m37 wheels

[lewisgrace]

Can anyone tell me if there is any precedence for fitting WC series combat wheels to M37s.

[RMS]

combat wheels look great on m37s.

I remember some back and forth about legality's in some states. when in doubt play the duck ...." I don't know that's how it came?"......"I thought mill speck superseded dot ?" "their not bald it says right there good till zero 32nds"

[tbone1004]

there was a post on here a few weeks ago about a guy refurbing some combat rims for use on his M37. Check out steelsoldiers too you'll find threads there as well as here about using them.
http://www.g741.org/PHPBB/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5890
http://www.g741.org/PHPBB/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5549

[w30bob]

Hi Lewis,

I'm not sure what you mean by "precedence". I don't think there is any performance advantage to using them over the Budd wheels that come on M37, it seems to be more of a personal taste sort of thing, as some like the look better. Finding combat rims in good enough condition to use can be a challenge, as they tend to turn into a ball of rust over time if left outside.....but they're still available if you look hard.

The combat rim does have an internal mechanical bead lock mechanism (that's usually rusted into junk), but it's been shown the M37 Budd rims don't need it. Early Budd rims came with bead lock clips that were installed around the edges of the rim, but were eliminated early in production.

I don't know if that answers your question or not......let me know.

thanks,
bob

[lewisgrace]

Hello Bob, by precedence I was asking that when the M37 was used in times of conflict , Korea for example , did the military fit combat rims. My own M37 is an early example and I would like to fit combats, but not if its incorrect. On another note we are pretty well served with WC 51,52,63 etc parts as your country supplied the free world with great vehicles that we were reluctant to give back after WW2 so I may be able to locate some rims, if not in the UK perhaps France or Holland. Thanks for your reply. Kind regards, Lewis

[tbone1004]

I'm sure at some point they had combat rims put on them in the field, but to my knowledge they were never put on at the factory. Mine is quite early in production *first four months* and it has the original non combat rims. That being said, I am sure that at some point some motorpool had installed them because they were surplus in the parts bin and happened to fit.

[w30bob]

Hi Lewis,

Ok....gotch ya! What Tbone said is correct, M37's never came with combat rims when they were built. The early trucks used the bead lock clips like I said. Here's a pic. If you have an early truck then using the clips would be correct. You have to look close, but there are 6 clips per side and they were used on both sides of the rim.

regards,
bob


DSC02740 by w30bob, on Flickr

[52 M-42]

When I was in the Army ('68 to '71) we still used these trucks and especially the ambulances. I remember seeing the combat rims on the truck occasionally; not every truck and I don't recall a full set, but there may have been (I was 17 years old and had other things on my mind).

I'm sure that overseas (Korea, VN, Thailand, etc) they used whatever they could get, whether it was correct or not.

52 M-42