Off Roading 16.5" Rim Problems???

[sparks57]

I have heard a lot of rumors about 16. 5 inch rims and how they tend to blow beads at low pressure. I have heard that a lot of those rumors come from people puting improperly sized tires on, and I have also heard the the bead seal taper is 15* instead of 5* on whole-inch rims.



What is your guys' input?



Also, what is your impression of the M/T Classic II 16. 5x14 rims?

 

[Mtngoat]

Yep, 16. 5's don't hold on tires very well with low pressure. Something to d with the kind of outer rim they have.



Robin

 

[Stroker Smoker]

If you want to use a 14" wide wheel you better use a tire that is atleast 14" wide. Mickey Thompson makes a good quality wheel too.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

The problem is that 16. 5" wheels do not have a safety bead on the rim that helps hold the tire out - the only thing holding the bead of the tire out is the pressure of the air inside the tire. On a 16" wheel there is a bump just inside the bead area that helps hold the tire out. We see 16. 5's unseated at the dunes all the time whereas it's much more rare with 16's. We're talking LOW tire pressures here - like 12 rear 18 front on our trucks - as low as 5 on lighter rigs.

 

[sparks57]

So it's not a problem down to around 25 psi?

 

[tgbol]

I have run 16. 5 rims down to 15 psi but that was really chancing it. I have had one go flat sitting in a left turn lane and spun the tire off just rolling out of the street. There just isn't any retention on the bead.

 

[sparks57]

Thanks. I'm going to assume (and hope) that those sorts of incedents are really rare.



If the rims were that big of a problem they wouldn't make them.



I would also like to know why they have a better selection of big mud tires (that get aired down a lot) in 16. 5" sizes over 16".

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

The info you need is in the thread above. However, in case it isn't real clear, here is the deal--16. 5 wheels are an old design and the bead sits on an angled shoulder (the 15 deg. cited above may be correct--looks even steeper than that to me), so the bead of the tire will tend to slip down the slope toward the center of the wheel. There is no safety bead to catch it, either. The shoulder angle is very low (like 5 degrees) on the 16 and there is a bead to catch it. hard cornering, etc. combined with lower tire pressures invites the 16. 5" tire to slip off.



I'd try to avoid 16. 5" wheels.

 

[sparks57]

I'm dumbfounded. So then why in the world do they make so many big mud tires for such a crappy rim???

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

25 years ago 16. 5 was the standard wheel for 3/4 and 1 ton pickups. There was no 16" choice. Hence, mudders and big wide wheels were all made in 16. 5. These pieces have persisted over the years. A couple years ago I would have said that eventually enough 16" stuff would be available to make the 16. 5 redundant and obsolete. Today, 17" is on the Ram to fit those wonderful, larger brakes.

 

[btanner]

depends on the 16. 5" rim hummer rims with a double beadlock are 16. 5 and will not ever loose a bead if installed well and maintained. Works fine for the military and tons of people who use them on their vehicles re-centered. But yeah as a general rim people loose tires at lower pressures. However I ran my rims at 6 psi all weekend with no problems



-ben

 

[Got Smoke?]

I'll tell you one thing. I'm buying one more set of 16. 5" tires for my Eagles that I mistaken bought 2 years ago and then I'm going down to 16's next year.



Yeah they make plenty of BIG mud tires (Swampers, Hawgs, Gumbos, Boggers) for 16. 5" wheels, but finding an average A/T in the 33" or 35" size for a reasonable price is immpossible.



Unfortunately when I bought my truck it came with 16. 5's they were rusted out Chrome mod's so I bought a new set of Eagles to dress up the truck. I had known now how hard it is to find tires I would have saved up and bought some 16's and some 16" A/Ts.



Sorry to rant guys I just really wanted to go to 35" A/T's this time around and BFG was the only choice and they were gonna be $700 which I think is rediculous.



I can get some 315 Mastercraft Courser C/T's (nice A/T tire) for $110 a tire in KY, but unfortunately again they don't make 16. 5's.



Ok I'll step of the soapbox now, sorry guys just had to vent a little.