Story of specs on tires

The story I’m about to share with you began with a search for a specific kind of tire and ended up becoming a journey and an education about ignorance, corruption and saving lives.

About a year ago or more, I got involved in “rebuilding” a military version of the Hummer more popularly called the “HUMVEE”. Like many restoration projects, one crucial component of the build, are the right tires. But unlike most cars, “HUMVEE” has its own tire size and specifications. When we got the various parts of the HUMVEE, it included two pieces of well-worn tires that were unusually big. Based on the tire data, they were MS 37 x 12.5 x 16.50 Lt., made by Goodyear.

With that information in hand, I began to call my usual suppliers and it did not take long for me to learn that the tires were not the run of the mill stuff. I then turned to a couple of Off Road 4X4 experts and that was when persistence collided with ignorance. Everybody kept questioning the numbers I provided them and almost everyone insisted that HUMVEES use 35” high tires and not 37”. The few who were willing to believe me, counseled that the 37” high tires were only available in Iraq and Afghanistan and were strictly military issue for US HUMVEES and trucks.

I decided to investigate the matter and try to learn as much as I could about the tires I needed, and that’s when I learned what “MS” on the tire face meant; Military Specs or Military Standard. These tires were meant for combat operations and extreme conditions. They are so tough that in spite of a punctured tire or a hole, US Marines would actually keep driving until they reached a safe zone to replace the tire.

In terms of life span, commercial type tires are no match to Military Spec tires because their design and materials are of a lesser grade. MS tires also have tougher sidewalls that can take the pounding they go through under the heavy load of 50 caliber guns and ammo as well as other portable artillery. Because HUMVEES are sometimes dropped by helicopters to the ground, the MS tires are especially required in order to take the abuse.

With this much information, friends suggested that I hook up with “specialist” suppliers who have Hummers or have contacts in the military. That led me to two guys, one a hummer enthusiasts who had a spare set of Hummer tires and another guy who specialized in the odd and unusual stuff and who had military connections.

The hummer enthusiast was very accommodating but he also had “commercial type” 35” tires. Convinced that my best chance was the guy with military contacts, I arranged for a meeting as well as to see the tires he was selling. My first alarm rang when the meeting was set not in a store but behind a beer garden. The second alarm rang when the garage we were in was so dark I had to use a cellphone to read the specifications on the tires, which were not 37”. The third a final alarm rang when I was told that there would be no receipts since the goods “rolled out of a military camp” somewhere. I politely told the seller that I could not in good conscience pay a lot of money knowing I was buying equipment that “rolled out of a military camp” and was intended to help our men in uniform. That encounter made me realize that even the AFP was not using the original 37” Military spec.

I eventually bought a set of commercial grade 35” for lack of the better option but after a year, I found a source from the US and decided that if we were going to do the project right, we had to use the right tires for the job.

Very recently I learned from my 4x4 friends that the AFP is in the process of bidding out and buying Tires for their HUMVEES and KIA KM450 trucks (Something I would be happy to buy even in scrap condition!). As expected the same old debate is once again being raked over concerning what the right tires should be used or purchased.

As I’ve pointed out, the Goodyear MS 37” tires were designed and made subject to the long term requirement of the United States Military. They were designed for multi-role and built for the purpose. Given the limited resource of the AFP, it would be more prudent to buy smart, by going for the Military Spec tires instead of “commercial” grade that will give out or run thin far quicker than the MS-37” tires will.

But more than just buying smart, the MS-37” tires are specially made and specially produced for military applications, in other words they are not as common as the 35” tires. This means that if the tires were ever stolen or illegally resold by corrupt personnel, they would be easy to track down because of their unusual size as well as the fact that they have control numbers. Even if someone were to file off or burn off the control numbers, there is no denying the size and limited issue of the tires. Anyone in possession or using said tires would have to produce a sales invoice, import document, or a bid receipt.

Specs are not just numbers. They tell us about a products history and reason for being. They tell us purpose, they can even prevent corruption but more importantly they are meant to save lives, the lives of our men in uniform.