What Kind of Wheel Can I Use on my H1 ?
Updated May 22, 2008
All the Hummer H1 wheels use a standard 8 bolt x 6.5" pattern found on Chevy and older Ford trucks. This doesn't mean that you can use just any wheel on your Hummer. Wheel load capacity is most important. It would be pretty devastating if a wheel cracked in half as you were driving down the highway at 65mph. A Hummer is much heavier then most trucks, especially loaded with accessories and requires a wheel that can stand up to the weight and off-road abuse. My stock 98 wagon weighs 8000. The factory 2 piece steel wheel is rated at 3,400 pounds. The Cepek 17" aluminum wheel is rated at 4,500 pounds. Most owners don't realize that the stress and strain on the truck is much more on the road due to the speed of the truck. Hitting a bump off the road at 2 or 3 mph is much less stressful than hitting a pothole at 30 mph or the constant punishment of driving at 60+ mph..
All H1 Hummer wheels have a 7" backset. Backset is the distance from the back of the wheel to the inner edge hub contact plane of the wheel. Several issues stem from changing the offset. One is clearance between the inside of the wheel and the suspension parts / geared hub. Another has to do with loading of the hub bearing. If you change the location of the tire you change forces on the spindle of the geared hub. The first thing you're going to notice if you have the wrong offset is that the tires are sticking out beyond the wheel wells. You will get road dirt, snow and slush kicked up all over the sides of your truck. An extreme example of what not to do are those customized 'low riders' with their wheels sticking way out beyond the body. If your wheel is cantilevered out way beyond its' design limit it acts as a big lever, multiplying all the forces acting on the hub. Changing the backset also changes where the center line of the wheel will be in relation to the steering and suspension geometry. This effects alignment which in turn will effect handling and tire wear.
The third issue with aftermarket wheels is the location of the air valve hole. You will need custome CTI lines to make this work. If the hole in the rim for the wheel fitting isn't pointing up you will have problems fitting CTI lines to the wheel.
There are only 2 companies making proper wheels for the H1; AM General and GT / Cepek.
