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14.00 vs 16.00 tire size

kendelrio

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I currently run Goodyear 14r20s on my 5 ton. I'm thinking about going to the wider Michelin XZL 16r20s.

Will I run into a clearance issue with my steering tires and will 16s fit on my current rims?

Thanks in advance.

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98G

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You want hemtt rims. That's the best solution for the clearance issues.

But you can adjust the stops on the steering and get away with your combat rims. Yes, the tires fit.

You can articulate enough to strike the bed. Solution here is a thicker chunk of wood between the bed and frame, or adjust the bump stops.

Pictured is my M925 on 16.00s and hemtt rims.
 

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kendelrio

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You want hemtt rims. That's the best solution for the clearance issues.

But you can adjust the stops on the steering and get away with your combat rims. Yes, the tires fit.

You can articulate enough to strike the bed. Solution here is a thicker chunk of wood between the bed and frame, or adjust the bump stops.

Pictured is my M925 on 16.00s and hemtt rims.

Gotcha. Thank you.

Ok... so HEMTT rims and 16s go on the wish list! 🤣
 

98G

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From what I've read, you can do hemtt rims on the front and keep your combat wheels on the rear if you don't mind having a mixed set.
You can.

My opinion is that is also a suboptimal solution, but it works.

A mixed set means the spare won't match. This has the potential of sticking a combat rim on the front if the front blows and the spare is a combat rim, or puts a hemtt rim with its different offset on the back if your spare is a hemtt rim. Not critical. It'll get you down the road. But suboptimal.
 

kendelrio

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What color / brand paint is this?
That, my friend is Sherwin-Williams Tri-Corn black in a flat finish.

This is the truck a little over 2 years later, with only minor touch up on the paint (mainly high wear areas like the door step to get in and the exhaust stack where the heat got it.)

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(OH, and she's dirty in these pics).

Pressure washing has had really no affect on it, neither has getting her a little dirtier than above...

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Flyinguy

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Penn Yan, NY
I am looking to build a bobbed 809 series and I have been researching tires. I have seen a few builds mounting 16.00s with bridge truck inserts in the front to increase steering clearance. Any thoughts on this vs using the HEMTT wheels on the front?
 
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US6x4

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Bridge trucks have at least 3 different things going on. They have spacers behind the wheels that increase the width, they have different wheels for the 14.00-20s, and they have torque rods that are 3" longer that end up spacing the rear axles 6" further apart.

If you want more clearance between the tires to run chains on 16.00R20s, say, then swapping torque rods and changing drivelines and maybe brake lines would get you more space.
 
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Superthermal

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Bridge trucks have at least 3 different things going on. They have spacers behind the wheels that increase the width, they have different wheels for the 14.00-20s, and they have torque rods that are 3" longer that end up spacing the rear axles 6" further apart.

If you want more clearance between the tires to run chain on 16.00R20s, say, then swapping torque rods and changing drivelines and maybe brake lines would get you more space.
I had no idea that the Bridge trucks had that mod of 3" longer rods and spring pack I would guess! That helps me out! I will be looking for some parts from a bridge truck: Torque rods, rear drive lines and spring packs. Thanks so much for posting this to help me find out what I need. Excellent! Do you happen to know anyone who has these already?
 

US6x4

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The only thing I know is that many owners of bridge trucks get stuck with them when they find out they're too wide to legally drive down the road and then can't offload them to anyone else because the others already know (I guess). They end up losing a lot of money to get them gone.

Searching by NSN for those parts may yield some results.

You might find some leads in the salvage yard forum for places that could be parting trucks out or get a "parts wanted" thread going in the classifieds.
 

US6x4

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Oshkosh equipment and Eastern surplus has the torque rods p/n 8728128. They probably have the springs and propeller shafts as well but they're not always identified as bridge truck parts.

The component costs of all the parts might end up being more than what an unwanted M812 or M821 would sell for...
 
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