Beadlock Questions

[Randy88FJ62]

I just want to get this straightened out in my head so here it goes:
1. Beadlocks are used to prevent the bead of your tire from coming off when deflated for off road use.
2. Do they also protect your hub from taking direct rock hits?
3. A standard rim can be fitted w/ diy beadlocks by welding on a ring then bolting the outer wide ring to keep the tire lip in place.
4. Do beadlocks affect daily driving? Any adverse balancing issues?

I always see tons of pirate guys running beadlocks and I don’t see a lot of mud guys running them. Do our wagons see less crazy off roading and therefore don’t need the beadlocks? Or is everyone hiding Stauns inside their tires?

I want to know why 60’s wagon owners use them or not as I see it as a cool upgrade but probably not as useful as others things that could be done instead. I want my time and money to go to useful mods and I don’t want to get too far into wanting beadlocks unless they are intrinsically useful for our wagons.

 

[weak-link]

mud guys like to drive to the mall, then talk about how there going to make their cruiser look more hardcore. Then they'll go down a fire road and call it hardcore wheeling.


If you keep loosing beads then you need bead locks.

yes they can be a pain to balance, BB's work pretty good though.

I guess there would be a slight chance they would keep the hub from getting hit. but how often have you had that happen?

yes on the diy

 

[Randy88FJ62]

I don't plan on wheeling like a mad man. I prefer the slow and steady approach. Gas is the last option in overcoming an abstacle. Most of all i don't want a poser truck. My 62 is only going to have upgrades that make it a better wheeling vehicle.

 

[Hank]

I just want to get this straightened out in my head so here it goes:
1. Beadlocks are used to prevent the bead of your tire from coming off when deflated for off road use.
2. Do they also protect your hub from taking direct rock hits?
3. A standard rim can be fitted w/ diy beadlocks by welding on a ring then bolting the outer wide ring to keep the tire lip in place.
4. Do beadlocks affect daily driving? Any adverse balancing issues?

I always see tons of pirate guys running beadlocks and I don’t see a lot of mud guys running them. Do our wagons see less crazy off roading and therefore don’t need the beadlocks? Or is everyone hiding Stauns inside their tires?

I want to know why 60’s wagon owners use them or not as I see it as a cool upgrade but probably not as useful as others things that could be done instead. I want my time and money to go to useful mods and I don’t want to get too far into wanting beadlocks unless they are intrinsically useful for our wagons.

1.) you are correct
2.) the extremely wide ones can if your back spacing is such that the ring is outward of the end of the hub. IIRC when I used to take orders for TR and Allied's 99% of Toyota owners ordered 2" or 2.5" backspacing which keep the ring well outside of the hub end.
3.) Yes most standard rims can be used, there are some better than others.
4.) Only a couple brands of beadlock rims that are available completed are DOT legal, this concerns some folks, not so much others. Fake beadlock rims are great, it keeps the police guessing when wheelers run real ones. I've NEVER heard of an instance of somebody getting pulled over for non DOT legal rims or tires and I've run and seen plenty in our area. Poor quality beadlocks are very hard to seal and balance. IMHO ALL beadlocks require more attention than standard rims, check for leaks, keep bolts holding lock ring torqued, make sure tire has not spun on rim.

Plenty of 'mud guys run 'locks. I would if I had the money and will when I do. My wagon (most wagons) have so many other wheeling shortcomings that come in to play before beadlocks are a (again IMHO) wise investment. I need them about 5% of the time. For now I try to wheel smart and carry a spare, air and tools. 16 years and I have only lost one tire where a beadlock would have helped me. I don't do nearly the hard core wheeling that requires 'locks full time. In reality only about 5% of wheelers do. Woody comes to mind. He uses his TR's for traction on what ever the Pit Bulls won't grab.


Personally, gears, lockers, all PM, winch, recovery gear, lighting, tucked up exhaust, bumpers, sliders, tires and storage solutions all come first.

HTH.



OH yeah, in case my wife reads this, she and the kids and the house and her van come first. :beers:

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Personally, gears, lockers, all PM, winch, recovery gear, lighting, tucked up exhaust, bumpers, sliders, tires and storage solutions all come first.

I will have all of the above completed after SOA in the next 6 months. I guess wheeling and experience will determine if they become necessary. I like to do snow wheeling and people air down REALLY low for that so beadlocks look tempting for that application.

 

[REKCUT]

I check into them and found that most of the time (everyone that jumps on read MOST) beadlocks dont do a good job of holding air very well. I have had numerous venders tell me you will need to monitor the air on a regular basis. This is a pain if you have a truck you drive on the road as most 60 owners dont have dedicated trail rigs. I drive mine around town some and dont want to have to check the pressure every time i drive it. If you only use it on trail and you have to mess with the air anyway then why not. I run mine fairly hard on the trail and usually drop the pressure down to 10psi and have only had one incident that cause me to bust a bead and I lost two at once.

To recap, I think the reason you dont see a lot of MUD wagons running them is that lots of folks on here tend to drive there truck to the event, wheel it, and drive it home and bead locks are not street legal or friendly.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Maybe I should clarify. I don't want to buy new beadlock rims. I want to buy the diy ring kits and weld them and then bolt them on. Do those have any trouble holding air? I've never heard of that before.
-Randy

 

[Hank]

Yeppers on the air down for snow. If you are in the deep unknown they are a nice security blanket.

 

[Hank]

Maybe I should clarify. I don't want to buy new beadlock rims. I want to buy the diy ring kits and weld them and then bolt them on. Do those have any trouble holding air? I've never heard of that before.
-Randy

Yes, many DIY BL kits are fine but the welder is the variable. The weld must be air tight.

 

[Mace]

beadlocks are not as street friendly, Even more so with the homebrew types.

Champions and some of the other AL units out there are streetable, but expensive.

My crawler 40 has beadlocks, Bob has a beadlocked spare..
And I am not really that concerned about it.

 

[Mace]

Exactly, if you homebrew your beadlocks, it is very common for them to leak slowly. A bead of silicone typicaly helps.

 

[REKCUT]

Does not matter if you buy ready to go wheels or do it yourself rings, these will not be an air up and check your pressure once a month kind of wheel. You will need to check the pressure each time you drive it. Not a big deal if you go wheeling each weekend as I adjust mine each time I hit a hard trail, but I didnt want to have to re-air each time I jump in and drive around town.

 

[REKCUT]

do a google search on beadlock lose air pressure and you will see a ton of results. That will give you some idea of the problem

 

[Randy88FJ62]

hmm, the air leakage is a definite put down since my rig only sees trails once a month max. I may run two sets of tires, bfg A/T for road and Goodrich M/T for trails. If I do this I may do the beadlocks on the muds.

Seems like a lot of work for the improved bead.

 

[808LC]

they won't help protect the hub, but if your really worried about losing bead and the dot stuff check out staunproducts.com they have a beadlock lock system the works like an inner tube that holds both inner and outer beads and works almost like a runflat. really inovative product. I'm planning on running a set here real soon.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

The Staun's look really cool but cost $150 a piece... I guess you could justify them by saying they are a safety net when on the freeway in case you pop a tire. Have the Staun's been out for over a year yet? What's the long term quality / cycles /reliability?

 

[Mace]

Does not matter if you buy ready to go wheels or do it yourself rings, these will not be an air up and check your pressure once a month kind of wheel. You will need to check the pressure each time you drive it. Not a big deal if you go wheeling each weekend as I adjust mine each time I hit a hard trail, but I didnt want to have to re-air each time I jump in and drive around town.

Disagree completly.

 

[REKCUT]

Completely? So you have never heard of someone having problems with there beadlocks loosing air. Since you have never heard of this problem then there is no need for anyone to silicone on there rings. You just jump in and drive and never give a second thought to air pressure? Seriously Mace, you may have gotten yours set up to hold air but my point is that these are not the same as regular wheels. You dont just mount the tire, set the pressure and go on your way. You may have gotten the bugs out of your set but theres no way you completely disagree.

 

[808LC]

not sure of the longevity of the stauns. a couple of the pro cralwers use them with no troubles and I do believe they have been out for atleast a year

 

[Mace]

Completely? So you have never heard of someone having problems with there beadlocks loosing air. Since you have never heard of this problem then there is no need for anyone to silicone on there rings. You just jump in and drive and never give a second thought to air pressure? Seriously Mace, you may have gotten yours set up to hold air but my point is that these are not the same as regular wheels. You dont just mount the tire, set the pressure and go on your way. You may have gotten the bugs out of your set but theres no way you completely disagree.

Why, I have seen countless homebrew beadocks that hold air just fine. It all depends on the prep and who welds them.

I have heard of lots that have had problems. It is a far cry from most ahving problems....

Little things make the difference..