1 piece wheels

[mo-mudder]

Alright, here's my question. I have my old deuce, '52 M211. Nearly all the tires are shot, so new ones are in the works. I don't wanna have to pay out the nose for a big-tire company put new tires on the old 2-piece wheels, so I was wondering where I might be able to source some 1-piece wheels without having to cash in my son's college savings account.

 

[pa.rich]

I read on a thread way back that the wheels the UPS uses would fit on the dueces. Does anyone know if this is true? I have the same situation, the tires are all weather checked, and wondering if there is a wheel that would fit. Also a question about the tires, Are the tires on split wheels with rings any stiffer than the ones that go on regular wheels without the split ring? The edges on truck tires all the same ? I have done my own tires on the split wheels but always worried when inflating them. I wrapped chains around them as a precaution when inflating them. Alot of these old wheels need cleaning up of the caked on rust, and in my opinion, look dangerous to remount if not a good edge on that wheel. That lock ring has to be free of rust and dirt as well as the wheel or it won't seat right. Any good welders out there to make some new wheels out of old ones? Can the rim edge of the solid side of the wheel be used on both sides and still work on a tire machine or are the edges too wide?Tire experts opinion needed here.

 

[n1bnc]

Doesn't UPS use 5 lug 20"s???

I paid about $50 ea for mounting on the ugly rims... They are still holding up fine too. I also had to pay about $15 per tube. Good thing I have an M135. only six money pits.

 

[davesgmc]

NO, I looked at a ups truck today, it had 6 lugs. I was busy on the phone when he came, so I didnt get a chance to go look closer at thte wheels. If I can get out tomorrow when and if he arrives I will go measure the bolt pattern and see what size wheels they are.
Then would come the other question, where does one get ups truck wheels? What chassis are those things built on?

 

[davesgmc]

NO, I looked at a ups truck today, it had 6 lugs. I was busy on the phone when he came, so I didnt get a chance to go look closer at thte wheels. If I can get out tomorrow when and if he arrives I will go measure the bolt pattern and see what size wheels they are.
Then would come the other question, where does one get ups truck wheels? What chassis are those things built on?

 

[rdixiemiller]

OK. The UPS wheels are 22.5" tubeless. Can't use standard 20" tires on them. Tubeless one piece wheels have to have a "drop center" to allow the tire bead to be worked over the edge of the wheel without destroying it. 20" lock ring wheels do not have this drop center area. You can widen stock deuce rims, or you can buy wide Dayton style rims and weld in custom centers. Standard tube type tires will not run tubeless. Deuce wheels cannot be modified to run tubeless without a huge amount of work. Gerhard has made some bolt together tubeless wheels for a deuce, but it was a major undertaking.
Ford trucks use the 6 lug wheels that have the same pattern as the deuce.
Stock deuce wheels in decent shape are perfectly safe, don't be afraid of them.

 

[Flatlander]

Ford trucks? What year/type? Thanks!

 

[rdixiemiller]

The late 50's through mid 70"s Ford F-600 and some F-700's used 6 lug wheels. Most were set up for 8.25x20 tube type tires, we used to run deuce wheels so we could use 900 and 1000x20. Some later ones use 22.5 tubeless tires.

 

[WillWagner]

Accuride makes the wheels.

http://www.accuridewheels.com/

 

[gimpyrobb]

I was looking at a 67 ford f600. Ex-uhaul box truck that had our bolt pattern with 22.5 steel rims. The wife agreed on 200.00, the husband called back and canceled that! Damn.

 

[comdiver]

Accuride still makes a 6 hole Budd style wheel. It is listed as 6.75" wide in the 22.5" size. With that width the biggest tire you should run is 10r22.5. That tire is about 40" tall. A lot of school buses ran this size. You may want to call Accuride or shop in your local junk yard. Make sure you measure first.

 

[JDToumanian]

Why eliminate the stock rims? New tubeless rims will cost much more than paying 'for a big-tire company put new tires on the old 2-piece wheels'...

I'd get stock rims from an MV boneyard and if cost is an overriding factor, why not download the tire TM and break down, clean, inspect and remount the new tires yourself? SS member JasonJC does his own, there are several threads about it in the archives. It can be done safely, and with the right tools (duck-bill slide hammer?) goes relatively quickly.

Jon

 

[davesgmc]

I looked at my local ups truck today a little closer. It is actually a grumman body oon a freightliner chassis. It had 6 lug wheels but were 19.5. I also had a look at my mac tool guy's truck, also a freightliner, it had the exact same 19.5 wheels on it. Personally I would keep the stock wheels, they arent taht had to mount tires on. I have done plenty by hand myself. If you take the approprate safety precautions you should be fine.

 

[mo-mudder]

Well, aside from the safety factor, I was also wanting to run as tall a tire as possible, maybe a 14-20, or at least a 12-20, and wasn't totally sure that they would actually fit on the factory deuce wheels.
Here's food for thought...think I can make a wider 1 piece wheel from 2 2-piece wheels? I know that my neighbor has done it in order to run some 48" floatation tires on his mud buggy, but I wasn't too sure if they would be road worthy. I don't see why they wouldn't be, as long as they were done correctly.

 

[davesgmc]

It is possible to widen and/or modify a wheel like this. I ahve done it in the past. It is very hard to get it straight and keep it that way while welding. If welded properly and reinforced, I would have no doubt that they would be just fine on the road.

 

[mo-mudder]

I was speaking with my neighbor and he recently bought a 79 F600 dump truck with the same bolt pattern as the eaton and rockwell axles. The PO bought new 22.5 wheels for it so he could run tubeless radials. Not sure where he got the wheels from, but you can probably get plain steel wheels from a big truck tire place. I'm just not sure if I can get them in 10 or 12 inch widths, which is probably what I'd need to run 12-20's or 14-20's. I'd like to stick with the 20 instead of going to 22.5's because then I could run surplus tires, instead of buying new, more aggressive big-truck tires.

 

[rdixiemiller]

You can widen standard deuce wheels and run 15.50R20 tires. There is a thread on this that dates back maybe 2 weeks. I wouldn't mess with the 22.5 wheels, more trouble than it is worth, unless you have a source for tires in that size.
You can run the 1/2" size 20" tires tubeless, 12.50R20, 14.50R20 and 15.50R20. The 7.50, 8.25, 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 12.00, and 14.00x20 tires are all tube type as far as I know. You can run 11.00x20 tires on stock deuce rims. If you have decent cutting and welding skills, you can widen stock deuce wheels to accept the wider tires.

 

[503m715]

there are several after market companies that make tubeless wheels for this bolt pattern. usa 6x6, stockton wheel, mrt,etc. I have a set of 20 x 10 stockton 1 piece wheels and a set of usa 6 x 6 beadlock. Both have been great. I have 14 x 20 xl's on 1 set and 16 x 20 xzl's on the other. I bought the 1 piece stocktons used for $300 and I think the usa 6x6 beadlocks were around $250 each.
There is also a guy on ebay that sells large military tires that was going to start making wheels also. look under military tires, his phone is 715-305-9993 and his name is rod.
hope this is helpful.

 

[jesusgatos]

I just bought a set of Firestone T831 11.R20 radials, but haven't figured out what wheels I want to mount them on. I've already flipped the hubs so I can run them as singles. I'd like to mount these tire on a set of modified HEMTT wheels, but they're too wide. The Canadian bead-locked wheels are a viable option, but I would prefer wheels with even less backspacing. What about the older one-piece wheels from the Ford trucks & schoolbuses? Are those all 19.5's and 22's, or are there any 20" one-piece wheels with the right lug pattern, width, and backspacing out there?

Called Stockton Wheel and was quoted $395ea. for a set of custom plate-center wheels.

Accuride makes the wheels.

Accuride Corporation: All Around Leader in Wheels

Couldn't find anything on their website, so I just sent them an email. Will see what they have to say.

 

[jesusgatos]

I talked to Accuride today. They don't have anything in a 20" wheel that's set-up to run in a singled configuration, but they encouraged me to figure out what the ideal wheel for this application might be. Firestone Specifies an 8" wide wheel for the T831's, but I'm wondering about the offset/backspacing. Anybody know what the offset/backspacing on the Canadian Deuce wheels is?