M101 US ARMY Trailer tire (1 Viewer)

[BROMO95]

Greeting everyone, i have question to all of you trailer guru. I just bought M101 trailer and planning on replacing my old 9.00-16 military tires because it is dry rotted and has two nails on both tires. My question is, is it possible/safe to mount regular street tires instead of military tire on split rims that M101 has. I notice that one of the member has M101 with 235-85-16 tires on it.I am going to tow this trailer with my fzj80 from Md to Seattle-Wa on the next two months, so safety is really my big concern here. I thank you all very much in advance for any help and greatly appreciate it.

 

[titanpat57]

I would contact your local tire shop that has experience dealing with split rims, especially heavy duty truck tire shop.

 

[se2000]

split rims are widow makers. you will need a truck tire shop that has a cage to inflate the tires in.

Those rims are why I passed on any trailer with them.
Good chance you will need tubes for any tire you put on. But maybe getting your current tubes patched or replaced is all you'll need to do.

 

[e9999]

are the 101 rims true split rims or lock ring rims?
but yes, even the latter should be inflated in a cage when done in a shop. Of course, true outbackers take those off on the fly with old spoons and such and put them back on by stomping on them... then again it's when you inflate them that it gets interesting... use a long hose...

 

[BROMO95]

Thanks for all the advice guys after three tire shop and three truck stop, i finally found truck tire shop in Glen Burnie who really know and have experience with old split rims and tube tire. It cost me $380 for tires,tubes,mount and balance. The tire that i used are Mastercraft Corsair LTR 235-85-16. So to all of you who have split rims, it is safe to put street tire on it as long as you mount the tube & tire properly. The name of the shop is Gillete Tire Distributors,Inc. it is located on 112 Roesler Road, Glen Burnie,MD-21060 [410-766-2190] the owner is knowledgeable and great person to deal with.

 

[BROMO95]

more picture of the trailer

 

[se2000]

Split rims are not a military thing. About all trucks had them. They have been out of favor since the 50's. I don't know if there were any laws made or people just didn't want to deal with them.

So what was the breakdown on costs? Di they hit you bigtime for the split rims?

 

[greentruck]

The military used splits rims for way longer than civilians did. They were pretty much all gone around here except for farm trucks circa 1980. Surplus can be an adventure.

Nice looking trailer. I am kind of astounded that it was necessary to print FRONT on the cover to make sure it was applied correctly though...


I guess not everybody grew up watching Combat! reruns.

 

[titanpat57]

Nice looking trailer. I am kind of astounded that it was necessary to print FRONT on the cover to make sure it was applied correctly though...


I guess not everybody grew up watching Combat! reruns.

ummm..FRONT?

Totally agree with Mike...trailer looks great and I'm glad the tire thing worked out...no price on "peace of mind"!

 

[se2000]

The military used splits rims for way longer than civilians did. They were pretty much all gone around here except for farm trucks circa 1980. Surplus can be an adventure.

I believe the old ford model T's had split rims. And most tube wheels since. I don't think the military had special vehicles before that time. Tubeless tires is what caused the demise of the split rim.

 

[greentruck]

My point was not that the military used split rims before civilian applications, but were perhaps used somewhat longer than in civilian fleets that get tax advantages from buying new equipment.

I suspect OSHA had as much to do with truck rims going to solid wheels as tubeless tires. The garage I used to work in had the cages that were to be used when inflating the tire on a split rim. Except for a few yard queens that we used for storage, but we no longer had these trailers in the fleet by the time I started that job in the early 1990s. The tractors switched over long before that.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

That's why I have my military tires on my '51 Dodge M37 mounted on WWII combat rims. Very few shops want to touch the lock ring rims ("split rims"). At some point will have to have the tires remounted on the "split rims", but that won't be until the truck is parade ready.

 

[se2000]

OSHA started in 1970, a decade after split rims started disappearing as tubeless tires grew in popularity.
I was mounting tires since the mid sixties but I would not touch split rims.
Did not have the equipment and while I have done tons of foolish things, this is not one of them.
The reason split rims had any popularity is that heavy load rated tires have thick side walls and especially with tubes, hard to mount or dismount. Spit rims allow for field repair technically without much equipment. I think this is the reason the military kept on using them, not because they did not get a tax break. The government is way free-er with the cash than businesses.
If you have any documents to the contrary, I'd like to see them.

Radials may be another reason why split rims are not common on big trucks. Do any military trucks in the last decade or so have split rims?

 

[rubberduck]

We still run split rims on lots of our old trailers. They are beyond easy to work with, if you know your way around a set of spoons. As mentioned before, the reinflation is the part to watch.

 

[jrock24]

Being totally dumb about it, what is dangerous about inflating them?

 

[titanpat57]

Being totally dumb about it, what is dangerous about inflating them?

The split rim use to fly off in not installed perfectly...and caused many serious injuries.


Now..any shop that does this has a cage that protects the tech from injury....especially if it's a big truck tire that lots of air

To the OP...trailer looks awesome...good luck with it!

 

[se2000]

Here is a link to the OSHA site. I chose this over the Darwin and ugly picture sites.

Servicing Single-Piece and Multi-Piece Rim Wheels

 

[Tanner]

Lock ring

If you're going to discuss the M101 rims, these are Budd rims with a 'lock-ring', NOT split rims. The M101 & Dodge M37 (same rim on both) use a lock-ring wheel of the type known as the "Good Year, Light Truck Safety" design.

Tanner

 

[jagular7]

All my M101's I've purchased had the split rims and the tires were tubed (NDT tires). I pulled one home with no air as the tube rotated in the tire and the valve was gone. Tire still held the wheel off the ground!

I usually swap out the military axle for a Dexter 5200# 6 or 8 lug pattern and get today's tires on wheels to match the lug pattern. I would hate to be someplace outside my world and need 'special' support to repair just a tire as in your cost ($380). To add, the Dexter axle can be had with a parking brake. And it does save a lot of weight!

Yes, your trailer does look very nice.