RE: [ihc] HMMWV, Hummer and other two-piece wheels...

["Ed Sohm" <idaemes@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Joel, 

You are talking about Hummer rims only, right?  Because I don't believe
much of this true about WWII era combat rims. Many people have never
seen the combat rims because they got thrown away and replaced with
civilian rims after the jeeps came into civilian hands.  An article in
the newest Military Vehicles Magazine about a guy who restored an old
jeep said he paid $150 each for combat rims.  He had paid $5 a piece to
have the original ones disposed of a few years earlier.

 

Ed



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ihc@domain.elided [mailto:owner-ihc@domain.elided] On Behalf Of
Joel M Brodsky
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 8:48 PM
To: ihc@domain.elided
Subject: [ihc] HMMWV, Hummer and other two-piece wheels...


The wheels on these trucks are indeed tubeless.  They actually have an
O-ring between the halves when they bolt together.
The nuts holding the two halves are also different than your average
nuts.
(giggling subsides...)
The nuts on the halves are 5-sided and require a special tool, and are
technically -NOT- field serviceable,
which is why the HMMW, and Hummer, etc. come with what is called
Run-flat,
which is a large Aluminum or Magnesium annulus that
mounts inside the tire and provides a ride height suitable for driving
at a
considerably reduced speed but is rated for ~50 miles,
a distance determined to be enough to rid a driver/team of danger.  The
5-point socket does not come with the truck and is usually only found in
the motor pool shop.  The mounting studs for the wheel to the hub are
still
the requisite 8 lugs that most 3/4T trucks have.

So, tubeless, run-flat not field serviceable, and different nuts.

Also, the sheer number of nuts holding the halves together (seems to me
it
was something like 13?) never seems to deter owners from replacing the
5-sides with more commonly available 6-sides and then removing those
while
a tire is leaking, but still aired up, and thusly blowing the O-ring,
the
wheel half, and the run-flat ring directly into themselves or others.

All disclaimers apply.

The only way I know this is that shortly after I got into Scouts,  I
also
got into my lifted Suburban and then to Hummers, and I used to hang with
those guys and hit some trails...  Seen them, heard them, and worked on
them.  So, this is all IIRC ~ 6 years ago.

Enjoy.

JoelB