Posted by Paul Cook on Monday, February 06, 2006 at 11:00AM :
In Reply to: 7.5" tires on 9" rims posted by David Sherman on Sunday, February 05, 2006 at 8:24PM :
The link below takes you through rim and tire fit issues. It also has a link for Cabell Garbee's excellent tire article.
This information primarily covers military NDT's but also covers other non-military tires that work on WC/PW/M-37 rims.
Apparently, your 7.50x16 tires are not military, so you have to read this information with an eye towards bead flange size. Actually, your intention to use your M-37 mostly off road makes tire and rim fit more - not less - important. There are many situations where you might want to run lower tire air pressure. Lowering air pressure reduces load capacity and adds to the risk of rolling the tire off the rim or - if the rim is not a correct fit - actually rim cutting the sidewall.
I have a WC-21 fitted with 7.50x16 Firestone Town and Country tires. Many years ago, these and Goodyear Suburbanites were the premier "snow" tires and were typical of the only "off road" tires available. These 7.50x16 tires fit the smaller 5.5x16 rims that were on the 1/2 ton WC military trucks. I would not use them on the larger 6.5x16 rims with the wider bead flanges.
Hope this information is useful.