Posted by Brian in Oregon on Friday, October 27, 2000 at 00:12:15:
In Reply to: Re: Brian, could you be a little more direct?(nt) posted by martin on Thursday, October 26, 2000 at 18:51:26:
The 1/2 ton WC rims are meant to be dualed. The offset is for that purpose. They dual just fine with 750x16 tires. 900x16 tires on them (not recommended) will rub each other when the tire bugles where it meets the pavement, resulting in failure. to be able to dual, the tire must be further apart from each other, so the inner wheel (and front one too) is offset inboard, and the reversed out board wheel is, of course, offset outboard.
The 3/4 ton WC combat rims and the M37 Budd rims are not meant to be dualed. Thus they could offset them further outboard to widen the tire track.
The military found that on light trucks, a larger footprint was better than duals offroad. It also saved rubber in the long run, despite the larger tire. Four 900x16's use less rubber than six 750x16's.
Dualies on heavy trucks are needed more for cargo carrying capacity than for adhesion.
Dualies look cool on the 1941 WC's, though in my opinion their small diameter looks a bit odd inside the huge front fender space. The 900x16's fill up the space better, but cannot be dualed.
BTW, I have a pair of altered M37 Budd rims with tires on them. Someone made dualies out of them at one time for an M37 fire truck. They are VERY ugly but work. If anyone wants them free and can come pick them up, they are welcome to them. I'm east of Portland a short ways.