Wheel ID

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 6:48 pm

FYI, my M38 came with 4 wheels and a spare. The four on the ground were
identical. The small hole was 1-1/8 studs to the right. The spare was 1-1/2 studs to the left from a stud. Major dif was the spare had no safety bead.

Post by **wesk** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:31 pm

the 1/8" hole does not an M38/M38A1 wheel make! Willys had two different 16" wheels on the factory floor during the M jeep production runs with the 1/8" hole. One was 16" x 5.0" for the pickups and the other was 16" x 4.5" for the M38. The only way to be sure your 4 1/8" hole wheels are M38 wheels is to measure the rim width per the center photo.

I have never seen an M38/M38A1/M170 wheel with a 1/2" hole next to a stud hole.

Early A1 wheel.

Late A1 wheel. Originally these also had the safety bead but by the late 60's/70's they started showing up without the safety bead.

How to measure and ID wheel rim

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:01 am

1/2" hole? I'm confused.

What I was trying to say and is shown in your two wheel photos
above is the original manufactured wheels had the valve stem hole
in the opposite direction from the stud with the hole versus the
later production. Your photos above show this and my four wheels
on the ground are identical to the first wheel whereas the spare
is just like the one in the second photo.

Post by **wesk** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 10:24 am

The 1/2 hole was in your post.

The small hole was 1-1/8 studs to the right. The spare was 1-1/2 studs to the left

Nothing in you post about a valve stem hole at all. Your sentence translates: "small hole was one 1/8" with stud hole to right and on the spare one 1/2" with stud hole to the left.

I have seen valve stem holes in various locations on the wheels. As I have already stated the only way to be sure the wheel is an M38 wheel is to measure the rim width.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 12:49 pm

Sorry Wes
My post wasn't clear. The 1-1/2 was supposed to be 1-1/2 times
the distance between studs from the 1/8" hole to the location of the valve stem.
Not 1/2".

I know, it still sounds confusing. Having a little trouble expressing
things the last day or so. We had to put one of our dogs down
yesterday.

How do you tell if the wheel has the bead guard without remounting
the wheel? And were only military rims made that way (at least
the earlier production)?

Post by **wesk** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:26 pm

The valve stem hole location varies as I said so try to ignore it. The safety bead can be readily seen from the outside as a concave or depressed ring.
There were two or three wheel providers to Willys/Kaiser. The center area of the wheel is referred to as the disc and the outer ring is the rim. The disc differs on the early vs late M38A1 wheel by those small flattened areas at the edge. The rim had the safety bead on the early M38A1 wheels and all the M38 wheels and the safety bead shows up on early versions of the late M38A1 wheel but not the 70's & up wheels from Kaiser.

A wheel with the 1/8" hole can only be verified as an M38 wheel by it's rim width of 4.5" which means the tire must come off.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:49 pm

Ok I can see the safety beads on a four wheels that came on the ground.
The spare has no safety bead and the stepped spokes shown on
the photo of the late A1 wheel.

I'm thinking a straightedge metal ruler would fit through one of those slots
between the spokes and allow measurement of the wheel width.
28 and freezing rain. I'll try in the morning.

Thanks Wes.

Post by **wesk** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 10:27 pm

A 1/2" isn't a lot when you are eyeballing a ruler stuck through wheel disc spokes 5" away from the target. with another 2" of tire sidewall in the way!

aforests · Post by **aforests** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 8:57 am

Are guys regularly running rims with no safety bead? In other words, are they okay to use, or should I look for rims with the safety bead?

Post by **wesk** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 9:49 am

Aaron,

The Army spec'd the safety bead because very low tire pressures were used in soft sand. It keeps the tire on the wheel longer during hard lateral action with low pressure on sand.

Today, if the jeep isn't used off road in a rough manner or driven at excessive speeds on the highway (over 55) and tube type tires are used with the correct pressure then non-safety beaded wheels will work just fine.

If you decide to run tubeless tires I would try to stay on safety beaded wheels.