Is it legal to drive on the street with beadlocks in Colorado?

Most beadlocks are not dot approved. That being said they would by law not allowed on roads. Now I don't think title 42 states either way ( I will have to crack open my book) this is not enforced due to most cops not knowing a thing about stuff like that. Just like the 5 point harnesses not being dot approved. I feel safer with them

I hate to argue, but DOT doesnt make law, they set standards. Until I see colorado code that specifically says they are illegal, I wont believe they are.

Ur correct but the auto manufacturers use dot regulated items for the most part and alot of the things ok our trucks don't fall into those parameters. Its a un enforced law because there is not hard print but a cop can write a fix it ticket

I'm going to go thru my title 42 book tomorrow and see what I can find

Trei, while you're at it, see if it's cool for me to spike strip the idiot in the tuner car that lives up the street and hauls ass through the neighborhood.

Go do a pit maneuver on him. He won't do it again ;)

The worst thing is they aren't even real tuner cars. These kids think that a muffler makes there car fast

You can Make a spike strip out of hollow stainless steel tube and some thick rubber sharpen the ends;)

Zack, one word for the little pecker.....caltrops. Works every time.

Back on the beadlocks though, you can argue with the cop that does decide to pull you over for them that they are just those decorative locks that all the 15" lifted, 3/4 ton, 10" diesel-stacks through the bed jack-wagons put on their trucks. Make him prove they aren't and make him show you the law. I'm with Clint on this one.

I too am with Clint. properly serviced beadlocks are safer anyway. Which reminds me, time to tighten the bolts back down...

Zack - sounds like a sting operation is in order. Or a muffler-ectomy. You know, potatoes work well at plugging up noisy exhaust systems...

I'm Not saying I'm not with clint. But if you look on factory or aftermarket (not diy beadlocks) wheels they will have a dot stamp in it. The laws are subjective and I argued this with my law professor I'm the police academy that if the law is not written its not a law. He argued that alot of alteration on vehicles are illegal period. So if you where pulled over and a cop wanted to be a dick they could write most of us for harnesses, wheels out of wheel wells or flares, welding your own steering linkage, headlights to high, etc etc. Maybe even beadlocks. I agree properly maintain locks are safe but a cap officer would not passed a safety inspecton due to no safety on the bolts (what I was told) I would venture the h1 style locks are ok as the military drives them on highways. I (when I get a postion) would never write it but wait until some one does not maintain there locks and a bead comes loose and kills a family of nuns. Then there will be a law written in the books. I'm going to go thru my traffic code book and see if there is any addendums to any laws. Once again I would run them as my truck has many other blatant law violations ;) man can o worms

The military is DOT exempt. This is part of the reason the don't sell surplus Hummers (at least in theory). None of their stuff is DOT approved, which is too bad. I'd really like to see one of those big 8 wheeled armored personnel carriers go through crash testing.

Here it is in a nutshell....

http://www.liftlaws.com/are_beadlocks_street_legal.htm

There are no state or federal laws prohibiting the use of beadlocks. There are also no companies that manufacture DOT, NHTSA or SAE (society of automotive engineers) approved beadlocks. With both of these in mind, there are no laws any where in the country that verbally state anything about beadlocks. Manufacturers put "for offroad use only" or "not legal for highway use" on their products to absolve them of legal responsibility. It's an umbrella that shields the company from "potentially" being sued in the event of a failure.

My personal opinion? Run em if ya got em. As has been stated, unless you know what you are looking at, you don't know what is really there. The regulations put forth through DOT, NHTSA & SAE are guidelines. Guidelines are not law. Law has to be written by dingbats who wouldn't have a clue if you asked them the difference between a beadlock and a pressure lock.

A lot of great points being brought up here. And Trei is right, a big ol' can of worms.

Realistically, if you are at the point of arguing DOT/legal issues of beadlocks with an officer, you were probably doing something pretty significant to draw his/her attention. Sort of like the number one cause leading to DUI stops, driving well above or below the speed limit. Officers have very few overt indications of intoxication when observing traffic. Speed violations are an easy, and effective, means of leading to DUI arrests.

Add to this the popularity of beadlock simulated wheels on the market these days. Not exactly easy to target people with beadlocks when you take that in to consideration.

I would agree that beadlocks are safer, in principal, to standard wheels. But only when properly maintained. The chance of an entire lock ring coming loose at highway speed is low in my mind. By the time the wheel gets to the point that the lock ring would come free of the wheel, serious balance issues would be noticed by the operator, and likely the tire would have begun to deflate to the point of being noticeable. More likely would be a lock ring nut coming loose from a stud and firing off in to traffic. But is that risk any greater than a lug nut coming loose on standard wheels?

Justin, military Humvees have been sold, surplus, in the past. That ended shortly after 9/11. Most military vehicles, and Humvees in particular, are no longer sold surplus due to anti-terrorism concerns. Similar to the reason you cannot buy a FedEx or UPS truck as surplus. Basic principal being it would be easier to gain access to areas typically off limits if you were operating an official looking vehicle. Military wheels and tires are still available surplus (still waiting on my tire situation to get sorted out). However, military Humvee wheels are not traditional beadlocks. They are two piece wheels with run flat units installed. The two piece design aids in changing a tire in the field without normal shop equipment. Some aftermarket vendors of these wheels sell a polypropylene insert, which when placed inside the wheel pinches the bead between both pieces of the wheel, creating a beadlock.

I love lamp!!!!! BRICK do you really love lamp? I love lamp.......

I love these kind of topics. Its like a republican and a democrat sitting next to each other on a plane. Eventually one will open its mouth;)