 

[bonedoc]

My bad!!! Pics popped up on that quote after I sent my reply...sorry

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Yeah i want to be different and considering I got these wheels with the tires I'm going to use them since they will be done for almost free. Should look good when done

 

[bonedoc]

There are adapter plates you could get and bolt/weld into those wheels right? Thought I had seen those.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Yes there is but they are a lot of money and I want my wheels to stick out farther.

 

[bonedoc]

Gotcha, yeah I know they are pricey...I looked them up for MRAP wheels as wheel. I wasn't thinking of offset difference either.

 

[ATPTac]

The MRAP adapters can be pricey for good ones. Depending on where you get them they run $100+/- a piece plus hardware. I got mine from Peashooter, very nice looking, although I haven't been able to install them yet. The MRAP's with adapter plates and flipped hubs give the tires a nice offset, its all depending on what your personal preference is.

 

[bonedoc]

The MRAP adapters can be pricey for good ones. Depending on where you get them they run $100+/- a piece plus hardware. I got mine from Peashooter, very nice looking, although I haven't been able to install them yet. The MRAP's with adapter plates and flipped hubs give the tires a nice offset, its all depending on what your personal preference is.

This was exactly the route I was planning on going.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

So Idk if the fmtv wheel option is going to work. I think I might just go his route and buy tubes. I read a lot of threads on this subject saying it shouldn't be done and so on..... and yes technically it shouldn't.... In the jeep world we did this all the time.... we called it the poor man's bead locks. We almost always ran 12.50 tires on 7" wheels.

Also I seen a lot of guys saying these were hard to mount, now maybe it's cause I worked in the medium truck and heavy equipment tire business for quite a few years but I mounted this baby in about 5 minutes with a tire hammer, tube type iron and a 5 gallon bucket. Dismounting probably isn't going to be that easy though. I'm going to put this on the front tomorrow and see what kind of clearance I have and will decide if I want to go this route or go and spend more cash on the fmtv wheel setup....

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

So i didn't do much to the deuce today.... I had to work on my jeep.... but that doesn't mean I didn't get to play with the deuce. I used it to run air tools to put the brakes on the jeep.... worked great.... Also test fitted the 14.00r20.... it fits but does rub the steering arm and the fender so I hope it clears the j pipe on the passenger side. I guess I'll be adjusting the stops lol. Sure does look mean though

 

[PaFarmer]

Putting a 14.00R20 on a 7" split rim is a terrible idea, it poses a real safety hazard. The 14.00R20 requires a 10" rim. See http://www.militarytires.com for the specs.

My advice is if you are going to run bigger tires, put them on 10" beadlock rims and be sure they have the proper backspacing to keep the tires out of the steering and suspension components. Going from a 40" tire to a 49" tire is going to rob a lot of power. You are going to need a good bit of lift if you want to have any suspension travel. On a mud truck, wheel travel probably does not matter, but in the rocks, it sure does.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Well I understand what your saying but I don't think it posts a safety hazard. I've done truck tires for years and seen far stuff worse then this on the highway. If you seen the prior posts I am working on 10" rims.

As far as lift I will address this later on but I don't think I'll need anything. If the tires rub the fenders a little I'm fine with that. Taller isn't always better it creates a unstable vehicle. In jeeps we try to fit the biggest tire we can with as little lift as possible.

Here is a picture of what I used to do so you know I'm not bsing you guys. I worked in the medium truck and heavy equipment tire business for 13 years.

 

[PaFarmer]

With your background with tires, you know that those tires do not belong on a 7" split rim. I am not trying to give you a hard time, rather just friendly advice to do it right.

I know you had and sold a JK. I have had 7 wranglers, a total of 14 jeeps and more than two dozen other 4x4 and 6x6s, including my buggy and a unimog. I have run all over PA, TX, NC and Moab UT. I love off roading and in my learned opinion, the goal is keeping the tires on the ground, to do that you need a suspension that articulates.

Deuce have more frame flex than than suspension travel. I bobbed a deuce and ran it at RC and in the mud. I have run with several bobbed deuces on up to 16.00R20 tires at RC. They work in the mud, none have been particularly impressive off road.

 

[welldigger]

A 14.00-20 tire works fine on a 7" lock ring rim. It's been done for years. You just need to run the correct tubes. 1300/1400 radial rated tubes.

The problem is going to be the offset. The front will rub pretty bad on the steering arm. To the point it will eat the sidewall. Adjusting the steering stops will help but your turning radius will be very wide.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

I am working on a set of fmtv wheels but Idk if they are going to work right now I'm debating on doing the hub flip in the center and cutting up a few more wheels to make the stock wheels 9 or 10 inches wide. The problem I have with running these older tires and I have seen it before is half the time you can't get the leaks to stop and end up running tubes anyway. I think these tires will be fine with no lift. Even if I do have minor rubbing I can deal with that. Maybe go down to 395's later. I got all these tires for the cost of what most pay for one tire so I'm going to use them.

 

[skinnyR1]

Why won't the fmtv wheels work with the new centers?

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

They would work with new centers but I'm not paying $600 for wheel centers. I was going to put the centers out of the deuce rims but they are to small. So I'd have to cut the centers even smaller and weld them into the opening of the fmtv wheel which I don't know if I like that. Now the wheel center is being held in and the weight of the vehicle being supported by the weld not the diameter of the wheel center.