Official Deuce Aftermarket Wheel Thread

[treeguy]

I am working on modifing FMTV wheels with the help of several SS members here. The designing is done and I'm waiting on a prototype to test fit. This seems like a simple mod., just like the HEMTT's with the bolted in plates. FMTV wheels = 20 bolts instead of 16 and dish out unlike the flat HEMTT wheel. The backspacing is great using a 1/2" plate on the inside. I was supprised to find that this has not been done before (that I can find). When its all done I'll post pics. and we'll see where it goes from there to help others. It seems that GL is full of FMTV wheels and tire combos and most of them have the internal bead locking band. I took off the CTIS valving and can reuse the valve stems by inserting shrader valves but I don't know what to cap them with. There are no threads on the tip because of how it threads into the CTIS system.

 

[hilber]

All those wheels sure look good.

 

[nofearnohope]

I want to keep the dual wheels in the back and use either the 900x20 or 1100x20 NDTs, but REALLY want to get rid of the lock ring and would prefer a bolt on outer ring so I can change the tire in the field (or driveway). Does anyone have any suggestions for this? Most of these posts seem to be about guys that have singled there trucks out and are running street tires.

 

[treeguy]

Look for A3 combat wheels. I just saw an A3 the other day that had bolt together wheels running 14.00 tires. The wheels were stamped MPT, so this would suggest to me that one would be commited to the other side of the fence in referance to the rubber available for them. I think that the wheels were also stamped 11", so they would be wider than original deuce wheels. I think someone on here had a chart as to what wheel and tires had to be MPT and what other tires weren't (for other wheels).

 

[ODdave]

Look for A3 combat wheels. I just saw an A3 the other day that had bolt together wheels running 14.00 tires. The wheels were stamped MPT, so this would suggest to me that one would be commited to the other side of the fence in referance to the rubber available for them. I think that the wheels were also stamped 11", so they would be wider than original deuce wheels. I think someone on here had a chart as to what wheel and tires had to be MPT and what other tires weren't (for other wheels).

Thats not gonna help with what he wants to do. He wants duals.

 

[ODdave]

I want to keep the dual wheels in the back and use either the 900x20 or 1100x20 NDTs, but REALLY want to get rid of the lock ring and would prefer a bolt on outer ring so I can change the tire in the field (or driveway). Does anyone have any suggestions for this? Most of these posts seem to be about guys that have singled there trucks out and are running street tires.

Whats wrong with the lock ring? Keep in mind, just because they bolt together dose not mean they are easy to dismount. The bolt on ring is more for the bead lock than for ease of assembly.

 

[treeguy]

Thats not gonna help with what he wants to do. He wants duals.

Oh yea, sorry. I forgot that he wants to keep duals.

 

[Tanner]

I got my wheels and tires from Stazworks. 4-5 week build time. Multiple centers and finish options. Shipped from WI where they are made to a terminal near me in CA for $2430 total.

Couldnt be happier.
Put them on with a bottle jack and heavy duty base....by MYSELF....for all of you who say how hard the XZLs are to handle. lol.
Loading one in the back of the truck would be nearly impossible though. If I had to switch out on the road, I may just thermite the bad one and drive on.

While the wheels you're using look good, I would be very concerned about airing them down, as the rim 'lip' doesn't appear to go up on the side of the bead as high as it needs to be to support the bead. Compare the rim lip depth on your custom rims to the one on a standard military truck rim... this is a problem I see with many of the aftermarket rim shells -

'Tanner'

 

[Gunner0311]

Who?

Who/what company manufactured the HEMIT wheels originally?

Perhaps they would bring them back into production in various configurations to
fit 2 1/2 tons, 5 Tons etc....

 

[patracy]

Who/what company manufactured the HEMIT wheels originally?

Perhaps they would bring them back into production in various configurations to
fit 2 1/2 tons, 5 Tons etc....

Several companies have produced the HEMTT wheel. (HEM T T) They already bolt up to 5 tons. And it'd be foolish to have them produce a 2.5T pattern. Well I'm sure you could get someone to produce them for you, at the same cost or more than uncle sam paid for them.

You're better of just recentering them. There's no use in reinventing the wheel.

 

[Heath_h49008]

All we need is a guy with a very large stamping press and some steel... Build a 3 piece design like the old BBS rims we ran on the Porche.

2-3 pressing operations to shape the blanks, 3 lathe operations to true, and 3 milling operations to do the holes... for each rim.

But, if you designed it right, you could get creative with spacing and centers for multiple applications. Just thinking out loud here... To do it would seem to be very expensive.

 

[largeboar]

Those are really sharp.

 

[army70deuce]

Just called up Long's Wheel and Rim in Jacksonville, FL 1-800-874-0869 and had a nice discussion with them. They still have the plans for the 6 lug, 6 spoke wheels for the M35 that used to be offered by odiron.com They cost $235 a piece and it was $160ish shipping to SC. They recommend getting the 6 spoke version so you can run the valve stems either way and you won't have the issue mentioned earlier in the thread when he went with a HEMTT look that blocked the valve on one side. They said it would take 10 business days to get 6 wheels done and they come in a grey primer. I specifically asked if they'd run the 395/85R20s and they said they would work great with that tire.

 

[treeguy]

(I'm not sure if I should start a new thread, so feel free to move this. FMTV wheel conversion to Deuce with 395's)

My 395/ FMTV to Deuce wheel conversion is starting to finally get off the ground. This comes after a LOT of prep work. Slowly but surely progress will be made, so stay tuned. This is being done the old fashioned way so have some patience.

The first photo is the unloading of the tires and wheels from my truck.

The rest of the photos are as following:

- FMTV wheel outer half and a stack of six A36 1/2" plates 21"x21" (using 21" squares because shearing metal bends the edges) also a 21" square of 1/4" plate to make a master pattern.

- Specially made tools for transfer punching both Deuce and FMTV wheel hole patterns and locating them.

- Master pattern plate ready for hole layout.

- Master plate with preliminary holes used to obtain layout location of FMTV and Deuce patterns.

- Locating and transfer punching Deuce lug pattern onto master pattern.

 

[jesusgatos]

Nice work so far treeguy! Sure would be cool if those wheels were more widely available. Makes it so much easier not having to cut out the stock center-sections.

 

[treeguy]

I didn't realize they were hard to come across. Mine came from GL as a set of 8, two of the tires were junk though.

Measuring stamped metal to make plans from is tricky. You can get a funky number then realize that it was supposed to be a round number that changed by stamping. The 20 stud hole pattern is 17.50" not 17.7812", you don't even want to know why I bring that up. Lets just say I'm missing a couple of hairs on my head! The other thing is, try and put a 1.0000" diameter peg in a 1.0000"diameter hole. It doesn't fit so well. This was another learning point.

I'll be burning the midnight oil tonight!

 

[gringeltaube]

............. The 20 stud hole pattern is 17.50" not 17.7812..............

Guess I will have to edit that drawing then, before it starts circulating..... if this is confirmed?
Remember, initially it was 17.50", then it returned - corrected to 17.5625", (which already seemed odd...), but I don't recall it ever been 17.78"....

G.

 

[treeguy]

G., Yes, 17.7812 was a typo, I was going for 17-9/16". BUT it is confirmed at 17.50". I just machined the plate and installed the locator pegs at 17.50" diameter.

 

[gringeltaube]

Guess I will have to edit that drawing then....

Latest edition, here....

G.

Edit: new PDF version, with I.D. corrected to 15.75"

 

[treeguy]

That looks very good, the numbers are right on (except for the larger wheel half ID - its 15.75). Full steam ahead!