16.5 Humvee Wheels Can Fit

[Quasimoto]

After my Diff upgrade I figured I would start looking at what I was going to do for 37's. I had a 16.5x8.25 12 bolt Humvee wheel and 37x12.5R16.5 Goodyear kicking around the shed so I figured I would see if it would fit. I can tell you that from a previous experiment, I found out that the stock wheel with 7" backspacing would not clear our brakes and using a couple of 2" wheel spacers, that 5" backspacing will fit on the back, but on the front I needed both 2" spacers to create 3" backspacing to fit. Being as there was no way that I would stack spacers on a vehicle, I started looking around for some other options. After quite alot of research into modifying Humvee wheels I going into contact with Trail Worthy Fab for advice on what to do. (I am not putting them up here as an ad, as there are alot of other companies that also work with the 16.5 wheel they just happened to be the first one I talked to and they answered all my questions).

After talking to them, I found out that I could cut the center out of the outer rim and weld in a new center into the inner rim and if I used a pressed center (strongest) it bottoms out in the rim at 3.25" backspacing. So I had them send me a cut outer, 8x6.5 pressed inner, PVC beadlock and a refurbish kit.

So when the package got here it was time to get to work.







Here is the stock 12 bolt wheel, as you can see it is 2 piece with an O-ring between the halfs.



Here is the cut outer beside the stock one.


This is the back half showing how the new center will sit down in it.



Here is the mock up to see what is going to look like.



So enough playing around:
To put the new center in the inner half I started with removing the paint where I would be welding. I then taped some shims to the inside so that the new center would be centered and tapped it in untill it was seated on the ridge that is there. To make sure that it was fully seated I used a couple of C-Clamps to pull it down tight. I then put 4 tacks around the edge of the center.



I then bolted the wheel up to the rear of my truck to check for runout. Because I was planning just to use this wheel as a spare and while spinning it I found out that it had been dropped sometime and had an slight dent in one spot,I just used a square and a screw to make sure it was farely close. For an accurate measurement use a dial indicator and 20 -30 thousands is what you are shooting for. It was real close on the first try so I left it there and didn't have to cut any tacks to move the center.




Next before I welded it up I figured I would check for brake clearance. There was enough front and back.

Back




Front




Then it was time to weld it up.


Then paint.



While I waited for paint I started to put the tire together.

I use balancing beads in all my tires so I threw in a 10 ounce pack. The bag busts up as soon as the tire spins at any rate.




Lots of lube.


Drop tire over beadlock and push it down untill it is kind of in the center.


Then push the tire up against something and push forward on the beadlock with your foot and it rotates into the tire nicely. I just had to use a couple of screw drivers to get the beadlock the last little bit into the tire. Then just center the bead lock as close to possible inside the tire (help's with balancing).



To assemble the tire and wheel I started by placing the inner wheel on a 5gal bucket.


I lubed the tire, rim and beadlock up good and had a buddy help me place the tire over the rim, making sure the air hole in the beadlock was centered between 2 studs.


The new o-ring that came in the kit is slightly small so I stretched over my shop vac while I got the rest of my stuff together. I installed a new o-ring on the valve stem fitting. I then tested the o-ring to see how long I would have before the o-ring pop'd out of the groove, so I would know how long I had to get the outer bolted down (3min). If that doesn't sound like long don't worry only 3 nuts are need to get it pulled up tight enough so the o-ring stays.


When I got the outer ready to be placed on the inner I placed 3 pilot washers evenly spaced around the holes. The pilot washers are needed to center the outer to the inner half. I then got all my flange nuts ready as well as 3 regular nuts that I was going to use for the seating of the outer. I then lubed the wheel up again and put the o-ring in place and put the outer on the studs lining up the valve stem fitting with the air hole in the beadlock. I placed the 3 regular nuts on the studs that had the pilot washers. I then used an impact to suck down the nuts evenly untill the outer was seated. I then threw on the flange nuts on and sucked them down. Before I replaced the regular nuts with flange nuts I torque all the nuts to 50 lbs.


I then torqued up all the nuts to 80 lbs then 110 lbs. The last thing I installed was the valve stem and then I aired up the tire. Because the tire is being squished there is no trying to seat it.




Now time to install on truck. Because this was a test to see if I was going to order 4 more wheel/tire assembles, I put it on the front to see if my 5" lift was enough to run these 37's on 8.25"wide wheel with 3.25" backspacing. When I cycled the stearing it just touched my flare and the bumper valinse would have to be trimmed. So I would need a 6" or 8" lift or a grinder to make enough clearance. The other thing I checked was the wieght of the Beadlock assembly (145 lbs) vs my 35's on aluminium wheels (75 lbs). I probally would have done more mods to make these fit but at that wieght they would be sucking the fuel and power on the highway. So I am going to go with 37 BFG AT's which are only 1 lbs more then what I am running now and with no more mods.

But I did a splice picture to show what they would look like on my truck.


Hope this helps someone thinking of going to 16.5's.

[GunniPWguy]

just scrolled through it all and .. well... looks like .... Aw..I'll read it tomorrow.

[Original_Junior]

Looks great but as your mentioned, too heavy. You are a great guy for trying this and answering a lot of questions people have about running these. Nice work!

[PWRider]

Any one tried/running Staun Beadlocks

[MSparks909]

Is there any way you could have just ground off material from the brake caliper with a grinder? I commend you on your fab skills and ingenuity, but there's no way I would ever run less than 4.5" backspacing. Especially with a wheel/tire combo that heavy. Puts WAY too much stress on the balljoints, unit bearings, other steering components. You could clear 37's easy with 4.5-5.5" BS on some 17's.

[Quasimoto]

Yes, some material could have been removed, but it would have to be removed from caliper support arms and caliper retaining clips, doing that could create a real safety hazard. If the caliper just needed to be polished a bit, a person might get away with no problems, like the Dana 60 with 15's. The extra stress from the extra inch of offset would put no more strain on the ball joints and unit bearings then the Cummins or heavy aftermarket steel bumpers do. The other reason that I went with 3.5" back spacing is because to get 4.5" I would have had to use a flat center instead of the stronger pressed center. The flat centers are prone to bending if side loaded to much.
My back up plan was to use my 17x8.5 American Racing Thugs with 4.5 bs and replace my 35 BFG AT's with 37 BFG AT's and probably install Staun internal Beadlocks.
I did this experiment to see what it would take to make the cheap Humvee wheels and tires fit vs what I am now going to spend on brand new tires plus the Stauns.