RIM WHEEL CJ2/CJ3/M38
Most unrestored WWII jeeps have long since lost their original wheels. This page is intended to help the restorer identify the correct Willys MB and Ford GPW wheels and lug nuts...
Pictures and data provided by John Barton & Bill Oakes.
All Willys MB jeeps built after vehicle serial number MB120700 and all Ford GPW's were equipped with 2-piece split-type "combat" rims. Combat wheels are easy to spot by the eight bolts holding the two halves together.
Very early Willys MBs (the so-called Slat Grill MBs built in late 1941 and in January 1942 through serial number MB120700) were equipped with a standard 4 inch drop-center "solid disc" wheel. All WWII jeeps used 16 inch diameter wheels. The standard tire was a 6.00X16 NDT (non-directional tread).
This picture shows a 4 inch wide solid disc rim (left, gray) and a combat rim (right, olive drab) side by side. The solid disc rim got it's name because it's center part lacked the vent slots we typically see in other automotive rims. The heads of the eight bolts that hold the halves of the combat wheel together can be seen.
This image below shows a 4 inch and a 4.5 inch solid disc wheel side-by-side. From this vantage point they are nearly identical...
Source www.rensjeep.com homepage
There were two manufacturers of solid disc wheels for 1940s jeeps, Kelsey Hayes and Motor Wheel. Kelsey Hayes solid disc wheels have the 90 degree angle on the inside, and the Motor Wheel solid disc wheels have the "45 degree angle" on the inside. Kelsey Hayes made the A-465 16" X 4.0" solid disc wheel (KH No. 24562) that was used on nearly all MB slat grille jeeps up to serial number 120700. The manufacturer of the A-1799 16 X 4.50" solid disc wheel is unknown. Motor Wheel made the 16 X 4.5 sloping inside wall solid disc wheel that was first issued for use on the CJ-2A civilian jeep.
For MB jeeps before Willys serial number 120700, the standard wheel is the A-465 rim and disc, which is the Kelsey Hayes 16" X 4.00" solid disc wheel with the 90 degree inside angle. This 16" X 4.0" solid disc wheel is listed in many of the WW II Willys and Ordnance Parts Lists, including the January 15, 1944 ORD 9 SNL G-503 on page 149. The other wheel mentioned on page 149 for MB jeeps up to serial number 120700 is the A-1799, which is a 16" x 4.5" solid disc wheel. But this A-1799 wheel is a special equipment wheel to used with a 16-6.50 tire and tube only "when specified".
These A-1799 16" X 4.5" solid disc wheels were specified for use only on the first 6 MB slat grille jeeps. This fact is established by the note on page 85 of TM-10-1206 Change No. 4 dated Dec. 1, 1941, which limits the use of the A-1798 Tire Chain - 6.50 X 16" Heavy Duty type D, stating: "This chain used on first six Trucks and must be used when specified". This contemporary December 1941 note in a Willys factory Parts List tells me only the first 6 slat grille MB jeeps used the A-1799 16" X 4.5" solid disc wheels with the 16-6.50" tires.
So except for the first 6 slat grille MB jeeps, serial numbers MB100001 to MB 100006, no other slat grille used the 16 X 4.5 solid disc wheel, whether made by Kelsey Hayes or by Motor Wheel. Technically, all those wider solid disc wheels should be saved for use on early CJ-2A jeeps, for which both the Kelsey Hayes and Motor Wheel versions were interchangeably specified under part number W.O. 640800. This is why the Kelsey Hayes 16 X 4.0 solid disc wheels are so expensive and sought after by slat grille owners; they are the only factory correct wheel. However, clean up and preserve those 16 X 4.5 inch solid disc wheels and use them on your slat grille jeep until you can assemble a set of five 16 X 4.0 Kelsey Hayes solid disc wheels for your olive drab baby. There will always be early CJ-2A jeep owners willing to relieve you of the burden of having owned and used the incorrect the 16 X 4.5" solid disc wheel on your slat grille MB jeep when the time finally arrives to replace them.