Official Deuce Aftermarket Wheel Thread

[treeguy]

After three months of every free night and weekend, I am proud to say that my wheel conversion project is done. I can't say enough kind words about our fellow member Gringeltaube. Thank you sir for your designing help and wealth of knowledge!

As you can see, the proof is in the photos. 395's will fit in a 6x6 configuration, there is plenty of room between the rear set. By using a 1/2" plate bolted behind the new wheel, there is great clearance in the front and around the J pipe. Turning the steering wheel lock to lock proves no rubbing. I can't speek for off road articulation yet. There seems to be room for some moderate flex but I think that full torquing of the suspension may give some bed rub in the rear and fender rub in the front. I included the photo of the 395 next to the 11.00 tire mounted together in the rear to show a size comparison. The 395's fill the wheel wells nicely and definitly do away with the skinny look. The rears are still inside the bed in the rear and the fronts protrude outside the fenders by roughly two inches.

From what my humble experience shows, I think that this is a great option to fit 10 lug LMTV wheels. The 1/2" plate bolted to the back side offers great off set for the 395 tires.

One question I have is about the sealing "O" rings. Does anyone know if the Hemtt "O" rings are the same as the LMTV's? I had a mix of round and triangle style and they are all about 19" in diameter. The round ones are about 3/8" in thickness diameter. I had a problem with one of the triangle type not sealing so I swapped it out for an extra round type that I had. I would definitly recomend the round type over the triangle style.

As a side note, I would like to apoligize if I have offended anyone by unintentionally hyjacking the original thread. I was trying to add an option to others for ideas on how to make this rim type fit a deuce, not control the direction of this thread. I had also put out there the question of having my posts transfered to a seperate thread prior to posting my project, in hopes of avoiding this hyjacking. I hope that others can jump into this thread to build it up to really make it an "Official Deuce Aftermarket Wheel Thread".

 

[trukhead]

After three months of every free night and weekend... ...unintentionally hyjacking the original thread...

WOW, Splendid job! Beeeuuttiiifull Wheels!!

Your posts where a great read and an excellent contribution to the thread!

 

[ODdave]

Looks great. Its a awsome feeling of accomplishment now that your done isnt it. Great job sir, The pride taken in your work is well deserved !

 

[plym49]

After three months of every free night and weekend, I am proud to say that my wheel conversion project is done. I can't say enough kind words about our fellow member Gringeltaube. Thank you sir for your designing help and wealth of knowledge!

As you can see, the proof is in the photos. 395's will fit in a 6x6 configuration, there is plenty of room between the rear set. By using a 1/2" plate bolted behind the new wheel, there is great clearance in the front and around the J pipe. Turning the steering wheel lock to lock proves no rubbing. I can't speek for off road articulation yet. There seems to be room for some moderate flex but I think that full torquing of the suspension may give some bed rub in the rear and fender rub in the front. I included the photo of the 395 next to the 11.00 tire mounted together in the rear to show a size comparison. The 395's fill the wheel wells nicely and definitly do away with the skinny look. The rears are still inside the bed in the rear and the fronts protrude outside the fenders by roughly two inches.

From what my humble experience shows, I think that this is a great option to fit 10 lug LMTV wheels. The 1/2" plate bolted to the back side offers great off set for the 395 tires.

One question I have is about the sealing "O" rings. Does anyone know if the Hemtt "O" rings are the same as the LMTV's? I had a mix of round and triangle style and they are all about 19" in diameter. The round ones are about 3/8" in thickness diameter. I had a problem with one of the triangle type not sealing so I swapped it out for an extra round type that I had. I would definitly recomend the round type over the triangle style.

As a side note, I would like to apoligize if I have offended anyone by unintentionally hyjacking the original thread. I was trying to add an option to others for ideas on how to make this rim type fit a deuce, not control the direction of this thread. I had also put out there the question of having my posts transfered to a seperate thread prior to posting my project, in hopes of avoiding this hyjacking. I hope that others can jump into this thread to build it up to really make it an "Official Deuce Aftermarket Wheel Thread".

Really nice, good job.

 

[treeguy]

Thanks guys

 

[silverstate55]

That's awesome, beautiful work!! I think your posts fit perfectly into the thread.

 

[gringeltaube]

This is the best build of recentered 5ton wheels for the Deuce that I have seen so far and also best proof that in fact FMTV 2pc wheels constitute excellent alternatives to HEMTT and 5ton combat wheels, as base material.

Congrats, Ben! Great contribution, job well done and looking very nice too!

G.

 

[Amram]

Your truck with the same tires looks heck of alot better than mine. I mounted my MVT's on standard Rivet wheels for the deuce. I kindof don't like the bowl shape the tires have from being a little too wide for those rims.

 

[Seatyger]

Hey Brother that is an absolute First Class Job! You guys amaze the **** out of me by just - Getting it Done !! Awesome to the extreme.

 

[1toolboy]

Hey guys, fairly new member to the site but willing to help if I can in regards to the FMTV wheel plates. I've just bought a deuce and started the "bob" job, got a killer deal on some wheels and tires out of Dallas,Tx and decided to look into making plates. I work in the fabrication industry and had a local guy water-jet my plates out of 1/2". If anyone is interested I can hook u up with the guys on wheels and tires along with plates. The best way to reach me is by phone @ 903-821-8666 James

 

[lost in the bush]

On the same subject of aftermarket wheels only a bit left of center.

I would like to put aftermarket custom wheels non- military look. IE: Semi Truck Aluminum wheels.

I know the deuce has 10 lug wheels. Is anyone aware if semi 22 or 22.5 wheels have the same bolt pattern etc.

Want for project truck. Aware that with a less aggressive street tire will affect off road. This is not an issue with this project.

Oops! Never mind I just got back in town and looked at the Deuce 5 Lug Duh!.. I guess will do this to 5 ton.

Never-mind

 

[peashooter]

MRAP WHEELS & 395/85R20, NO Modifications, Bolt on adapter to fit the Deuce!

Like many other folks, I was looking to put some nice wheels on my truck but didnt have the money for the recentered HEMMTs and some of the other options out there. I ended up winning a couple lots of MRAP wheels out of Hunstville for what ended up being about $150 each. Other than being heavy, these things are great. They are brand spankin' new 2 piece MRAP wheels, have a runflat in them and Michelin 395-85R 20 XZL tires, they were mfg in 2009 and cost us taxpayers $4700 each at the time, they even are balanced.
I like them because they can be found somewhat inexpensively compared to other options and they require NO modifications to get them to fit a deuce, just an adapter plate that can be bolted on. Several different GL sites have been selling these MRAP wheels in lots of 4, and they will literally have about 80 lots up at a time so prices have dropped considerably over the last year.
I'm an engineer and decided to make some adapter plates for myself and then some extras to sell. I've got a M109A3 Camper that gets a fair amount of miles put on it and I really wanted to make sure I had the wheels as well centered/aligned as could be to get the most life out of the tires. MRAP wheels are Hub centric so the large center bore is the feature that is supposed to align them to the hub where as our deuce's use the 6 beveled lug nut holes. I've seen a couple different style adapters but none that were both affordable (under $300/ea) and aligned off the correct feature of the MRAP wheel should. Usually it was one or the other and even the self aligning ones required longer hub studs or modified lug nuts to fit. I believe this design is both affordable, high quality & self aligning which at the moment no one else can claim.

My classified add can be found here: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...tyles-Prices&p=1257945&viewfull=1#post1257945


NEGATIVES about the MRAPS:
1- These MRAPS are HEAVY, I thought the stock tires weighed a lot until my mraps were delivered. I'm told these are 460 lbs each, and it feels like it if not more. You wont be losing much/any weight by singling it out.
2- The other thing is you need 10x bolts per wheel to mount the adapters. The bolts are 1", so bolts and nuts can be expensive if you dont shop around. I've been able to buy out some souces who have had closeouts on the size needed and prices can be fine in that case (as low as $10/wheel for grade 8 or SHCS). Otherwise I have some sources and prices listed in my classfied add that end up being around $25/wheel for the hardware.
3. These use large bore valve stems so you need an adapter or different chuck to fill them....adapters to basically turn them into a regular size valve stem are only about $3/ea though.


Some info about my adapters.
These adapter plates are ½” thick steel, laser cut and MACHINED and also HUB CENTRIC / SELF ALIGNING. I made an inital run of these and will continue to make them as long as folks are interested . I make 2 versions: one that is cheaper and 75% laser cut to the tightest tolerances that will still fit everything (does not have the dowel pin alignment feature), and a more expensive version that 90% machined on a CNC mill (after the blanks are laser cut) in order to get the precision, accurate holes & dowel pin alignment features that just cant be done with a waterjet, plastma table, flame, or even laser. The Dowel pins I use are 1/2" dia, they look smaller in the pics but thats because the center hole of the wheel is over 11" diameter.

The below pictures show the adapter plate, the wheel with the adapter plate bolted on, and the 4 types of MRAP wheels I'm currently aware of (12 bolt steel, 16 bolt, 20 bolt steel, 24 bolt aluminum)

 

[Jakob]

Any pictures of them mounted? I wonder how they fit with the offset. It looks like the offset is is almost all negative.

 

[ccequipment]

they fit, you have about 9" of back spacing I have been making these plates for a few months now and have several in stock also. We have been running them on several trucks with good results.

 

[peashooter]

Any pictures of them mounted? I wonder how they fit with the offset. It looks like the offset is is almost all negative.

I dont have any pics of my truck yet with these mounted.... I ended up selling the ones I had made for myself so I'll be making another run of these for me and anyone else who wants in on the next batch.

Here are a couple links to others who have done this with MRAPs:
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...on-the-front&p=1261394&viewfull=1#post1261394
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...s-on-a-deuce&p=1029636&viewfull=1#post1029636
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...build-thread&p=1263644&viewfull=1#post1263644

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?89071-Mean-Green&p=1171639&viewfull=1#post1171639
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...-way-to-Bobs&p=1229309&viewfull=1#post1229309

 

[jesusgatos]

Those MRAP wheels look like the hot setup. Very cool that you don't have to modify the wheels. Makes the whole deal a lot easier.

 

[treeguy]

That is some very nice work! This is a great option for the use of MRAP wheels. It looks like the back spacing will put the tire further outboard than usual but it will work. Especially since there is no machining to be done to the wheel itself it makes life easier for a lot of folks out there. I like how you used the dowel pins for aligning the plate!

 

[peashooter]

Those MRAP wheels look like the hot setup. Very cool that you don't have to modify the wheels. Makes the whole deal a lot easier.

Easy is always appreciated when working on the deuce. Jesusgatos- I've followed your build and remember all the work you put into making your wheels. They turned out great, but it sure didnt look easy.... Same goes for you Treeguy, that is some real labor you guys put in and the results show it.

 

[jesusgatos]

Thanks, but I didn't really have much of a choice. Would have been a lot easier if I'd wanted to run 395's, but options are pretty limited if you want to run smaller/narrower tires. If I hadn't already put in all that work and knew about those MRAP wheels, might have gone that route. Your adapter plates look look great.

 

[ccequipment]

Here is a few pics of a couple of diffrent wheels we have with the adapter plates bolted in. The one on the bobbed truck we just finshed yesterday and is the 24 bolt aluminum style. Pretty cool looking, we were thinking about painting the outer ring green on the next ones to set them of a little.
I always have these plates and wheels along with tires in stock if anyone needs them. We are doing everything in house now.
We also have been making a few adapter plates to mount these wheels on the 6 on 205mm bolt pattern for the unimog axles. We have done several sets for a few guys in Australia this seems to be a hot setup for them also