Beadlock Nubie Question

[Nokones]

It's an excellent question, and now you know "why not" for many of us.

Feel free to send me the $1200 you've saved... I'll be sure to share with the others.

It takes less than 5 minutes total to check the torque on all the beadlock bolts and the lug nuts. I do mine the first of each month. You are not unscrewing each bolt and screwing them back in. All you are doing is checking the torque by putting a torque wrench on each bolt, pushing down on the torque wrench and getting the click at 24 foot pounds of torque.

If you are airing down lower than 20 pounds on a non-beadlock wheel it is not if the bead separates and lets all the air out, its going to be when, and if you are running with a tire that has a Load Range "D" or less it will definitely be sooner rather than later for that when to occur.

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[DonH63]

It takes less than 5 minutes total to check the torque on all the beadlock bolts and the lug nuts. I do mine the first of each month. You are not unscrewing each bolt and screwing them back in. All you are doing is checking the torque by putting a torque wrench on each bolt, pushing down on the torque wrench and getting the click at 24 foot pounds of torque.

If you are airing down lower than 20 pounds on a non-beadlock wheel it is not if the bead separates and lets all the air out, its going to be when, and if you are running with a tire that has a Load Range "D" or less it will definitely be sooner rather than later for that when to occur.

OK. You are (much) faster than me with a torque wrench, and I have lost a bead once(*) in 40+ years of wheeling load range C tires, so I'll accept the risk.

(*) Not including the times I sliced the sidewall open on a rock or tree root.

 

[Graphite JL]

I'm right there with you 20 years of wheeling, with a good portion of it rock crawling and the rest at 10psi or less and I've never lost a bead.

 

[3TV]

My last episode of losing a bead was on the Rubicon Trail two years ago. It was the very sharp turn right after little sluice, and I had the passenger side front tire pushed hard into a wall of granite. My spotter had said to wait because he wanted to check the trail a few yards farther on. I decided not to wait, and didn't see how hard I had that tire pushed into the wall trying to make a very sharp turn. I should have waited like he said. I also had 17x10 wheels and 9 psi in my 37" Cooper STT Pros. I changed to 17x8.5 Method Bead Grip wheels and now start the day at 10 psi cold, which turns into 12 psi as the day goes on. You are generally pretty safe at 12 psi.

In total, over 50 years of wheeling I've probably lost a bead 5 times. I don't think Beadlock wheels are quite the maintenance headache that is being portrayed. I have had them on a number of ATV and UTVs, and now have them on two UTVs. After the first three or four cycles of retorquing the bolts they generally stay tight. It is common for them to bleed air pressure over time, so don't be surprised to have to add air pressure every few months. That isn't an issue if you are airing down and airing up your tires to go four wheeling every week or two anyway.

The thing that kept me from buying beadlocks wheels when I was shopping this last time (two days ago) was the headache involved in finding a tire shop that will work on them. If anything, that headache is getting worse over the years instead of better.

 

[Nokones]

I find the Methods with Mickeys are pretty good about not losing air over time.

 

[DonH63]

It does depend upon how hard you wheel and the terrain, natch. Long ago I saw many more bead locked wheels than I see today, for whatever reason. (Maybe mainly that I do not get out as much.) The ones I saw using them most were "extreme" (probably not as extreme as today) rock crawlers and mud boggers. Today I rarely see them on Jeeps, but agree they seem pretty common an various ATVs and SxS's, perhaps because they are easier to deal with? More dedicated for off-road use so maintenance is more of a when you hit the trails thing, less a daily concern?

Back then a common failing was not keeping the wheel, tire, and ring surfaces clean and smooth. Dirt and such would work its way into the seal and lead to slow leaks, as well as abrade wheels and tires. That should be minimal as long as they are torqued properly, of course. A cordless torque driver should make it pretty easy to keep everything in spec (once around for the bead rings, reset the torque, touch all the lug nuts). I still couldn't do them all in five minutes, but not a big chore. But you do have to monitor them. One of the guys in our club carries a cordless torque driver so he can touch them up on the trail if need be (as well as handle other things, like tightening my broken shock bolt).

Back in the 80's a lot of folk (me included) assumed they'd make bead locks easier to use and street legal so every Jeep would have them. Instead, it seems to have gone the other way, with few Jeeps having bead locks these days. At least IME.

I'll still live without bead locks, though, and take the chance as I am not doing trails rated past 6 or 7 these days (though admittedly the wrong rock or stub can do you in regardless of the trail rating). I usually go down to 15~20 psi on my 35" KO2s. The bead I lost, I wasn't super low, but bumping up a little ledge decided to try it at a little angle and rolled the tire off the wheel when it slipped (similar to what @3TV did). I switched to the spare, did not try to remount the tire on the trail.

 

[Nokones]

OK. You are (much) faster than me with a torque wrench, and I have lost a bead once(*) in 40+ years of wheeling load range C tires, so I'll accept the risk.

(*) Not including the times I sliced the sidewall open on a rock or tree root.

Load Range "C"s are for the street and not the Trail. Load Range "D"s for the dirt roads and Load Range "E"s for Trails with rocks and other obstacles.

 

[DonH63]

Load Range "C"s are for the street and not the Trail. Load Range "D"s for the dirt roads and Load Range "E"s for Trails with rocks and other obstacles.

OK, you do you, seems a little specific especially for a Jeep that sees mixed street and trail use. You trade flex for carrying capacity. I have run C, D, and E, and tend to think D is a nice compromise, but my JLU came with load range C (a 392 so I was actually expecting E range).

 

[grimmjeeper]

Load Range "C"s are for the street and not the Trail. Load Range "D"s for the dirt roads and Load Range "E"s for Trails with rocks and other obstacles.

I guess my 25+ years running load range C tires on difficult rocky trails without a puncture and no lost beads is just a fluke then...

 

[Dusty Dude]

I looked at buying the rings for my XR wheels and couldn’t believe how much they cost. So instead I bought the Icon Rebound Pros, which are DOT approved, cheaper then the rings, and have very little maintenance.

Are they as good as a “true” bead lock wheel? I don’t know and don’t care. I can run a lower pressure and not worry about losing a bead as easily. It was just a little added insurance for peace of mind without the hassles of a “true” bead lock.

 

[gek]

If you are airing down lower than 20 pounds on a non-beadlock wheel it is not if the bead separates and lets all the air out, its going to be when, and if you are running with a tire that has a Load Range "D" or less it will definitely be sooner rather than later for that when to occur.

 

[dragoneggs]

Load Range "C"s are for the street and not the Trail. Load Range "D"s for the dirt roads and Load Range "E"s for Trails with rocks and other obstacles.

 

[grimmjeeper]

I guess my 25+ years running load range C tires on difficult rocky trails without a puncture and no lost beads is just a fluke then...

Oh, I did forget. I routinely air down to 12-15 PSI too. And have yet to lose a bead.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have the Icon Rebound Pro wheels and typically air down to 12psi. Been as low as 8psi (Rubicon) and never experienced a pressure loss other than when a wood branch chad wedged its way between causing a very slow leak.

No complaints and DOT approved. Discount Tire did struggle a bit as they were fairly new to the market. DT did issue a TSB technical service bulletin providing instructions for the installers. They charge a bit more than a normal tire change but not unreasonable.

Since I was a Guinea pig at DT, they did it all without an upcharge.

 

[Craigger]

Thanks for all the great info from all of you. I didn't realize all the work that went into maintaining beadlocks. When I'm on the trail I air down to 12psi and have never had an issue.

Since I'm getting an XR that come standard with beadlock capable wheels I was thinking why not just add the beadlock rings and be done with it. But sounds like if you mount as true beadlock, you're never really done with it. I like working on my Jeep, but retorquing once a month would be a PITA. Especially considering I'm only able to wheel a few weeks out of the year.

I have an XR as well. I found a screaming deal on the MOPAR beadlock rings on ebay so switched to beadlocks. The smaller off-road shops usually have no problems mounting beadlocks. Maintaining them isn't bad - torque wrench every other month and after a hard wheeling trip. I do have to dremel a few bolt heads to get the torque wrench back on it - the non-recessed design isn't great. Running hard trails at 8 psi without worrying about popping a bead or burping is great.

There's no way I'd buy the MOPAR rings at full price.

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