Beadgrips? Worth it?

[NJRadioGuy]

Hi all,
'22 JLUR here, and it's time to move on from the stock Rubicon wheels. I'm running them with 1.5" spacers and a 2" Clayton lift kit. I'm running 315/70R17 Falken Wildpeaks for now, about 25% worn, so I likely won't be changing tires for a few more years--although 37s are definitely in my future.

I was almost ready to pull the trigger on a set of Method Beadgrip 709s this afternoon, but when I was up at the shop that does all my work they warned me that nobody will be able to dismount a tire from beadgrip rims, and that I should go genuine beadlocks instead. Their techs refuse to work on Method Beadgrips, and the only way they remove them is with a sawzall. So I'm now genuinely curious about my best course of action here. If a dedicated 4x4 shop can't dismount tires from these things, how's a local tire shop supposed to deal with them if I were to have a problem away from home?

I go to Canada at least once or twice a year, and my understanding is real beadlocks are illegal up there. And even US DOT-approved beadlocks might get me some unwanted attention from a trooper with a summons quota to fill. "Tell it to the judge" is a lot of hassle when you're 4 days and a border crossing away from home! And I simply wouldn't trust local shops to mess with beadlocks, full-stop.

I like to wheel at 10-12 PSI on rock and sand. And like I said, I'm planning to go to 37s once these Falkens are more than 50% worn.

What are your experiences with beadgrips? Should I just go for it? Or maybe an option I'm not thinking of? Whatever I get I want to protect the rims from rock rash. Please and thanks.

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[Aonarch]

Yikes that shop sounds incompetent.

No problem mounting and dismounting tires from bead grip wheels with standard tire machines like a Coats or Hunter.

Bead grips are the best of both worlds and allow you to run lower pressure than the OE wheels without popping a bead as easily.

Beadlocks are a PITA and probably not legal on the street where you are.

 

[yokramer]

Yea those guys are idiots the tires come off the bead grips just fine on the machine, its a tiny shovel that is pushing the tire off the rim using pneumatics itll come off. Discount tire does them all day and never has an issue.


Hell the low profile 30 ratio tires are way worse to deal with.

Now that the rant is over. I like my 703s well enough. I have had a few beads leak all the air out when doing some gnarly stuff but it has never lost a bead and always taken air right back when I was off the obstacle.

If you grab a 20% off code for OnX Elite you can get 25% off Method wheels. So spend $80 and pay for 5 wheels less than what you would normally pay for 4.

 

[3TV]

Your shop is feeding you a great big line of BS. I run Bead Grip wheels on three Jeeps and have changed tires several times when upgrading to larger tires. Les Schwab has never had a problem getting the tire off the wheel.

So, what else is your shop feeding you a line of BS about? I agree, they sound grossly incompetent.

 

[shane h.]

I've got the 703 beadlocks and the tire shop here has no issue popping the tires. They had to re-mount one of the tires last rotation to get a better balance/road force. Had no issues. Sounds like your guy may be lazy?

It's really nice to go down to 10 without worrying about losing a bead and without the headache of beadlocks.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

I had a suspicion that this was indeed the case. They are ultra-hardcore rock crawlers (tons/42s are their small rigs) and I guess to them anything less than beadlocks are a waste.

I'm already an OnX Offroad Elite member and the one-time 25% coupon code really made it worthwhile. Needless to say, that OnX membership just paid for itself. This wasn't the first thing I ordered using an OnX code either!

I bought a set of the red impact rings and the matte black 709 wheels. Merry xmas to me

 

[bjm00se]

My 4x4 shop had a lot of trouble breaking the bead and unmounting my tire from a beadgrip after a blowout.

So For my replacements, I bought from a discount tire shop. These folks that install tires all day every day still find them challenging, but have less trouble than the jack-of-all-trades mechanics at the 4x4 shop.

 

[Aonarch]

Yea those guys are idiots the tires come off the bead grips just fine on the machine, its a tiny shovel that is pushing the tire off the rim using pneumatics itll come off. Discount tire does them all day and never has an issue.


Hell the low profile 30 ratio tires are way worse to deal with.

Now that the rant is over. I like my 703s well enough. I have had a few beads leak all the air out when doing some gnarly stuff but it has never lost a bead and always taken air right back when I was off the obstacle.

If you grab a 20% off code for OnX Elite you can get 25% off Method wheels. So spend $80 and pay for 5 wheels less than what you would normally pay for 4.

I have Method 703s on my truck that were purchased direct from Discount Tire, like you said they do Bead Grip wheels all day. With a lot of flexible sidewall, it is actually pretty easy.

30 profile tires on a 11"+ wheel is a PITA. An ultra performance summer tire will be super hard, stiff tires too.

I used to manage a shop that focused on exotics and track cars, we'd leave those tires out in the sun to get some flex into them before mounting.

 

[Duc Hunter]

I threw 35’s on my beadgrip recently. Shop said taking them off is slightly harder…..and absolutely no big deal at all. Tire guys dont need to know anything more to do it, just need to push a little heard with teh machine to get teh beard. To release to teh middle of the wheel. Zero extra work.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

My 709s came in yesterday and I hope to get them mounted and balanced on Friday.

 

[Nokones]

I'm running the Methods 106 Beadlock with zero issues on my 23 Wrangler Rubi 2 Dr. 3.6 eTorque. I am running with the Mickey Bajas LT315-70-17 Load Range E. I don't lose any pressures over time. On the trail, I run them down to 10 pounds and on the road, I run them at 35 pounds, per Mickey Thompson Customer Tech Support and I have very good even wear especially for a 5900 pound laden vehicle.

You do need to check the beadlock bolts torque every month. I'm approaching two-years of running them and in that last few months, I very seldom come across any bolts not meeting the torque spec.

I make a point to check the torque on the 1st of every month.

 

[wibornz]

Yikes that shop sounds incompetent.

No problem mounting and dismounting tires from bead grip wheels with standard tire machines like a Coats or Hunter.

Bead grips are the best of both worlds and allow you to run lower pressure than the OE wheels without popping a bead as easily.

Beadlocks are a PITA and probably not legal on the street where you are.

There is not a single state that has made it illegal to run bead lock wheels. DOT does not write laws. Not being DOT approved just means that they are not approved by the DOT. Illegal, means that it is written into law that it is not allowed.

From an AI search...
There do not appear to be documented cases of someone being criminally charged solely for using beadlock wheels on the street, but people can and do get tickets or face civil liability issues where beadlocks are a factor.[tmillerlaw +1]
What typically happens
• In most U.S. jurisdictions, “true” beadlock wheels are not DOT‑approved, but there is usually no statute that explicitly names beadlocks as illegal equipment. Instead, an officer can use general “unsafe equipment” or “improperly equipped vehicle” provisions to write a fix‑it or equipment ticket if they notice them.

 

[Panhead5]

I had the 703's and loved them but thought the valve stem was unprotected and in a bad place . I work in a shop and had no issues mounting and balancing the wheels. I do think they work great for what they are and I bought a true beadlock and mounted a tire to realize how much I hated them . For the wheeling Ido in the summer going down to 10 PSI will work fine .

 

[Nokones]

My TPMS valve stems on my 106s.

 

[3TV]

That is much better than with my 703 Beadgrip wheels. Too bad Method only does that with the beadlock wheels

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