Are you running with Buckled Rims?

[Yonder]

Hi Folks, I have been following recent thread on "How long have you run NDTs?" with great interest, and this led me to thinking of another safety issue. The combat rims on these old girls are prone to becoming somewhat buckled, probably due to a hard life with much abuse over the years. And being bolted together in two halves probably doesn't help with rigidity. I have been driving for years with slightly distorted rear wheels, and haven't been too much concerned, although a couple of drivers have mentioned it to me sometimes.The ride seems fine... I don't go over 40 mph. What I want to know is just how much of an issue is it with regard to road safety...I'd love to hear your thoughts, Do I scrap these less than perfect rims, buy new ones, or try to find a company with a hub and a big hydraulic press to true them up.
Thanks..Richard

[artificer]

They can be straightened/trued.
It is always best to keep the halves in correct relationship to one another.
Marking with a texta will help when separating & re-assembling.
Balancing tyres/wheels can make a big difference to a Jeep's ride quality.

I too was watching the tyre age related thread but bowed out when the head in the sand brigade couldn't possibly accept factual 'educational' information but just continued attacking the messenger & NOT the topic/subject.

No one suggested anyone go throw anything away but members should always be aware of tyre limitations & possible deadly results/consequences.

[Chuck Lutz]

Guys have been trueing them up for years with no reported failures that I am aware of. I did the same thing; I drove at about 25-30 MPH and had a friend follow me to check out the rears and then get ahead to check out the fronts for a "wobble". When I put on new tires I put the "best" pair on the front I could find. I also use a 20-ton press to straighten up two rims which went on my trailer. I then towed the trailer and had a friend check them from behind on the road with no reported "wobble" any longer. I guess this happens from hitting the curb or something at a speed fast enough to tweak the rim when the wheel is turned way into the curb.

I would be more worried about Bubba having no idea the jeep drums have a left and right tighten and loosen feature and tried to complete that by using an air assisted device rather than his own 4-way tire iron! Cracks, splits and wallowed out lugnut holes can also be as bad as finding that the rim has almost rusted through all around the valve stem hole. At some point, your trusty combat rim becomes a lawn decoration if it can't be saved. The key here is to know when that has happened.

The good news is that the repops Ron has now are worthy of replacing anything suspect...

PS..to add to artificer's post: if you assume that the halves were never mixed up previously you are possibly OK if you have original WWII tires on them. Otherwise, that might not be the case here if they have any post war tires currently mounted on them. If you had a friend with an old school bubble balancer you could try rotating the halves (with tires removed) until you get the "best" balance situation and then mark the two halves for final assembly in that configuration.

[JIMN]

I think a lot of the crookedness often comes from the area where the 5 lug bolt holes are. Easily straightened and you don't need a big press, just a big hammer and block of wood or something.

[Yonder]

I thought about jacking up that wheel, placing an axle support under, so that I can spin the wheel and find the bent area, get someone to hold a block of wood against the rim,say at 12 o clock position, then hit it with a big hammer..what we call a sledge hammer, then rotate the wheel some and measure again, BUT would this damage the wheel bearing/axle or other parts ?? Anyone ever done this method...with success..
Thanks Richard

[Chuck Lutz]

Being that the combat rim is a two-piece construction item....I wonder if a BFH (sledge) beating on the OUTER ring will straighten the bent INNER half.
I don't think it will before you bend the OUTER myself.

There are threads discussing using just the bent INNER and a 20-ton press and steel blocking to straighten it here somewhere on the gee.

[conrod6]

Doesn't anybody else feel that we are pushing it a bit with these (knackered ) wheel rims ? I have seen some jeeps with buckled rims rolling down the road and it looks awful ! Good condition 75 year old rims are one thing but some of the rims I have seen on Ebay just need slinging (or mounting on the wall) .

another can of worms about to be opened (tin hat ready)

Barrie

[Joe Friday]

My experience is that the 'tilt' in the tire/wheel assembly that causes the lateral runout is on the back half of the wheel.
This is most often caused by a clown using a coats 40/40 style tire machine with the bead breaker shoe set to the 14-15" wheel setting, not the 16" setting.

Rather than the shoe contacting the tire bead, it hits the rim flange.

Yes, they can be fixed.

I cringed when I saw the video. Not sure which bothers me more, the fact that he was on the phone, of the crude was it was done.

[Joe Gopan]

I have a left rear "waggy wheel" that has just enough run out to be visable but cannot be felt. Been like that 46 years.It sort of adds character to my MB.

[Henk]

@bantamj: Who makes "perfectly reproduced combat rims"? I only know of the MD J ones and I agree they are far from perfect.

[Mark 1]

I have a set of these supplied by universal Jeep here in the UK, as said, they are great, no trouble. Very useful when you get a puncture, at least you can repair it yourself as was intended

[Fabrizio]

Trueing the rims is really inexpensive at a specialized shop, and will be a thousand times better than if done with a BFH, as they have the wheel rotating and checked in all dimensions, and hydraulics pushing exactly where and how it's needed.
Rust is the red line as stated above, even if it could be fixed it's better to find another original by then, they are far from rare, at least in France.

Some think it's unnecessary, but I will also have the complete wheels with tires balanced, that will probably smoothen the ride a bit, and avoid unnecessary stress on the hubs.


Regarding the "coupling" of the two halves, they wer identical from factory and probably not very well balanced, but I think that a straightened rim taken apart might not match perfectly another one if you try to mix the halves, as the reference points to declare a rim "straight" are the two edges and the mounting flange, a lot can be out of round in between !

[Henk]

Thanks bantamj. You don't know who actually makes them?
Mark 1 has a set from Universal Jeep Supplies, but they say these are finished in black laquer (so not powder coated) and made in South America.
Are these the same ones you refer to?

[Fabrizio]

I have also heard of two manufactures, MD Juan VS South american ones

[Fabrizio]

The "south american" ones are a bit more expensive compared to the MD ones, Jeep Sudes sells them for 149 or so