Bead Locks

[Jeeper Creeper]

Thinking of getting some bead locks..... I don't want to spend tons of money. Has anyone seen those locks that come in sections instead of a solid full ring, just wondering, they are a bit cheaper then some solid ones. Also just wondering if I should stay with 15" rims.
thanks for any input.

[aw12345]

17" rims are the ticket if you want to eventually run bigger tires. I would opt for a one piece ring, never seen one that consists of multiple pieces

[dirtman13]

If you want to save $ and you have steel wheels already you could go with the weld on beadlocks. I think the size is dependent on what axle you end up going with from your other post. If you are going big in the future I would go 17".

[vwtipeii]

like a tattoo and lazer eye surgery... beadlocks are things you don't go cheap on... I am biased towards Method. 325 a wheel was my price if I recall properly.

[daniel_buck]

I like the Champion beadlocks on mine, I think they were right at $300 a wheel. Made locally too, in Lake Elsinore.

I went with 16" because that's the size tires I already had. Hopefully down the road 16" tires aren't difficult to find.

[DaK]

Bump up your rim size to 17, more tire and wheel options. Bought my beadlocks used. Look around, call some of the shops, might be surprised at what you find and the good deals available.

[Toolman]

I am a Trail Ready advocate. No balancing weights and no blasted B-B's to mess with. They drive very nice and are way over built. I'm glad I made the jump.

[brokenujoint]

I am a Trail Ready advocate. No balancing weights and no blasted B-B's to mess with. They drive very nice and are way over built. I'm glad I made the jump.

Walker Evans 17x9 large ring 3.75's are in my to do list.

[aw12345]

Trailready or Racelines are semi affordable and make a nice durable beadlock

[Tumbleweed13]

If you don't plan on going big, DIY are good weld on kits, if you already have steel wheels. If your jeep is a DD, then be careful of weld ons. They will leak at psi's over 25. Allied makes a good steel, and one of the most inexpensive, beadlocks. If your bumping up to 17", I also like Trail Gear's Creeper Locks, super strong wheel, or ATX's Slab wheel. The bolts are recessed, and stay out of harms way. Just to open another can of worms, there's always hummer style, double beadlocks. look up, Stazworks, or Trail Worthy for those. Happy hunting.

[Ol Man]

I have the Stazworks wheels on my buggy. If you order, get the Tyrepliers. Makes mounting the tires yourself a reasonable task. It is a good tool.

As previously stated, the Allied Rockathon is a good, lower priced wheel.

[CVD]

Bead lock wheels have drawbacks and aren’t always the right answer. They are heavier than non bead locks; because of the ring, the extra lip cast into the wheel, and the ~32 bolts. Most tire retailers won’t mount tires on bead locks so you have to do it your self. Not difficult, but time consuming. If you get a balance problem, you can have the tire manufacturer and wheel manufacturer pointing fingers at each other; and the retailer won’t help because they didn’t mount them. After you mount them, your need to take them somewhere to have them balanced (not everyone chooses to balance them, I needed to for freeway use). I also get a puddle of water sitting inside the bead every time I was wash it - the wheel finish gets dulled if you don’t wipe out the sitting water. My point is they have drawback; don’t go to them unless you need them.

When my TJ was rebuilt 2 years ago, I was deciding to between 35’s and 37’s. After lots of head scratching, I decided I wouldn’t need bead locks with 35’s, but would need them with 37’s. I’d run 33’s on 8” rims run at 8 PSI and never pooped a bead. I’d seen many 35’s run at 8 PSI all day long with no problems. I have seen a couple 35’s pop off an 8” rim, but rarely (the couple I saw pop had already lost air and were way below 8 PSI). I went with 37’s (GY MTR’s), which I decided required bead locks (17” Raceline 233).

My reasoning for saying you need them once you exceed 35” tires is:
1) You need to air down more to get the same sidewall flex and softness of your tire footprint. This is because you have more volume of air in the larger tire.
2) Tire load range (sidewall stiffness) comes into play (depending on the tire). GY MT/R’s come in load range D for 37’s, and C on the 35. I’d guess 6 – 7 PSI on my load range D 37’s is equal to 8-9 PSI on load range C 35’s.
3) The increased weight and circumference of the larger tire cause more twist (and the likely hood of pooping that tire off the bead).

Just sharing what went through my head when going to bead locks and my experiences since. BTW – I’m happy with the Raceline's, bought them through Savvy.

[daniel_buck]

True, they are indeed a bit more work overall, but even for someone like me, who (at the time) my TJ was my daily driver and my only vehicle, I didn't mind having beadlocks. It was actually kinda fun mounting the tires, and I've not had any trouble balancing them (I did tip the guy a bit extra, after I saw how much he was struggling to lift the wheels/tires up onto the balancing machine, haha!!)

Yea, you do get a puddle of water sitting inside the lip, probably even more so with large rings!

If you wheel a good bit, I'd say go for it. It's nice to drop the pressure down and not have to worry so much about slipping the bead off or spinning the wheel in the tire.

If you do go for the beadlocks, do yourself a favor and pick up a small-ish inch-pound torque wrench if you don't already have one. For my Champion wheels, they suggest somewhere around 15 pounds on all the beadlock bolts. I don't know how accurate a foot pound wrench is for something that mild when it's designed to go all the way up to 200 foot pounds or something, You could probably do it with a regular wrench and just make sure they are snug, but for as many of those little bolts as there are, an inch pound wrench is nice, and alot smaller than a big foot pound torque wrench and probably more accurate? I just set mine to 190 inch pounds.

[Tumbleweed13]

The trail gear creeper lock is the one with a multi-piece ring.

[mrchips]

I have Allied Steel bead locks, weight is 43 lbs each, have run Equal for balancing the tire, mount them myself and have had no issues, other than the heads on some of the bolts get sheared off once in a while, and you always have to periodically check the nuts for torque,