how wide is too wide for a tire?

1952 - 1968, M38A1, M170, questions, discussions, regarding anything related to the M38a1 series.
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Maverick1701
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how wide is too wide for a tire?

Post by Maverick1701 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:10 pm

When it comes to wheels how wide is "too wide" for a tire?
These wheels came on my Jeep when I purchased it (came with 7.00x15 tires mounted). they are 15in wheels not the "real" 16in models. Today I had the old tires removed and found that the wheels are 8in bead-to-bead (almost double the width of the stock wheel).

I just purchased 5 7.00x15in coker NDTs from Summit (they have already shipped) and I am worried they might be too narrow for these rims. The info on these tires shows the section width is 7.8in. That leads me to believe that these tires will work on the rims I currently have....at least until I get order the "real" wheels. I don't really want to deal with having to return 5 tires, 5 tubes, and then having to order 5 more tires, 5 tubes, and 5 new wheels if I can avoid it.

What are y'alls thoughts? Can I safely run these tires on these wheels w/out my jeep becoming a total death-trap?
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Chris
1954 M38A1


Maverick1701
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Re: how wide is too wide for a tire?

Post by Maverick1701 » Sun Feb 19, 2017 8:35 pm

well I decided to just bite the bullet and err on the side of caution.

I am going to return the 15in tires I bought from summit and the tubes I bought from kaiser willys. Once the returns are processed I am going to purchase 16in tires, tubes, and wheels. I figured that since I am going to need to buy wheels I might as well purchase the right size.

Now this leads to another question. The standard M38A1 wheels are fairly inexpensive but I am being tempted by another....

The combat wheels for GPWs are attracting my attention. Specifically the ability to unbolt the two wheel pieces and change tubes on my own w/out having to drive to a tire shop. I should mention that I live out in the boonies and my closest tire shop is 40mi one-way drive from my house. The HUGE con here is price for the wheels & all the extras needed to run combat wheels (wheel flaps, stem protectors, etc).

I am having a tough time deciding if the extra expense is worth the ability to repair tires on my own. What are y'alls thoughts? Has anyone run GPW wheels and just been blown away by how awesome they are? At this point in time I am leaning more towards cost savings and going w/the M38A1 wheels.

Here is a basic breakdown of the costs:
tires & tubes: $744
(I need these either way)

5 M38A1 wheels total 674.60

5 GPW wheels (& extras) total 948.85
Chris
1954 M38A1

Old Dodge Guy
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Re: how wide is too wide for a tire?

Post by Old Dodge Guy » Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:05 pm

Well, I think I would do more shopping around
Last summer at a car swap meet I bought 4 M38A1 wheels for $20-$25 each. Can't remember for sure but was about $100. They even had tires on them, but junk.
I just can't see paying $674.60 for wheels.
Tires seem a bit high to me too, but I am WAY out of the market for military tires. The last ones I bought were about 15-20 years ago, but averaged $15 each. ( yeah I know...the good old days :roll: )
Sorry, for my hard earned dollars, I would do a lot more shopping around.
FWIW :roll: :roll:
ODG :)
Still crazy after all these years.
The OD bug bit me in 1970......and I have never been the same

Kendall
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Re: how wide is too wide for a tire?

Post by Kendall » Tue Feb 21, 2017 6:55 pm

You can change tubes on the standard M38/A1 16" rims "easy" enough. I use a 2"X4" to drive on as a bead buster. Also, aren't the GPW rims 15"?


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