New wheels on the Tow rig!!!

[turbosniper1]

Well I finally stepped up to the plate and got some new wheels and tires for my 2001 Dodge Ram 2500. I was running wheels and tires that were loaned to me from my (ex)father-in-law and I had to find something fast to replace them so I could get them back to him. I lucked out and had a friend in Kansas that sells 12 bolt H-1s that he recenters. To make a long story short... he gave me a sweet deal on them!!!
He has a water jet machine so he cut the centers out, and welded in some 3/8" pressed centers for me to my specs... they still have the magnesium runflats in them and I got some 36x12.50 Goodyear MTs that are 95-100% tread until I can afford to get some heavy duty Pitbull Rockers!!
So without further adieu..... here they are!!!



For being bias tires they ride extremely smooth!!! They have a sweet pur like that of Swampers and I am very pleased with the way they turned out after I painted them with a few coats of Wal-Mart special brand paint and clear coat!!
I am very happy with them and hope you like what you see!!
Matt

 

[STAG]

Have a feeling you are going to get pulled over a few times for them rims... cops thinkin that they're beadlocks.. unless they are beadlocks?

 

[Tacoma]

Yes, they're beadlocks... just like the ones on the completely street legal, DOT-approved Hummers running around. There will be not legal issues.

Todd's a good guy, I need to call him again.

 

[chans]

Just curious, does your friend have a website? Are all H1 rims 16.5" and does he make custom centers that he can make 6 lug?

 

[turbosniper1]

The website is www.trailwortyfab.com and to answer Chans... yes all of the Hummer double beadlocks are 16.5" rims.
It is true that I will probably get pulled over by Johnny Law and especially in Moab during Jeep Safari.... but there is a nice little set of 4 letters stamped into the rims in two places... "DOT-T" !!! I can't wait till the day that I get pulled over by some rookie on the force and can tell him/her exactly the information!! HA HA!!! (respectfully of course! as an ex police officer myself)
Matt

 

[Gravy]

you mean

Trailworthyfab.com

 

[ChestonScout]

They look really really good Matt!

I almost bought a set of those tires for the superduty when I had 16.5 wheels.

Its going to look sweet with your truck behind it!

Congrats man!

 

[Rot Box]

Lookin good

 

[turbosniper1]

you mean

Trailworthyfab.com

sorry, I spelled it right but I forgot to use the link thing... I just typed it in.
That is the guy and I highly recommend him to anyone! Great product and excellent customer service!:greg:
Matt

 

[turbosniper1]

They look really really good Matt!

I almost bought a set of those tires for the superduty when I had 16.5 wheels.

Its going to look sweet with your truck behind it!

Congrats man!

Thanks brother! I painted them up that way so they would match the crawler! I will be hooking it up with the gooseneck this weekend to see how it all looks together! I will post pics when I do!
Keep up the good work on the Scout!
Matt

 

[Caleb]

The website is www.trailwortyfab.com and to answer Chans... yes all of the Hummer double beadlocks are 16.5" rims.
It is true that I will probably get pulled over by Johnny Law and especially in Moab during Jeep Safari.... but there is a nice little set of 4 letters stamped into the rims in two places... "DOT-T" !!! I can't wait till the day that I get pulled over by some rookie on the force and can tell him/her exactly the information!! HA HA!!! (respectfully of course! as an ex police officer myself)
Matt

Well, are they truly legal still since the centers have been cut out and re-welded with new centers? IMO, that's the same as taking a set of legal rims and welding beadlocks on to them. They still have the DOT stamp that's needed but are no longer street legal.

 

[casper customs]

looks great those are the same tires I am thinking about to run on my dually

 

[LT.]

The least that you could have done was wash the truck. I mean come on, really, why would you take pictures of pretty wheels and not a pretty truck? Just kidding. Looks great.

LT.

 

[SAMI]

Well, are they truly legal still since the centers have been cut out and re-welded with new centers? IMO, that's the same as taking a set of legal rims and welding beadlocks on to them. They still have the DOT stamp that's needed but are no longer street legal.

Good point. Hopefully it ends up being a rookie cop then eh?

They do look cool. Most definately unique.

 

[turbosniper1]

Good point. Hopefully it ends up being a rookie cop then eh?

They do look cool. Most definately unique.

If this is the case then wouldn't all recentered rims that were previously DOT approved, now be illegal???

It could be argued either way... These rims are clearly stamped "DOT T" on both the outer ring and on the inside rim. I am not too worried. If the cop wants to be that much of an (explective) to stop me for it I will explain it to him or her professionally what the rims are and where they came from. I am not the type of driver that gives law enforcement a reason to stop me (i.e. speeding, aggressive driving, drunk driving, etc...) I know better. I needed a new set of heavy duty wheels and tires that were affordable so these were what I went with. I think they look pretty darn good and they ride good too. After a few more trips on them I have found they have a little flat spotting and balance issues, but after a few minutes of driving they smooth out and ride great until the next elongated stopping period. But if you are used to driving with Swampers or even BFG Mudders, these are nothing!
I LOVE THEM!:greg:
Matt

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Your right, it could be argued either way. It could also be argued that there is no law stating beadlocks are illegal in Utah, DOT stamp or not. Where there is, a note in the safety inspection manual thats says "reject if beadlocks are present", not "reject of non-DOT beadlocks are present".

What I predict they will do if/when it ever happens is write you a ticket for "unsafe equipment". The UHP is charged with keeping safe vehicles on the highway and they do have some implied right to enforce it as they see fit, however its my argument that at the end of the day they need a law to back up their ticket, likely argued in court.

There may be SAE or federal DOT standards regarding re-welding centers or less specifically just banning modified wheels. I've never researched it beyond Utah's traffic codes and laws.

 

[LT.]

I can't believe that y'all are giving him a hard time about the legality of his wheels. They are stamped, and there are plenty of folks who run them and have had no problems. To further that point he does not even live in Utah, he resides in Colorado. I am sure that he is well aware of the decision he made to purchase the wheels and tires and run them on his daily driver. To my knowledge Turbosniper has yet to make a bad decision when it comes to building any vehicle. Good guy, good father, and way more mature than I am even now. Let's just be happy for him and congratulate him on his new purchase. I say way to go Matt! They look killer now, if you could just do a little something about that dirty truck sitting on those pretty, clean wheels. Just kidding.

On another side note I wonder if Sprueitt has ever had any issues with his wheels. He drives his T-Rex all over Utah and to my knowledge has yet to have a problem.

LT.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I can't believe that y'all are giving him a hard time about the legality of his wheels...

Hope my comments didn't come across as a "hard time", I was merely explaining the whole Utah beadlock situation as I know it and the fact that DOT or non-DOT there is no law either way, just the inspection manual.

...On another side note I wonder if Sprueitt has ever had any issues with his wheels. He drives his T-Rex all over Utah and to my knowledge has yet to have a problem...

FWIW I'm going on 8 years with my MRT beadlocks (also have DOT stamps on the original wheels) and have never had an issue except at inspection (knock on wood)

 

[Tacoma]

I'd be curious what they will do to stock Hummer rims, that haven't been recentered. They are beadlocks, so they should be rejected? They're OEM equipment though, so they can pound sand? Go to court, clarify the law?

Could get interesting.

 

[turbosniper1]

I'd be curious what they will do to stock Hummer rims, that haven't been recentered. They are beadlocks, so they should be rejected? They're OEM equipment though, so they can pound sand? Go to court, clarify the law?

Could get interesting.

This is an excellent point... don't the H-1 Alpha's come with the same 12 bolt model still?? Or even if they are not made anymore... they were made up till a couple years ago that way...

I didn't want to get Stan into this whole thing but if you look at the T-Rex there are 6 re-centered, 8 bolt H-1 rims on the ground on that truck and he hasn't had any issues with law enforcement yet... I am not exactly worried. And like LT stated I do live in Colorado and mostly drive in Colorado where we do not have inspections (yet, thank god!!) so I don't have to deal with that hassle.

On another topic... I have found that the 36" Goodyear is much larger than the old 35s I was running and have decided to do a little fender surgery this weekend to provide a little clearance. I don't want lift the truck any higher because it is a tow rig and I only have so much clearance between the bedsides/tailgate and my gooseneck... Thus the surgery insues!!!
I will post pictures when it occurs!
Matt