Mostly for the Big Dogs in the club - recent post in the parts for sale linked (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2405) some steel rim beadlocks. Is there a general opinion out there on steel versus aluminum, brand to look for, how many bolts minimum to secure the ring, price point?

Looking for some advice on if I should pursue them.

Thanks,
Kirk

They look like a good deal. Heck even the parts and hardware to make your own cost that much from som companies. Mine are the DIY kind as I liked that they had more bolts.
http://rockstomper.netfirms.com/shoppin ... ucts_id=95
The more bolts, the more even the pressure on the tire and the less force on each bolt... though they take a while to mount up! I think mine have 32 5/16 bolts. I did not use nut-zerts because they can come loose. The lock nuts take longer to mount, but will not come loose. I would stay away from allens because their coating isn't corosion resistant. You can paint them, head and threads, but they always rust.

One tip is to use BLACK RTV and glue the BACK side of the outer bead to the face of the rim. This is because the side of the tire that makes the seal is now the rough inside, not the smooth molded outside. This will help with leaks a TON!

Hope that helps.

..i would make an offer on the wheels you listed and use them! They look great. And blast tech can blast the chrome off for about $60 so you can paint them up with a nice epoxy primer and single stage paint... will last for years!

Thanks a ton for the advice, now I need to find someone to get over and take a look at them and see if he'll less than he wants for them, standard CL buying protocol.

Is it legal to use them on the road, since there not DOT approved. Or do they not get much attention around here? I have been thinking about them too. Also, is the only reason you would need them is for airing down? Im just not too familiar with all the rock crawling hype.
I do know people get them just to be cool. I guess that's why there's the simulators out there. I just want to know the actual purpose.

I've heard differing opinions on the legal issue, I'm sure someone will post up the legal reference, they generally don't draw much attention that I've seen. And yes I would be buying them for the sole purpose of running lower air pressure while off road. I've gone down to 16 psi with my regular rims so far and I haven't have any problems yet, I've heard other people going below that with regular rims. I'm just looking for insurance to run lower pressures.

NO they are not DOT approved. Only a couple brands of beadlock are DOT approved... they are pricey!!!! $400+ per wheel. The reason they are not DOT approved (per my cop buddies) is because they will not burst off the rim in a roll over. A vehicle with no tires wont "bounce" and comes to rest sooner in a roll over. This means that it has less chance of killing others as it rolls down the road. Bead locks won't let that happen and will give you roll over a nice bounce.

I have had mine for 3+ years and I have NEVER been questioned about them. Most cops dont care. I dont have flairs either, so there is ample reason to write me a ticket... but unless you dont speed, or run red lights, you are fine. When what the last time someone got a ticket for a lane change with an improper trun signal.... a long time ago.

Yes the main reason for them is airing down. You can gain A TON of traction by airing down. Sure 12 psi is nice, but the difference between 5 and 12psi is more than 12 to 25 psi buy a lot! And at 3-4 psi you can creap over snow that is otherwise impassible. I dropped to 5 psi when we ran Jenny creek last July 4th. I did it at the end of the trail where there was a bunch of hard snow drifts that you had to climb over. I was able to go over all of them under my own power. The other rigs, and a quad, had to winch up. It was really cool driving up them! Though low pressures are great for situations like that, keep in mind you run more risk of damaging the side wall of your tire and you have less ground clearance. In the rocks/normal trail use I like to run 10psi. It works well, doesn't sit too low, and rides super smooth over all the bumps!!

Zilla - thanks for the counter view, I've read some of the things that you have concerns with (bolts, balance, safety) and it is nice to hear it from someone you know rather than just reading it on another board or advertisement.

IIRC Champion is one of the few companies that have DOT approved beadlock because they take an alimumnum wheel and machine it to accept a beadlock ring. You can even send in what you have and they will work their magic on them. I found that out well after I bought them. But never had an issue with leaks. My only regret is they didn't come with the thicker ring to protect the bolt heads. One bene is you get to mount them yourself. I wouldn't pay anyone to do it anyone because most tire stores are clueless. I had a store in TX try to break my tire down once. After several tries they couldn't get the bead to break. Well duh - it's a beadlock and I told the guy at the counter that. Got a new tire for that.

Anyway, as to balance. I found the best price on the most dense plastic BB's at www.evike.com. I just matched the weight of innovative balancing's site. They didn't balance well to begin with. So I pulled about half the BB's out and it was better, but still not great. Then I started playing around with psi. Now at 34psi, my bronco runs pretty darn smooth down the highway and I don't get any bad vibes from the tires.

Zilla is right. They are not worth the effort unless you need them.

Another name to throw in the hat is stazworks. They are a double beadlock and saw some on a bronco and they looked slick!

like zilla said you can run pretty low pressures on non-beadlocked rims and be fine, it helps to run a narrower rim with a wide tire as it keeps a little more pressure on the beads, for example a 12.50 wide tire on an 8" wide rim is much better than being on a 10" rim, but the drawback is you have to run a lower pressure during normal driving as it bubbles the bead more with a narrow rim, also the other main reason a for a DOT approved beadlock is they want it regulated for safety, thats why the beadlock rings that joe schmoe welds on a standard wheel in his garage aren't considered legal, and really shouldn't be because it could be very dangerous to the driver and others around him if his welds let go a 75mph on the highway, unless the truck is strictly a trail rig, i honestly don't believe they're worth the hassle, you can run any trail in this state with out them, granted it is nice to have the reassurance, for a rig thats driven on the road and especially over 40mph i wouldn't do it, unless you can afford those really nice centerline beadlocks, or some walker evans

I think I will throw my beadlock idea out the window. There's better upgrades to spend my money on. I ran some pretty cool obstacles in Ouray at full pressure.

To be honest, if I wasn't able to build mine so cheap, I would though harder about the hassle envolved. I have $40 in the wheels, $40 in sand blasting chrome off, $110 on a full set of bead lock kits, and about $50 in epoxey primer and paint. CHEAP considering the other options.

But all of the above points need to be weighed. ...I would do it again though. I like knowing they wont come off, peroid.

Let me know. I have a cousin that might sell his set. They are stock H1's for now so you'd have to recenter and find the inserts... But the price will reflect that too.

J.D.