Old military rims?

[HumboldtCJ]

Ok, please forgive my noobiness but I have a question. I purchased a 1986 CJ& Renegade this past weekend and love the look of the old military rims- just like the ones in the website image above. I found a set of 5 on CL. They are 5 bolt 16". Would they fit my CJ7? Anyone ever run these before? The seller said the tires are shot but the value is in the rims. How much to put tires on them? Thoughts?


-HumboldtCJ

 

[IOPort51]

the CJ bolt patern is 5 bolts and 5.5 inches between the two farthest lug holes. generaly they are 15 inch wheels.

Ok, please forgive my noobiness but I have a question. I purchased a 1986 CJ& Renegade this past weekend and love the look of the old military rims- just like the ones in the website image above. I found a set of 5 on CL. They are 5 bolt 16". Would they fit my CJ7? Anyone ever run these before? The seller said the tires are shot but the value is in the rims. How much to put tires on them? Thoughts?


-HumboldtCJ

 

[HumboldtCJ]

I need to find out the lug spacing on these things. They are 4hrs away but if they would fit I'll go get them. the 16" part isn't/shouldn't be a problem, it's the spacing on need to be concerned about.

Has anyone ever run these old military rims on anything other than an old Willy's?


-HumboldtCJ

 

[BusaDave9]

I can't see your link but most importantly you need to make sure the bolt patter is correct. As IOPort mentioned CJs use 5 by 5 1/2. Since there is an odd number of lug nuts to measure the diameter of the bolt pattern you need to measure from the center of one hole to the far edge of an opposite hole. A picture is worth a thousand words so check out this link:
MRW - How to measure bolt pattern
Next is the backspacing. OEM CJ wheels use 3 5/8 inch backspacing but that isn't as important.
Lastly you say the rims are 16 inches. OEM is 15 but that's no problem either especially if you will run over-sized tires.
How wide are they?

 

[Sasquach]

Well in fact the military wheels are 16".

 

[Sasquach]

Replacement Wheel 16" All 4WD Models

Replacement 16" rim used on all models except 2WD. This rim is 4 1/2" wide and has a center hole of 4 3/16". This is a nice wheel and looks great on any older model Jeep.

Details
Item Number:
640800Our Price:
$121.79 Download Installation Vehicles


This Product Fits The Following Vehicles:
MB 1941 - 1945
GPW 1941 - 1945
CJ2a 1945 - 1949
PU 1947 - 1963
SW 1949 - 1963
CJ3a 1949 - 1953
M38 1950 - 1951
M38A1 1952 - 1971
CJ3b 1952 - 1964
SD 1952 - 1963
CJ5 1955 - 1971
CJ6 1956 - 1971
FC 1957 - 1964

 

[IOPort51]

I did not know this, center to far side. WTF? wonder who thought that one up.

I can't see your link but most importantly you need to make sure the bolt patter is correct. As IOPort mentioned CJs use 5 by 5 1/2. Since there is an odd number of lug nuts to measure the diameter of the bolt pattern you need to measure from the center of one hole to the far edge of an opposite hole. A picture is worth a thousand words so check out this link:
MRW - How to measure bolt pattern
Next is the backspacing. OEM CJ wheels use 3 5/8 inch backspacing but that isn't as important.
Lastly you say the rims are 16 inches. OEM is 15 but that's no problem either especially if you will run over-sized tires.
How wide are they?

 

[BusaDave9]

I did not know this, center to far side. WTF? wonder who thought that one up.

There are 5 lug nuts around a 5.5 inch circle. To measure that you need to go across two studs that are exactly on opposite sides of the hub. Since there are 5 studs no two are exactly opposite each other. Look at the picture in the link. When measuring each wheel they are measuring across the hub each time except for the 5 bolt hub.

 

[Sasquach]

Ok, please forgive my noobiness but I have a question. I purchased a 1986 CJ& Renegade this past weekend and love the look of the old military rims- just like the ones in the website image above. I found a set of 5 on CL. They are 5 bolt 16". Would they fit my CJ7? Anyone ever run these before? The seller said the tires are shot but the value is in the rims. How much to put tires on them? Thoughts?


-HumboldtCJ

The Military 16" wheel is also built to a higher standard than the civilian 15" wheel, can't remember exactly what the difs are but they are stronger. If you plan on running the military tread those tires are relatively easy to find while the 15" military pattern is not.
These would fit your CJ but they are very narrow and might look silly? on a CJ7.

 

[HumboldtCJ]

When I mentioned the website image above I did not mean a link, but the old jeep in the "Jeep-CJ.Com" image on this website at the top. I have always really liked the look of them and thought with the right set of tires, they might look cool on a newer CJ. The tires weren't hard to find but I'm not sure if it's a good idea all in all. The tires are called UDT for Uni Directional Treads and while they look like they would be great for mud and the like, not sure they would be a good idea for this area. I'm going to fix mine up to be a daily driver and it rains here ALOT, so I don't know if those tires would be great on wet pavement or not. I still need to do some research.

It doesn't sound like the rims I found on CL will fit my 86. Maybe I'll find some 15" civilian ones that look like the old military ones and go with a narrow tire but not the UDT ones. I've just never been a fan of really big fat tires and would love to come up with a safe functional solution for my jeep while retaining the look that I have always loved.

 

[Sasquach]

When I mentioned the website image above I did not mean a link, but the old jeep in the "Jeep-CJ.Com" image on this website at the top. I have always really liked the look of them and thought with the right set of tires, they might look cool on a newer CJ. The tires weren't hard to find but I'm not sure if it's a good idea all in all. The tires are called UDT for Uni Directional Treads and while they look like they would be great for mud and the like, not sure they would be a good idea for this area. I'm going to fix mine up to be a daily driver and it rains here ALOT, so I don't know if those tires would be great on wet pavement or not. I still need to do some research.

It doesn't sound like the rims I found on CL will fit my 86. Maybe I'll find some 15" civilian ones that look like the old military ones and go with a narrow tire but not the UDT ones. I've just never been a fan of really big fat tires and would love to come up with a safe functional solution for my jeep while retaining the look that I have always loved.

I knew you meant the banner image. Why don't you think they would fit? I think they will fit. I have a 3B and several years ago I looked into this, it has the 15" civilian version wheels and I wanted the military tire but backed off after finding I needed the 16" rim or pay $$$ for a 15" military tire to fit my rims.
They are probably not the best street tire like you imply but on a stock lift CJ they might look cool.

 

[HumboldtCJ]

I guess I was confused by your earlier post in this thread with the list of what the rims would fit. So, you think the 16" rims would fit on my 86? I think with a decent tire solution they would look pretty cool. I'm headed up to Oregon to pick up the Jeep tomorrow. I'll have to call the seller and ask a couple more questions I guess also.

What would you say an original set of 5 of them (16" military edition) is worth?


-HCJ

P.S. So one more time- what bolt pattern spacing do they need to have to fit an 86?

 

[Sasquach]

Not sure of the value. I have not personally mounted a set of the early military wheels on a later CJ...but they are both 5 on 5.5 bolt with the 4-3/16" center hole and my early civilian wheel has a 4" backspace so I'm guessing the M. version is the same. All that works out and should fit but you would be wise to measure and verify yourself.
BusaDave explained how to measure the bolt pattern.

 

[HumboldtCJ]

Talked to the seller for the rims and he's an old school mountain man with like 10 jeeps or something crazy and a property full of parts.

He went out and measured them for me and said roughly 4.25" inch center with a 5 x 5 1/4 spacing. If that's a rough, I'm sure actual is the dimensions we have discussed.

I think these things will work. $100 for a set of 5 sound pretty fair? =) That's what he's asking. Said he'll be in the mountains for the next 10 days hunting and if I want them to just call and leave a msg saying so.

Thoughts?


-Bryan

 

[HumboldtCJ]

Here's a pic!

 

[Sasquach]

Sounds fair to me, $20 each.
New $120 each!

 

[BusaDave9]

Sounds like those wheels will fit but there is one thing I am confused by: he said he measured a 5 x 5 1/4 spacing. I think he is talking about the distance between 2 of the bolt holes. Sounds like they are 5 x 5 1/2 bolt pattern and mis-measured. See the link I mentioned above. The bolt pattern could be 5 x 5 1/2 or 5 x 5.

5 x 5 1/2 is found on Jeeps and I am willing to bet that's what he has.
5 x 5 was used by GM on older full sized cars.

I would call him and tell him you will take them. But before any money changes hands you need to verify that they are 5 x 5 1/2 bolt pattern.
Here is that link again: MRW - How to measure bolt pattern
You'll see that they say if you measure between the center of 2 bolt holes you need to multiply by 1.05. If that's how he measured then it works out to a 5 x 5 1/2 bolt pattern.
BTW I really like the old military tires. BUT they are lousy on road. They are great if you want the military look and wont drive much on the street. Great for restoring a military vehicle. Here's where you can buy some:
Non-Directional Military Tires

 

[HumboldtCJ]

BusaDave- you hit the nail on the head with your comment with "they are lousy on the road" since a very large portion of my driving would be just that. No, real highway driving but lots of local driving with some trips into the hills thrown in. I'm wondering if I can find tires for those rims that aren't necessarily milspec (military spec) but would fit those rims and retain a bit of that look.

When you say lousy on the road do you mean just not comfortable or what?


-HCJ


EDIT: Just talked to a guy at tire whiz. He agreed with them looking pretty damn cool, but said I would have to be aware of some traction concerns and them not being the most comfortable ride in the world. He said my breaking distance would obviously increase as well. As he put it "you'd be riding on 1950's technology". I think I'm going to go for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[ken98k]

I just went through this only in reverse.
I needed to replace the rims on an old army jeep trailer with civilian type wheels.

I used 5 on 5.5 x 15" rims

 

[HumboldtCJ]

The seller is up in the mountains hunting for the next two weeks so it'll be a bit before I get them. Plus he is 4hrs from here in the middle of nowhere so there's a full day of driving involved also. I just think that they would make for a very unique wheel set on a newer CJ. Just my opinion of course but I think they would look pretty cool and be perfect for all the graded dirt roads that are all over the mountains up here.

-HCJ