Beadlock Wheels

[Bombsight]

Anyone rolling on them?

Whats the skinny on them ... they're new to me.

 

[LookyLou]

Unless you're running really low tire pressures and doing stuff to flex the side walls to the extremes, it would be hard for me to justify the expense and additional complexity.

 

[brianjwilson]

Cost and weight are the major downfalls.
I don't honestly see why someone would run them on such a heavy truck. I'd be shocked to see that truck run tire pressure in the single digits or near low enough to justify them.
I would have liked to run bead locks on my last Jeep, but I never went lower than 10psi and never had any problems. I know some guys who regularly run 5-6psi in deep snow without beadlocks, but I don't have the desire to re-seat beads with lighter fluid on the trail.

 

[craig333]

Considering I've only lost two beads in my life I can't justify the cost. They look nice though.

 

[mitch h]

I had them on my rock crawler but, I do'nt think they legal for highway use. Might want to check for sure. Mitch

 

[Advmoto18]

I'm unable to justify cost, additional weight and I simply do not drive my truck/camper on jeep trtails requiring beadlocks. I toyed with the idea of procuring some Trail Ready wheels for my SD but ultimately decided on standard Pro Comp wheels.


But that SD at the FWC HQ sure looks GOOD!

 

[ntsqd]

I know of an off-road only Samurai that is run on Super Swampers wrapped around beadlocks without valve stem cores.

I can't imagine needing them on a camper either. Most that I know with them have leaking issues. Long term the tires just won't hold pressure. Some it's a matter months, others its a matter of days.

I see the legality issue mentioned frequently. I've no idea one way or the other. I suspect that it's a matter of DOT certification, that meeting those stds. may be tough to do or expensive to do. The DOT doesn't test or certify anything themselves. They require any mfg. who wants to claim DOT compliance to submit their product(s) to independent testing to show that they comply, and then maintain the Quality records that show that all subsequent products have been made to the same high standards. For a racing/off-road wheel mfg that's just a bunch of unnecessary BS paperwork for no real gain.
That said, the average LEO isn't going to know the difference, or care.

 

[wuck]

Some are DOT compliant, most are not.

<http://www.streetlegallaws.com/are_beadlocks_street_legal.htm>

They're all pretty expensive though!

 

[JHanson]

DOT compliance aside, they're simply overkill for the vast majority of trucks carrying campers. There's rarely any need for us to air down lower than 12-14 PSI even in really soft sand, and you're in scant danger of losing the bead at those pressures.

If I were headed to a region where I might need to be drastically aired down for long periods, I'd install Staun internal beadlocks.

 

[ntsqd]

A friend had a set of Stauns installed. Worked as advertised, but what a pain to deal with. His next truck pointedly lacked those.