M37 rim variants?

[ZGjethro]

I recently bought one rim in good shape on Ebay for my spare. It was listed as a rim for an M37 /43. The rim arrived today, and it is noticably different than the rims on my truck now. My current rims are about 18.75" in diameter. This rim is 17.75 inches in diameter. They both have the same bolt pattern, and backspacing, and hub center, but the ebay rim is about 1.25" narrower and the hub center is outside the split ring by the same amount. On my four rims, the hub center and split ring are in the same plane. Is this really for an M37, or could it have been for another Dodge truck, perhaps a WW2 truck?

[Kaegi]

I think I saw that rim on ebay and it looked like a 1/2 ton WC rim. you can tell by the narrow lock ring. it is designed for a 7.50 x 16 tire. those rims were occasionaly ordered on Power Wagons equipped with 4.89 gears and a few factory special order civilian trucks converted post war to 4x4 using 1/2 ton WC tcase, axles and rims.

[ZGjethro]

This rim was to replace one rim I have which has a wobble to it. In looking at the rim, there is an abrupt sharp edged hole in the hub area. On the inside there is a dented in area about the size of a nickel. It almost looks like a bullet hole which didn't go through. I might grind the metal flat and see if the rim stops wobbling. Could the Ebay rim (1/2 ton WC) I just purchased work with a 9.00X16LT tire as a spare?

[Kaegi]

yes but I had a WC52 someone put those rims on with 9.00 tires and the rim split in half. probably more because of rust and not he smaller rim though

[ZGjethro]

That is not a great endorsement for my usage! Anyone else running 9" tires on 7.5" rims? I'd like to make use of this rim, as it cost me nearly $100 after shipping

[Kaegi]

I have seen it done quite a bit. but if its an NOS rim you could probably resell advertised as a 1/2 ton rim for that amount easily

[hbb]

Those wheels have the correct back spacing so tires will not touch when running as duels like on WC's of WWII, There are photos of the Air Force running duels front and rear on a M37 retrieving the missing B24 Lady Be Good in the North Africa dessert. they also were used on civilian trucks and usually ran a 750/16 tire.

[ZGjethro]

It turns out that I am somewhat unhappy with the way the lock ring fails to seat in it's groove in the rim. I think the ring is sprung open, and the rim had some dents in it. I don't think I will be using it after all.