H2 wheel...How much to machine?

[Yo Hoot]

Here's my article...



H2 Wheel Mods

 

[JHardwick]

Here's my article...



H2 Wheel Mods

what kinda machine is this?



no guarding tells me it is fairly old and I also see no tool changer? at the same time the control looks PC based which suggests something newer ... ... ... ..... is this a retrofit?

 

[sarj]

I chased a truck down the street in Newport, CA the other day to check out his rear bumper. By the time I caught him, I also saw the t-rex, front and rear bumpers and the wheels. We talked about an hour and a half when I got him cornered at the post office. TDR member... said he never posts, but most of what we talked about was under the hood. Great guy to talk to. He had the Hummer wheels with 315's on them. Nice setup. His were all polished. It did look nice, and he had a set of the older chrome dodge center caps. If I didn't know they were hummer wheels from here, I never would have known. Maybe he'll see this and post what the machining ran him. Myself, I'll probably go with the 18" welds when the time comes.

 

[edgrim]

JHardwick



I got my H2 wheels and I didn't have a fancy cutting machine. However one of our techs said he could open up the wheels with a dye grinder since you only remove metal to the edge of the inside ring it makes sense. From start to finsh 90 minutes. I've never had to re-balance the tires from the factory settings everything works great. It's cheaper too.

 

[Blakers]

From what I've been reading so far, you only have to go out to the edge of the existing ridge. So you have a built-in guide, and if you're careful with a die grinder of some kind, everything should be ok.



I found H2 rims and tires ok, but the price is a little steeper than most have mentioned in this article. I assume the prices have gone up as tire prices have.

 

[edgrim]

Blakers



I paid 750. 00 for mine with less than 10 miles on them, and I got hub caps off ebay for 10. 00 each, just had to wait for a deal.

 

[grfraz]

"what kinda machine is this?



no guarding tells me it is fairly old and I also see no tool changer? at the same time the control looks PC based which suggests something newer ... ... ... ..... is this a retrofit?"



This is a CNC machine. It is the latest and greatest Oo. in machine tools, and yes it is computer controlled.

 

[JHardwick]

"what kinda machine is this?



no guarding tells me it is fairly old and I also see no tool changer? at the same time the control looks PC based which suggests something newer ... ... ... ..... is this a retrofit?"



This is a CNC machine. It is the latest and greatest Oo. in machine tools, and yes it is computer controlled.

Thank You, but thats not what I meant. I own CNC machine tools, and have programmed them them for over 20 years.



The PC based control suggests it may be fairly new because proprietary platforms (like Fanuc) have been used until the last 5-7 years. PC controls are cheaper, but generally not as rugged.



The guarding? Well, in my 20 years of machining, I always prefered an open table to be able to get close to the work. OSHA has mandated full guarding with interlocking doors for many years. This was to prevent the machine from operating with the doors open (unless you bypass the switches :-laf ).



Also, the lack of a tool changer may lend itself to some sort of special purpose milling machine?



So, the lack of guarding suggests something older than the PC based control. Thats why I asked if it may be a retrofit. An older machine retrofited with newer controls and drives. That was a fad a few years back with the prices of these machine tools skyrocketing.

 

[JeepinDoug]

This 4. 774" +/- . 003 number can't be correct if some are using holesaws and die grinders. Being the wheel is lug-centric it doesn't locate on the hub. That . 006" tolerance would be hell to hold with a mini-grinder.

I'd like to do this myself, I have acess to large swing lathes and CNC mills but I think I'd just mini-grind the extra out and smooth with a barrel sander. It would be alot easier then making a holding fixture for a machine.

The H2 wheels have been selling on eBay for $200 a set.

 

[Yo Hoot]

You don't have to do it on any cnc machine. They can be bored out on a vertical mill or bored out on a lathe if you go the accurate route.



The machine is a 1986 Cincinnatti Milicron 5-axis CNC with 120" of x travel. Head swings 25 degrees in both directions. We use it to machine complex aerospace components. It has a Cincy 950 controllor.



Fanuc controls have been around since the early eighties. They are still very popular. Most have gone tp windows style controls and interfaces though.



Mazak has a great on board programming system on their machines.

 

[nkiewel]

I found H2 rims and tires ok, but the price is a little steeper than most have mentioned in this article. I assume the prices have gone up as tire prices have.

I bought mine yesterday for $600. 4 tires and Aluminum rims.



The dealer also had a set with the chrome wheels for $900, but I just wanted the tires.

 

[nkiewel]

The H2 wheels have been selling on eBay for $200 a set.

I have a set of these wheels (with centercaps) that I am selling. I just wanted the tires. If anyone is interested, PM me.

 

[Blakers]

I bought mine yesterday for $600. 4 tires and Aluminum rims.

Around here they want $800 for the set. I called around to all the Hummer dealers within 100 miles and they either don't have them or are higher priced. I would drive a ways to save money, but not too far as my time is valuable too. It is still a much much better deal than the same price for just tires.



Blake

 

[Yo Hoot]

This 4. 774" +/- . 003 number can't be correct if some are using holesaws and die grinders. Being the wheel is lug-centric it doesn't locate on the hub. That . 006" tolerance would be hell to hold with a mini-grinder.

I'd like to do this myself, I have acess to large swing lathes and CNC mills but I think I'd just mini-grind the extra out and smooth with a barrel sander. It would be alot easier then making a holding fixture for a machine.

The H2 wheels have been selling on eBay for $200 a set.

I measured the stock aluminum wheel centers and the axles. That was the number I came up with. That is the clearance of the stock wheels to the axles. . 007 on the diameter.

 

[Blakers]

Lugs center them and provide the clamping force. I have a couple picture of how I did it in my reader rig. I used a 3/4" double handed drill and a 4 3/4" hole saw, then cleaned it up with a deburring tool on a drill. The center hole does not need to be exact as the SRW trucks are lug centric not hub centric.

How much clearance around the hub did you end up with after cutting the holes with the hole saw? Do you know the exact diameter of the hole was after cutting?

 

[Bertram65]

Worked great, I did not have any issues with the wheels after I modified them. I ended up getting rid of them though as I could not fit in the garage at work and it made the bed too high for my 5th wheel, that I bought after the wheels. It ended up with maybe a 1/16" of clearance, any less and I would be afraid it could sieze onto the hub as it is raw aluminum. I strongly believe the wheels are lug centric therefore I see no problem with using the method I used. Others will disagree. If I get another set I would do it the exact same way.

 

[Blakers]

Success with the hole saw

Well I successfully completed the job with a hole saw.



It took less than an hour to do the job with a 4 3/4" hole saw and drill. I rented a Makita right angle drill that was rated at about 300 rpm, but had to just barely touch the trigger to keep the speed down. Next time I would definitely get a bigger and slower drill motor.



There was no problem piloting the hole saw using the lip that is made into the rims. I used plenty of oil and went really really slow. I was worried about it catching and jumping into the spokes and ruining them, but that did not happen. The cleanup after with a drum sander went slower. There may be a better tool to smooth up the inside of the hole after drilling as the drum sander was marginal at best.



The tires and rims went right on the truck with no problem and are simply amazing in the snow compared to the stupid Rugged Trail tires that came with the truck. So far I have noticed no rubbing and no other problems. I like the gearing change as it gets the rpms down at highway speeds. Hardly notice any power loss just driving empty.



Thanks everyone for your help!



Blake

 

[Task125]

Is the offset the same as stock?

 

[PGoble]

Mazak has a great on board programming system on their machines.

Mazatrol Fusion 640M, we are using it on our new Variaxis 500-5X and love it.

 

[Patriot_RAM]

I'm unsure of the measurements, but the offset is just a bit further with the h2 wheels. Makes it look good. I added Bushwacker pocket style fender flares to keep the rocks out of the paint.