Beadlock fail at SEMA causes broken leg

[Sublime]

Since beadlocks get discussed here once in awhile. They remind me of when I used to work on truck tires back in the 80s and knew how dangerous split rims could be. Beadlocks seem to not be treated as if they're potentially dangerous. The amount of pain must've been excruciating.

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[Dan M.]

Holy crap. I've never had beadlocks and would not of known this is a thing that could happen. Good PSA.

 

[Tool Guy]

Something is not right about this story. We need to know more details. I can't believe that that many bolts failed simultaneously. Just not happening with normal tire pressures.

 

[keeperman13]

I mean, beadlocks clearly make a lot of sense off-road and they are awesome. Traditional beadlocks do come with a potential for catastrophic failure. I like the new concepts folks are coming out with that would not catastrophically fail, just let the air out.

First that comes to mind is Icon's Rebound pro

 

[Zandcwhite]

Sema sees a lot of rushed builds. I'd bet the bolts were gunned down with an impact well past where a beadlock bolt should be tightened creating a ticking time bomb. Most beadlocks for instance call for 20ftlbs. Someone who didn't know any better might use the same impact for installing the rings as the wheels and have them tightened 4-6 times beyond where they should have been.

 

[Roky]

Sema sees a lot of rushed builds. I'd bet the bolts were gunned down with an impact well past where a beadlock bolt should be tightened creating a ticking time bomb. Most beadlocks for instance call for 20ftlbs. Someone who didn't know any better might use the same impact for installing the rings as the wheels and have them tightened 4-6 times beyond where they should have been.

Yeah, there’s a reason they have you torque them in sequence. Mine had me torquing 3 times( hand tight, 10-12 ft lbs ending at 18-24 ft lbs.) that’s not a lot of torque value. I could see it being easy to over tighten with impact, and you wouldn’t even realize it……

 

[MauiSteve]

Many folks just don’t think about correct torque techniques. many also think they don’t need a torque wrench, they have the magic feel of correct torque.
also many don’t know the reason a torque value is specified.

 

[GMONEY]

Sema sees a lot of rushed builds. I'd bet the bolts were gunned down with an impact well past where a beadlock bolt should be tightened creating a ticking time bomb. Most beadlocks for instance call for 20ftlbs. Someone who didn't know any better might use the same impact for installing the rings as the wheels and have them tightened 4-6 times beyond where they should have been.

I've come to dislike impacts for putting just about anything together. So often things are over tightened causing damage.

20ft-lbs is not that high I mean I think I have a torque screwdriver that gets almost 20 ft-lbs definitely don't need an impact for that. Tighter isn't always better when putting things together.

 

[Zandcwhite]

I've come to dislike impacts for putting just about anything together. So often things are over tightened causing damage.

20ft-lbs is not that high I mean I think I have a torque screwdriver that gets almost 20 ft-lbs definitely don't need an impact for that. Tighter isn't always better when putting things together.

Especially when threading steel bolts into aluminum, easy to strip threads. The aluminum is soft enough it can gall up and still feel tight... until it gets untight in a hurry.

 

[Tethmes]

They remind me of when I used to work on truck tires back in the 80s

I mean yeah... anything can be dangerous. But how often does/has this actually happened? Kinda comes off as a warning from some "get off my lawn" type that waited 40 years for an incident to occur just to finally say "I TOLD YOU SO!"

Sucks that it happened, but in reality, most likely a complete non-issue.

 

[Beachcomber72]

Absolutely zero way this happened, unless there were only two bolts holding the ring down and even then still sounds wayyyyy sketchy

 

[DOOKEY]

Thank God not all beadlocks are created equal. ?

 

[Zandcwhite]

Thank God not all beadlocks are created equal. ?

Over torque steel bolts into aluminum, place it under pressure, and it will fail. It has 0 to do with the quality of the beadlock and everything to do with improper installation.

 

[DOOKEY]

Over torque steel bolts into aluminum, place it under pressure, and it will fail. It has 0 to do with the quality of the beadlock and everything to do with improper installation.

Quality wheels won't drill into the aluminum wheel and hope it holds. If that exists nobody should run it under any circumstance. I agree with you 100%. That's a recipe for disaster. Even Jeep is putting inserts in their beadlock capable wheels.

 

[aldo98229]

Broncos are the endless source of news

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