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Dual 14R20 on 5 ton

355
12
18
Location
New Enterprise Pa
The bridge trucks that ran them had a wider rear axle housing and an 1.5" spacer on each hub, the front axle had 3" wheel spacer on each hub to accomplish the use of the 10" wide Budd wheels. I have the front spacers and studs if someone needs a set.
 

73m819

Rock = older than dirt , GA. MAFIA , Dirty
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the bridge truck rims are 12", my 819 uses 11", i believe the rest use 10", i may be wrong ( i dont think so ) on the sizes, IE 11,10,9.( ill check on this ) but i do know the the TM shows THREE differ sizes. the 819 uses 1200s , i have both 11 and 12 on the 819, if i have 12 on the inside or on the front i rub real bad. the 12s have a REAL DEEP offset. the old bridge trucks used a wider axle, the newer ones used the stock axle with wider spacers, the axles are supposed to be interchangeable, though the wide spacers have to be used with the standard axles, a couple of years ago, i checked out a power line tractor, this was a converted 813 with a fifth wheel and had 1400 duels, it had the wide spacers. i wented to do the duel 1400s on the 819 till saw the spacers and then taped it and saw it was over width ( to bad, the 1400s looked realy nice. hope this helps
 
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master logger

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Location
north fla
just to try a few combos
i have put a super single rim on and a rim for a 14-20 just to see what kind of clearance , i will need a 1.5-2" spacer and longer thimbles.
but i got in a tight and had to put a 1100-24.5 on the inside and the 14-20 on the outside, there was a 3" differ but at least i had duals.
this truck went to work last friday and will have loads that weigh 50,000 lbs on bad roads.
 

cbvet

Active member
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Northwest (Knox) Indiana
Master Logger,
I can't help with info, but I'm curious.
What the heck are you hauling that weighs 25 tons? Trees?
Got any pictures of a truck loaded like that?
 

73m819

Rock = older than dirt , GA. MAFIA , Dirty
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update on above post,
in the old parts TM, three rims are shown, in the new TM only two are shown, though i have measured my rims, they are 11 and 12, and look wider then my old m52 rims, which if i remember were 10 when i measured them, i have a TM some where that has the rim size for each tire size used but cant find it

looking at my TMs i see the all the axle housing are the SAME, the older bridge trucks used wider hubs and hence longer axles and some spacers on the front to get the width for the 1400s, the newer ones use the standard axle housing, hubs, and axles and use spacers front / back
 
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master logger

New member
5
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Location
north fla
the truck will be used for logging, taking loaded trailers to harder roads.
did 3 test runs yesterday and everything aok.
this is a m818, i replaced the 5th wheel with a lower one and cut the ramps down to match. still not sure i trust the front end to work when it's needed, did some test on a hill , front end would not pull in forward, would cilmb it in reverse. while doing tire work i picked the rear off the ground ,with just front tires it would move forward and reverse. but when o loaded on lowboy the rears would spin and no front end pull , i had to load in reverse.
i will order the kits to rebuild valves on trans and cyl on t-case just to be sure they are working right then go from there.

I will make dual 1400 work on this truck, if i have to make adapter plates or build the rims. and yes i will take pictures
 

m139h2otruck

Member
569
5
16
Location
NH
Our early '60s built M139s have wider rear axle housings w/ the added spacers front and rear. Also, the rear tandem spacing is greater on the bridge trucks so the bigger tires will not hit each other. When we flipped the rear hubs, we left the spacers on to make the offset right for the deep dish stock wheels. The M812A1 built in ??? has the same axles and spacers. All of our bridge truck wheels are 10" wide measured inside. They are marked 10x20 and were made by Firestone, very very heavy, and can not be used on a standard 5 ton without the special axles and spacers. Offset is way greater than standard wheels.

It is my understanding that the 1200x20 tires can be mounted on standard 5 ton wheels and used as duals on the rear. Only hearsay, never tried it.

I would use the two piece HEMETT wheels that show up on E-Bay for $100 or so, with 1400x20 radial super singles. Six tires should be plenty for 25 tons on the tractor.
 
355
12
18
Location
New Enterprise Pa
Our early '60s built M139s have wider rear axle housings w/ the added spacers front and rear. Also, the rear tandem spacing is greater on the bridge trucks so the bigger tires will not hit each other. When we flipped the rear hubs, we left the spacers on to make the offset right for the deep dish stock wheels. The M812A1 built in ??? has the same axles and spacers. All of our bridge truck wheels are 10" wide measured inside. They are marked 10x20 and were made by Firestone, very very heavy, and can not be used on a standard 5 ton without the special axles and spacers. Offset is way greater than standard wheels.

It is my understanding that the 1200x20 tires can be mounted on standard 5 ton wheels and used as duals on the rear. Only hearsay, never tried it.

I would use the two piece HEMETT wheels that show up on E-Bay for $100 or so, with 1400x20 radial super singles. Six tires should be plenty for 25 tons on the tractor.
That is the same setup that the truck had that we pulled the rears from. Though we have them in a 78 f150 with tractor tires we flipped the front hubs and used the 1.5" spacer from the rear on the front and a hub with no spacer in the rear flipped in and it has the same track width front to rear being that the rear axle housing is wider too.
 

master logger

New member
5
1
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Location
north fla
thinking this might be the way,, in talking with the guy that i bought the truck from ,,, he tells me about turning the rear hubs around, sends me the link to the step by step pics .. pics are from a 2-1/2 but should be the same as 5 ton. soooo A FLIPPIN THE HUB WE WILL GO
 

Scout

Member
94
4
8
Location
Scottsville, NY
Flipping 5 ton hubs

I just did mine. Not a difficult job, just heavy parts. Stuff I learned that I did not necessarily anticipate:

1) Don't count on getting inner seals at your local Fleetpride - they are not common to other big truck axles. Since they are so huge, I was able to pry mine out and re-use without any apparent damage.
2) The drums are bolted on and safety-wired. I did not have safety wire and wanted to get the job done so I used loc-tite compound (not sure if that was a good idea or not)
3) The inner and outer bearings use the same race - don't waste your time pounding them out to switch them, just switch the bearings.

I attached some photos not in any particular order - sorry for the quality, my shop has horrible lighting.

If anyone thinks I did any no-no's above, please chime in. This is the first time I've done this and have not driven the truck much since. I don't have any apparent leaks or issues.
 

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Scout

Member
94
4
8
Location
Scottsville, NY
I used HEMTT rims all around. The previous owner had installed longer studs on the front so I was all ready to go.

One other thing I had not anticipated - when the rear hubs are flipped, they are not the same width as the front - they are a few inches narrower. I mounted 14x20's - on the front they come out flush with the outside of the fenders, the rears sit inside the bed a little.

It's not enough to worry about, and puts the front and rears in slightly different tracks which is better off road.
 
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