von Diesel

Wow...this site is great! I have learned so much in the past few days...thanks guys.

You will love this. A friend of mine sent me to his "tire guy" for that "great deal". After being quoted $3,400.00, I nicely said "no thanks." Home I went to start researching tires & wheels.
I came to find out all about the Hummer wheels & 315's...a light bulb goes off...I realize that the friend that sent me to the tire guy had a new Hummer and had just recently gone to the tire guy. Yep, you guessed it...the tire guy has my friends old wheels/tires stored in his shop...hehe! My friend said I could have them! Do ya think the tire guy hates me??? LOL

O.K., the question: Does anyone know a shop in the Phoenix area with an OEM machine, that can do the modification with the tires on?

Thanks,
L.

Patriot_RAM

I'm not from that area but had the same question at one point. I finally ended up breaking them down and having them done on a big lathe.

Raspy

You can open them up yourself, at home, with the tires on if you have a Hole Hawg drill. It takes about a minute for each one. Do a search and get the procedure if you are interested. Some say they should be opened up to a precise size on a lathe, but clearance is the most important as the nuts support the wheel not the center hole. I did mine about 35,000 miles ago and they are great. I have a second set waiting to go on when these wear out.

Wetspirit

Patriot_RAM

Wetspirit -- That said, I have a question for you. I had mine done on a lathe but I know that they are centered on the lugs. The problem that I saw was balancing the tires. The balancing machines that are used everywhere in my area are hub-centric. How do you accuarately balance the tires if the center hole isn't perfectly centered?

von Diesel

Thanks for the replys and advice. I'm going to pick-up the wheels & tires this morning. I'm considering mounting the tires on the stock rims. I've seen several posts about guys doing just that.

Decisions, decisions.

L.

CaughtinmyGrill

My h2s were slightly out of balance when I mounted them. I figured that the tire shop could use the lug-centric tool to center the wheel on the balancing machine. The lug thing actually makes the tire balance lug centric rather than hub centric. I had them balance three times by three different shops and no one came close to getting them balanced. They were so bad, my steering wheel would have about a 1/2 inch shimmy back and forth at 65 mph.

I finally order the ceramic balancing beads on line and they completely fixed my problem. Use 6-8 ozs per tire and you won't be disappointed. They made my tires ride like glass. The only problem is that my tires are magnets for every nail, screw, bolt and other sharp things on the road. You have to keep reminding the tire guys not to dump all your beads when they repair the tire.

kry226

Balancing Beads are the only way to go.

Squidward

Chuck's Speed Center
545 W Mariposa St
Phoenix, AZ 85013 - 2527
(602) 266-5101

they did mine for $100.00.

von Diesel

Thanks Squid.

I've decided to go with the 315's on the stock wheels. I just got home from having it done...looks great! I do have some minor rubbing in locked turns both directions (on the control arm?) I'm wondering if a 2" leveling kit will solve this problem. I've read lots of posts about this...it seems to be about 50/50 in that the rubbing goes away VS. the rubbing is still present after the truck is leveled.

Patriot_RAM

Balancing beads??

Squidward

Von diesel:
The reason i went with the H2 wheels is because the offset is different than the stock wheels, they just don't rub, even without a leveling kit.

A leveling kit combined with stock wheels may rub even more than on a truck without the kit, the spacers raise the truck, but due to the suspension geometry and the placing of the trailing arms on the fron axle, the wheels are pulled back slightly, in some cases enough to rub even more than if the leveling kit werent'e even installed! I know it sounds counterintuitive, but I've seen it with my own eyes.

On another note Von, what color is your truck? Were you anywhere in North Phoenix this afternoon?

von Diesel

Squidward,

That's not the kind of news I wanted to hear about the leveling lift. I'm probably going to try it anyway. If the problem becomes worse, I can always use the H2 wheels. I'll hold onto them for awhile just in case.

As far north as I got today was Indian School & 22nd St. I live in Ahwatukee. I have a Patriot Blue 2500.

Raspy

dsteinke,

The balancing machines I've seen use a tapered cone that centers the wheel on the machine. The H2 wheels have a taper on the center hole that is not completely removed when opening up the center hole. So balancing should not be a problem. The hole is not perfectly round or perfectly on center when done in this way (as would be found from turning on a lathe), but is close and works fine. Also, the tires are not removed during the procedure and so the original balance is not lost. My tires are still running smooth after 34,000 miles and still have about half or two thirds the original tread left.


von diesel,

I don't understand why you think a lift will help with rubbing????? The rubbing with stock wheels is on the control arms. Lifting the truck has no affect on the relationship between the tire aand the control arms. Am I missing something?? If it was rubbing on the fender a lift could help. The H2 wheels and 315's clear very nicely with stock height.


Wetspirit

Raspy

It's true that you can mount 315's on stock wheels but why would you? Stock wheels are 8" wide and it seems the 315's want at least 8.5 inches. H2 wheels are 8.5 inches wide and have an offset that does not rub. Further, you can get a set of H2 takeoffs with tires in new or near new condition for far cheaper than you can get the tires alone. If you don't like the H2 design you can throw them away and be money ahead. Or see it as an experiment and try them just for fun. But, be warned, once you have them, you will love them. I think they look better than the Dodge wheels and they fit (after center hole modification) like they were made for Dodge. Wait till you go four wheeling. Done deal! That's why I bought a second set, wheels and all, just so I'd have them ready to go.


Wetspirit

von Diesel

Wetspirit,

Wetspirit -

I had planned on getting the leveling done to begin with...I love the look. Unfortunately, it seems that the rubbing problem won't go away with a leveling kit. I'm taking the H2 wheels to a recommended machine shop for the modification. I can't deal with the rubbing. I decided to try the stock wheels because several guys had no problem at all with rubbing. It seems the rubbing problem varies from truck to truck and I'm one of the unlucky ones. So, next week I'll be sporting H2's with 315's and balancing beads. Thanks to everyone for all the help and advice.

von Diesel