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Humvee Bead-lock wheels

7K views 27 replies 6 participants last post by  2-Stroke 
#1 ·
Okay, we all know that it takes a 17" wheel to fit over the brakes on a 2002 or newer 2500 or 3500 Ram truck right.... Well, what about the 16.5" Military Bead lock wheels that the military uses on the Humvee's. The reason I ask, is that if you look at any normal wheel it has a dip in the middle so it is possible to mount a tire on the wheel. On the 2 piece military bead-lock. The inside of the wheel is flat and smooth like a beer keg. Does anybody know the inside diameter of one of these wheels? Those wheels painted black would look sweet on a Dodge Ram!
 
#2 ·
I don't know the ID of the wheels, but make sure you get the rigt wheel for the tire that you are using. There are two versions of wheels that have been used by the HMMWV over the years, one is designed for a Bias-ply tire, the other is designed for a Radial tire. You can tell the difference by the bead locks, the Radial tire wheel has more bead locks, they go the whole circumference of the wheels, the Bias tire wheel has a large gap between each bead lock.
 
#3 ·
I have looked into this as well. The 12 bolt locks are for radial and the 8 bolt locks are for bias plys. The wheel is a steel 16.5" so it should have more clearance than an aluminum 16.5". Personally, I think they would fit (with different center welded in).

Regards,
Abrams
 
#4 ·
You shouldn't have to weld in anything, There is no hump in the center of the wheel because it is a two-piece wheel. Usually that hump easily drops down about an inch or so.
 
#5 ·
Yes, you would need new centers welded in. The Hummer wheels have massive backspacing to clear and cover the portal boxes on the ends of the independent suspension. You could never turn because the tires and wheel would be so close to the control arms (backspacing issue) that the moment you turned the wheel the tires would come into contact with something. There are several companies that do this for this very reason, as well as doing custom bolt patterns. Not sure if I can post addresses to other websites on here, somebody let me know if I can, I'll give you an address to a company that specializes in doing this.

Regards,
Abrams
 
#7 ·
AbramsM1.. Where did you find the pics of the wheels? They look like humvee wheels that have had new centers welded in. As far as the backspacing issue, stock Dodge wheels are backspaced 6.25 inches. I was thinking about using spacers until they fit, or altering the wheel if I had to. I just love the way they look. And 16.5" tires are cheaper than 17" tires.
 
#8 ·
You're going to have to use 6.25" of spacers, since the HMMWV wheel is two pieces, the inside piece has the inner bead, holds the studs for the bead locks, and houses the O-Ring in a groove for sealing the two pieces together, the outside piece is the Wheel Mounting Surface and is held on to the inside piece by nuts.

The design makes for a quick disassembly of the wheel, I know I built many HMMWV tires while I was in Iraq, I'm very familiar with the design of the HMMWV wheels and tires, just don't know any measurements of the wheel itself other then the OD.
 
#9 ·
Saint.....I have no doubt that you are a master at rebuilding Humvee wheels, or that you understand how a lot of military equipment works. But your math is a little off. Humvee wheels have 7" of backspacing, or at least all the civilian wheels do, So I would need to have 3/4" of spacers to make those wheels fit like a factory dodge eight lug wheel. But on a heavy tow rig, spacers aren't that great of an idea. So maybe I will see about having a wheel shop re-engineer some humvee wheels are just give up on the idea. I do like the way they look, and the fact that they are strong wheels.
 
#10 ·
Hi guys,

With a stock Hummer wheel you would need a spacer just to get the mounted wheel/ tire combo to clear the control arms like a stock setup. (Or get new centers welded in). If dieselracer's math is correct, and the difference is only 3/4" then a spacer would work. For some reason I thought military Hummer wheels had like 8" of backspacing?? Otherwise the new centers are the way to go. By the way, I got this info from USA 6x6. I have been looking into getting Hummer wheels for my Powerwagon for some time now. They will clear the brakes when properly set up. And I too like the fact that 16.5" wheels are cheaper.

Regards,
Abrams
 
#11 ·
i dont think the 16.5 wheel will work. I tried to find a wheel that I could use, cuz I wanted hummer tires... I was unsuccessful. Im usually resourceful and can find away to make things happen... but I just dont think this will. You can check out www.usa6x6.com they have good stuff... maybe can answer ?s too or give some alternative designs
 
#12 ·
USA 6x6 told me that their wheels would fit (the 16.5s).

This is the message I got when I inquired about it.


"they will clear ANY brakes easily...

USA6x6.com - A force... of Traction.
Daniel Little -Owner
Phone 580-351-0600
Fax 580-355-1726
1410 NW 15th
Lawton OK 73507"


I'm going to solve this problem this weekend. I work full-time for the Army National Guard... so I'll just take a spare Hummer tire and see if the backside will clear the brake/hub/spindle assembly. (when I get my truck back from the service dept anyway...)

I'll let you know what happens.

Regards,
Abrams
 
#13 ·
AbramsM1 said:
USA 6x6 told me that their wheels would fit (the 16.5s).

This is the message I got when I inquired about it.


"they will clear ANY brakes easily...

USA6x6.com - A force... of Traction.
Daniel Little -Owner
Phone 580-351-0600
Fax 580-355-1726
1410 NW 15th
Lawton OK 73507"


I'm going to solve this problem this weekend. I work full-time for the Army National Guard... so I'll just take a spare Hummer tire and see if the backside will clear the brake/hub/spindle assembly. (when I get my truck back from the service dept anyway...)

I'll let you know what happens.

Regards,
Abrams
Awesome, will you take pics of it installed aswell? Thanks alot for clarifying this!!!!!!!!!!!!! They where unclear about the rims when I inquired.
 
#14 ·
Yes, I'll take some pictures. Only problem now is that my Powerwagon is going to be at the dealer for a while. They are giving me a 1500 to use, so maybe I can at least check clearance on that with the brakes (I know the bolt pattern is differnt, I'll just slide the wheel over the hub and brakes). If not, I'll just hang on to the Hummer wheel until I get my PW back (should be this weekend or early next week)

Regards,
Abrams
 
#17 ·
Dieselracer, you're right about the backspacing I forget my terms for a little bit. The civilain wheels are slightly different, but I don't see why the backspacing would be any different.
 
#18 ·
guys to let you know the tires used on the HMMWVs are about $400-$600 each. the 16.5" tires aren't cheaper they are very uncommon, if you get the HMMWV wheels get the run flat rings that go inside the tires as well, this way if you do get a flat you can still make it home, with out changing your tire. Also on the military trucks the wheels are 13.5 inches wide, but they tuck up under the wheel wells all the way, the wheels centers are only about 1-2" from the outside edge of the tire at most, and at least 10" of tire stick to the inside of the hub.
 
#19 ·
The tires are only 12.5 inches wide, how are the wheels wider then the tires? The HMMWV uses 37x12.50R16.5 Goodyear Wrangler MT radial tires or 36x12.50R16.5 Goodyear Wrangler RT II Bias-Ply tires, I've seen Super Swampers on Army HMMWVs, but I haven't been able to locate them in the Marine Corps Supply System. The radials are not $400-$600 each, the Marine Corps price for tires is $231 each, and the Marine Corps price is usually a good deal higher then the civilain price.

Now a HMMWV tire with the run flat is about $500 each, and there are two types of run flat, there is a two piece aluminum ring to be used with the bias tires, that require water packs to go around the run flat. Then there is a one piece rubber run flat for use with the radial tire that is a nightmare to remove and reinstall into the tire, first time I built a HMMWV tire me and a buddy 12 hours, but it spreads out the sidewall and allows the tire to be filled up extremely easy.
 
#20 ·
SOrry you are right I meant 12.5" on the tires. but The price for the tires I got from a website, when I was looking for tires of my own, they were the HMMWV specific Wranglers. When I get back from work I will find them again.
 
#21 ·
As far as prices and stuff goes... ebay. You should never have to pay more than $500 for HMMWV tires or wheels. I'm talking about a set here, not just a single tire or wheel.

The 1500 requires 17" wheels as well. It also looks a lot like the rest of the Dodges so it would be a start, rather than waiting for next week sometime. However, this is not an issue anymore since the dealer last night gave me a Chevy 1500 rather than a Dodge 1500... WTF?? :huh: What a pile. The only nice thing about it is the steering wheel and radio. It has the 5.3 but I cannot believe how much faster my PW is than that Chevy half ton.

I'll start getting some pics as soon as possible.

Regards,
Abrams
 
#24 ·
I have a Hummer wheel/tire at my house right now that we think will clear the brakes on the Ram because of the type of wheel it is. I was going to try and mount it last week but my PW has been in the shop so I haven't had a chance. Once I get the PW back, I'll be posting some pics of the attempt at fitting it.

Regards,
Abrams
 
#25 ·
Well, they don't fit in their stock form. As I said, they will have to have new centers welded in to decrease the backspacing about 1 1/4". Also, I suspect minimal grinding on the "casting ridge" (not sure what to call it) on the brake caliper. They do look cool though...
 

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#26 ·
You can see here that they don't interfere with the control arms or the wheel well. The Hummer tires are actually not much bigger than my stock PW tires. You can see how the lugs towards the back of the truck didn't want to tighten down due to the inside ridge of the wheel hitting the caliper. I also pointed out where it scraped the inside of the wheel.

Regards,
Abrams.
 

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