Wheels for truck

What are the prefered rims for the M37? I have the split rims now and have not had a lot of luck at the tire shops in my area wanting to work on them. I can go out to the interstate and find a truck stop that I am sure will help. Are there any modern rims that are close in appearance to the stock rims available?
I have not looked at the threads on tires yet but so far am thinking I want to stay with the standard military non directional tires.

The "preferred" rim is the stock one...

Not a whole lot of folks have a single piece wheel with the correct bolt pattern/offset. Stocton and BFR make wider rims in a larger diameter that will fit (big $$), Bryan Sage in Colorado does a nice conversion plate for the LAV rims that recently got surplussed with the 1100r16 Michelins still on them (incidently, the 1100r16 Michelins are designed to run on a 6.50x16 rim so they fit perfectly on the stock rim as long as you use a radial tube and a flap).
For tire service, you have to go to a truck, agricultural, equipment tire shop and not a car/light truck shop. You are looking for somebody who knows how to work on two piece rims (they have the "Goodyear-Light Truck Safety" lock ring and are not split rims) so you need to go to a "real" tire shop. They are designed to be broken down by hand and are not hard to do yourself, once you get the proper tools (including a safety cage for reinflation, and yes, I know about wrapping the tire in chain and all the other ok ways to mount them without a cage that are listed in the TM but not in the OSHA manual...), and training in how to do it properly (safely).
For more info including a selection of tires that are designed to fit on the stock rims (including pricing and sourcing info), check out my tire pages...
See:
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/tires.htm

(Want to skip the pages showing the rim design, lug nut part numbers, etc. and jump right to photos of mounted tires?, go to http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/photos5.htm)

Enjoy.

I had to have the rims on my Pinz made. We took the centers out and had them welded to 16" DOT outer cores at the same offset. I really like being able to run any tire that will fit on a standard 8 X16 rim and still have the stock look.
I work with a Kubota shop here for some of the tractor work. I will have to stop in a see if they can do it for me.

Got the brake system working today. I am now convinced I will be putting in new wheel cylinders and a new master cylinder before much road use. They don't leak but the front two were completely void of fluid.

Let us know what you find out when you talk about fab'ing up some rims (especially if you can share photos, dimensions, prices, etc for inclusion on my website).

Most likely your brakes will be ok once they get wet again, but...

The original setup works well when the shoes are properly adjusted and everything else is working properly... Of course, since you are talking about a design that it fairly old compared to a lot of other vehicles that are on the road these days, you may not feel real comfortable driving a truck with the stock setup in any appreciable amount of traffic... Folks who keep the driveline stock, run it in parades/shows/convoys, live in rural areas ect. find that the stock system performs quite well...
A good "first upgrade" is to convert over to a two circuit master cylinder. That way, if something happens to the system you at least have some braking whereas the original single circuit master will loose it all if something happens to the hydraulics.

A much better upgrade, especially if you have a repowered truck or have to deal with urban traffic (that jumps in front of you as you slow down to approach a red light for instance) is to install front disc brakes using the kit from Ray Suiter at Helitool (http://www.uglytruckling.com). I find that just having the front discs with the stock rear drums is sufficient to stop my M37 when loaded and pulling a loaded M101 trailer when I am doing 75mph, however, the same kit may be used to install disc brakes on the rear as well in order to provide four wheel discs..

The disc brake kit works well with the stock mc, but if you are going to the effort and expense to install it, go ahead and do the master cylinder conversion and have the stopping ability of the discs with the piece of mind that the dual circuit mc provides.

Info on both the disc brake conversion and the mc upgrade is on the http://www.uglytruckling.com website where Ray has posted his instalation instruction and parts numbers. Keep in mind that the measurements for the location of the holes to be drilled for installation of the MC lines is incorrect on Ray's site and that he has yet to correct the page, better to test fit then drill when you install anyway...

The MC that Ray suggests (and that I and other folks use) is used on 1980 Chevy C30 1 ton trucks, CarQuest20-1584, Bendix 1584. You don't need it, but if it makes you feel better to instal a seperate proportioning valve, Summitt has one: SUM G 3905

I have seen alot of M37's running the WW2 dodge combats with the bolt on lock ring and the 11x16 michelins. Is there a reason these are poping up more often in use on the M37?
I have an early M37 manual that has pictures of the M37 with these rims on it.

Dave

Most folks that I know who want the combat rims for a M37 (installed as original equipment on a very few of the early production trucks in actuality) like them for the looks, or figure that it is easier to change tires at home/field then with the stock GY-LTS style lock rims on the OEM Budd wheels. If you have one that has nuts that have any rust on them, it can be a long day changing tires...

The Michelins are just a really nice, great performing tire that is available from a number of surplus dealers now that the USMC has decided to mount a wider tire on thier LAV's... The 1100r16 XL or XZL (Michelin makes the tire in both tread patterns) is designed to fit on a 6.50x16 rim, the stock M37 size...

i have a set of the 1100s xls on combat rims, good looking and easy to mount at home

Any pointers on mounting the 11:00x16 XZL's on the combats?