found in scrap yard

[John Genereux]

hello everyone. This is the first time I post something so if I am in the wrong section, I apologize.

Yesterday while roaming around in a local scrapper, I came upon a tire and rim of military heritage. It is a two piece combat rim bolted together with 10 bolts and the tire size is 9 - 16 inches. It also has a 5 bolt hole pattern.

Could this have been used on an M37 or something earlier?

(I tried posting a picture of it but I was not able to do so. Any suggestions?)

Thanks in advance

John

[Martin Dauphinais]

Send the picture at this address, I will post it for you.

martin@aboire.ca

Cheers,

Martin

[Hanno Spoelstra]

John,

Re. posting pictures, please read http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19

Regards
Hanno

[John Genereux]

Hello Hanno,

Thanks for the link for posting pictures. Well, here is what I found in the scrap yard:



Thanks again.

John

[rob love]

That is the bolt together rim for either the WW2 Dodges, or very early M37 Dodges, although by production time they were using he locking ring type split rim.

That rim is suitable for Dodge APT I believe.

[John Genereux]

I did a bit or looking in the net and I believe I found what this tire/rim goes on. It appears to go on a WW2 era WC 52

[chris vickery]

If the price is right buy it.

[Lynn Eades]

In fact it will fit a WC51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59, 60,62 and 63.

[Jes Andersen]

And M37... A lot of guys from G741 like the combat rims for their look and ease of changing tires. I have the original Kelsey Hayes wheels on my M37CDN and most US manufacture are Budd lock ring wheels. Good rust free combat rims are becoming difficult to find around here.

[Lynn Eades]

Jess, the wheel in the photo is probably Budd.

[Jes Andersen]

I'm sure you are correct, as they made most wheels of that size. I was surprised when we blasted clean the wheels for my M37CDN and found they were Kelsey or Kelsey Hayes. I had always assumed they were Budd wheels but Canadian production was supposed to benefit Canadian based companies.
In the M37CDN, the engine, transmission and pto were Canadian produced, likely all the rest of the stuff came north from the various US suppliers for these vehicles. I'd grab a set of the those wheels if any decent ones came up out west. Most I've seen were rusted beyond safe use.

[Lynn Eades]

Jess, I was not aware that Kelsey Hayes was a Canadian company.
K.H. made the one piece wheels for jeeps, before the combat rims came along. (that is, if I remember it correctly......)

[rob love]

If you look at the photos in the operators manual for the M37 CDN, I believe they have those rims on the trucks. They are certainly a lot safer to inflate that the split ring type that they went with in production.

[Jes Andersen]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Jess, I was not aware that Kelsey Hayes was a Canadian company.
K.H. made the one piece wheels for jeeps, before the combat rims came along. (that is, if I remember it correctly......)

I'm not sure its is either but it may be that they had a plant in Canada during the years those contracts for M37s were being assembled. Windsor, Ontario and Detroit are within cannon shot of each other and in the day, were the hub of the big 3 auto manufacturers. I'll see if I can get a pic of the markings on my spare.

[Jes Andersen]

Originally Posted by rob love

If you look at the photos in the operators manual for the M37 CDN, I believe they have those rims on the trucks. They are certainly a lot safer to inflate that the split ring type that they went with in production.

The RCEME repair manual shows lock ring type wheels in the pics. Early production may have used those older types from available stock. A lot of the photos in the CDN manuals are actually copies from the US TMs, and in some cases, like the Acme PTO, are not correct. All 4 of my '53 & 54 M37CDNs have the lock ring wheels. When I fitted new tires, we blasted, epoxy primed and painted them. All the rims passed inspection but several of the lock rings were rusted beyond safe use. Fortunately, they are available new and not too expensive. I don't do tires any more, as I value my safety and have a good truck shop do all my tire work now.

[John Genereux]

Hi everyone. Thanks for the very informative information on this item. From what I gather, it seems to be a rare piece of kit. I will check it out to see if the price is right.

Thanks again!

John

[rob love]

I think all the production M37s had the split ring style. The bolt together style just show up in some of the photos in the operator's manual. I suspect they may have been or a pre-production truck before the decision was made to go with the split ring type.