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Hubsteps for Deuces

Marcel

Well-known member
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Location
Rhode Island
Someone is selling hub steps for deuces in the classifieds. Do they serve a function or are they only for show?
 

jesusgatos

Active member
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on the road - in CA right now
Whoa, I totally missed this. Sorry guys. To answer the original poster's question: I designed these to be used as steps. Just worked out that they ended up looking pretty cool. I only installed them on the back of my M109 to show that they fit the front AND rear axles. Pointless on Mah Deuce, but I think they might be pretty handy on a cargo truck or a tractor.

I had a few samples made (info and pics here), which I installed and have been testing. I was taking wheels on/off all the time while I was making custom wheels for Mah Deuce, and that helped me to figure out how to make a few improvements.

1) The way my original hubsteps were designed, the wheels were kind of hard to slide over the hubsteps and onto the hubs.

2) The original hubsteps didn't stick out any further than the front driveflanges, which kept everything nice and tight, but the steps were a little too small to be very useful.

3) The teeth on the original hubsteps were not very sharp, and I found my feet slipping off them occasionally.

So I've completely redesigned them.

The single biggest and most improvement is that the new hubsteps should make the wheels a LOT easier to put on and take off. Should be an easy one-man job now. You just slide the wheel over the hubstep and then slide the wheels up the spokes, right onto the hubs. I also added a 1/8" tall lip to stop the wheels from falling off the hub when one person is trying to wrestle a wheel/tire on/off.

I also made the new hubsteps a 1/2" wider, so there's a larger platform to stand on. And you can see, the teeth are also a lot sharper on the new version.

I just sent the CAD files to the laser shop this afternoon, and I'll post some pictures as soon as I receive the first samples. I'm planning on making a small batch of these as soon as I've finalized the design, and I will probably be taking pre-orders. Target price is $150/pr., including shipping anywhere in the lower 48.
 

Attachments

ALFA2

Member
205
2
18
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
jesusgatos, you certainly have improved an already neat product, hope you get some more interest, as this one seems to be more healthy and usable looking, than the first ones.

Good luck with your design, nice work ! and thanks for postiong the pics.

ALFA2
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
GA Mountains
I'm going to end up ordering some myself. They will work great on the M108 as I find myself constantly climbing the side to get to the operators bucket.
 

tm america

Active member
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Location
merrillville in
i think you need to design some spinners to go on there. 20s with spinners on a deuce .? everyone in the hood will want a set. plus they will help shred the zombies:cool:
 

jesusgatos

Active member
2,689
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Location
on the road - in CA right now
Will they work with the locking hubs?
No, this version will only work with the stock front/rear drive flanges. I wanted to make them fit locking hubs too, but I'm going to end up needing to make another version specifically for locking hubs. They're just too different. But I WILL be making them for locking hubs, whenever I get a set (or three) for Mah Deuce...
 

jesusgatos

Active member
2,689
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Location
on the road - in CA right now
The laser shop I normally use is being super flakey. Still haven't got a quote from them on these parts. Anybody on SS work in a sheetmetal shop that has a laser-table? Would also consider using water-jet, but it's usually a lot more expensive for parts like these.
 

maddawg308

Well-known member
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Front Royal, VA
They look cool, and might be useful for those who use the truck on-road only and have the front hubs flipped (as in the above photo). However, since I off-road mine several times a year, and the front wheels are standard, they would easily get mashed in the rocks and tight trees that I often find myself in at Rausch Creek, the GWNF, and Haspin.

Just my two cents.
 

jesusgatos

Active member
2,689
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Location
on the road - in CA right now
They look cool, and might be useful for those who use the truck on-road only and have the front hubs flipped (as in the above photo). However, since I off-road mine several times a year, and the front wheels are standard, they would easily get mashed in the rocks and tight trees that I often find myself in at Rausch Creek, the GWNF, and Haspin.

Just my two cents.
I drive off-road too, and I think these hubsteps will actually protect the stock drive flanges. I know a lot of rock crawlers running rockwells have destroyed their flanges by grinding them into things. These hubsteps are made out of 1/4" plate and the way they're designed/built, with the radial spokes, they're VERY strong. If you damage these, I would be impressed. Maybe I should do some demolition testing though, just to demonstrate how burly these things are...
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
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Don't be giving me ideas Leonard or I'll go bolt on a pair of brake drums on the outside as steps.
 

jesusgatos

Active member
2,689
21
38
Location
on the road - in CA right now
Thanks for posting those pics. I thought about making hubsteps like those. Would have been cool because I could have made them a lot larger diameter. But hubsteps like those are bolted onto the wheel studs, and there are only six of them on the 2.5-ton Rockwell axles. So if I used three of them to locate the hubstep, that would have only left three to locate the wheel. Wasn't comfortable with that, seeing as they're lug-centric wheels. Great way to go on anything with that larger 10-lug bolt pattern though.
 
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