Beadlock ? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

clemson55

clemson55

Joined
Jun 6, 2004
Threads
234
Messages
4,430
Location
Bozeman, MT
Who here if anyone has beadlocks, and what do you think about them? Also has anyone on here gotten their toyota rims converted to beadlock either by a shop or done it themselves with one of the kits out there? And what kind of cost was involved in these? Thanks
 
I looked into the various DIY beadlock kits and decided to take advantage of some connections at local machine shops and built my own. The first set turned out well and had some additional sets made. I can honestly say that beadlocks, and the resulting low tire pressure, have been the second best modification to my rig after power steering. I am considering building my next set from factory rims and running the factory hub caps as well. I think they will look great!
 
I got a set Long's DIY kits and ran them with 38.5 SX's with 4 psi. Like wanabe said, one of the best mods I've done next to the SM420. One of the Tornado Alley members has widened stockers with beadlocks...at least I think they're stockers...he runs OEM hubcaps on them. I also saw a set of widened stocks with hubcaps on a Mustard LSLC members rig at the Roundup. I think he has since sold the rig but they looked real cool.

That said I don't run them on the street cuz my tires suck on the highway so I picked up a good deal on some used MTR's to run on the street. Two sets of tires is kind'a a PITA but I do llike Crux'n round town too.
beadlock.JPG
 
How much did the DIY kit cost? With the kit you have to drill like 140 holes or something like that right?
 
The Long's where $85 a piece but they have been discontinued - which really sucks. There is another company making one similar to Long's (it has the inner spacer to keep the outer ring from warping) and I'll find out Tuesday who is doing them.

IMO the Long's kits where the best bang for the buck. At $85 a wheel that included shipping and hardware....assumeing you have a steel rim to weld it to.
 
Here is a write-up on Pirate that uses the Rockstomper DIY kit.
 
Can't post pics but I can email some if you want. BTW, I can get more of these made for about $250 for a set of 4 with hardware but it may be a little slow. The guy I use has a fabrication business and I can take advantage of the drops from his larger projects. Just need to wait till he has a big project then go from there. Last time I bought three sets and still have one or two left. Also, I am not trying to run a business here - just cover my cost and time. A couple of the rigs at the Ramble had these kits on them. If you were there you saw my white 40 and Richard's orange 40 sportin a set.
 
A couple t hings to keep in mind, the type of bead locks where the bead interface (rim) is modified are not DOT legal. And I've heard from people using them that they replace the bolts around the rim on a fairly regular bases as they break.

These bead locks only lock the ouside bead. There are some on the market that lock both beads and are DOT legal, but they cost a bit more. The tube type can be used with your own rims.

I've got a set of dual bead locks from USA6X6. I also got their recapped HUMVE tires, but they are too far out of round for me to use them on the street. So I have a set of IROKs coming now. When I tried to have a couple of the recaps balanced, one took 40 oz of lead and still had 1/2" hop. But they told me the wheels were true. I will know better once the IROKs get here and I get them mounted up, balanced and run them a bit.

gary
 
I ran 38.5 SX's on 15x10 Allied beadlocks....great rims, Erik has them installed now...I never once replaced a bolt (32 bolt rims) but did retorque them yearly.

I now have 2 sets of Beadlocks....17x9.5 32-bolt steel Allieds with 39.5 IROK's on them, and 17x9 24-bolt TrailReady steelies (alum ring) with 37" Pitbull Rockers. The Allieds have been run hard since March and have never lost a bolt.

IMO, like most things, some occasional preventative torqueing and you won't have any issues. The Allieds have been very durable and leak free, and I have buddies who have been equally pleased wiht the TrailReadys.

Beadlocks are far from the only item on my rig that are of questionable legality....and the last time I was stopped, my only fixit ticket was for no outside rear view mirror :D
 
woody said:
Beadlocks are far from the only item on my rig that are of questionable legality....and the last time I was stopped, my only fixit ticket was for no outside rear view mirror :D
Click to expand...
Come drive your junk in Goddard ...... I'll hook you up :flipoff2:

While most beadlocks are not DOT approved, I have yet to find a law, at least in Kansas, that says it is against the law to drive them on the street. A technicality I know and to be honest most of my fellow officers won't care....except for Woody of course :flipoff2:
 
66fj40x2 said:
Come drive your junk in Goddard ...... I'll hook you up :flipoff2:

While most beadlocks are not DOT approved, I have yet to find a law, at least in Kansas, that says it is against the law to drive them on the street. A technicality I know and to be honest most of my fellow officers won't care....except for Woody of course :flipoff2:
Click to expand...
scott at rockstomper has a 100 dollar finders fee i believe to anyone who can find any law that says they are ilegeal
 
I'm running the LongField DIY locks also. Bought a set only to find out a few days later that he was stopping production of them. The rockstomper kit seems to be the next best thing and only a few bucks more. I DD my cruiser a bunch and even though it took a few extra stick on weights it seems to drive pretty damn good on the road. And if I get stopped...they're streetlocks as far as I'm concerned :D
Easy to install the rings and installing the first tire was like watching a monkey screw a football, the rest went alot easyer :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom