POLL: Beadlocks.....what are your plans?

[Rob41]

Since Ford offers beadlock capable wheels and the Bronco Raptor is capable of exploiting the benefits of beadlocks, I thought this poll would be appropriate.

A life of pavement or dirt makes no difference. Either way will bring fun and excitement.

I chose aftermarket beadlocks even though it will be my daily driver, it will also see challenging off roading where beadlocks will be a great benefit.

 

[Cupholders]

My option isn’t there, ‘OEM capable not converted to true beadlock’.
I run beadlocks on my Jeep and I run with a bunch of guys who do not. Occasionally someone will throw a bead but it’s not that often and is an easy fix. The properties we run are only a couple acres big so you are never more than 15-20 minutes from the parking lot. If the trail systems around here were miles long then I would feel that the extra security of a beadlock would be more worth it.

 

[Rob41]

My option isn’t there, ‘OEM capable not converted to true beadlock’.

An OEM capable wheel that's not converted is a non-beadlock wheel

 

[luterdan]

I got the bead lock capable 1 for the look and 2 in case i found that in future I wanted / needed to do full beadlocked without the new expense of 5 new wheels

 

[Rob41]

I got the bead lock capable 1 for the look and 2 in case i found that in future I wanted / needed to do full beadlocked without the new expense of 5 new wheels

Pretty cool that Ford offers them that way.

 

[Ironmike]

I’ll run capable wheels probably 95% of the time, and deal with the hassle of BL rings, reseating tires, balancing, etc only for those extreme trips that really require it. Most of my off-road trips I rarely go below 16 psi.

 

[luterdan]

I’ll run capable wheels probably 95% of the time, and deal with the hassle of BL rings, reseating tires, balancing, etc only for those extreme trips that really require it. Most of my off-road trips I rarely go below 16 psi.

Will beads usually hold at 16 psi?? And how does vehicle weight (brapter is a heavy beast) affect that??

 

[CVSJR]

Did you know Bead locks are actually illegal? I've ever seen someone get pulled over or checked to see if they are real or not but I have seen one come off at highway speeds, not a pretty sight.

 

[luterdan]

I guess they are not DOT approved and you have to check torque on all 24 or whatever bolts x 4 tires regularly.

 

[mmsmab1]

Not saying mine is going to be a pavement princess....but its not going to see rocks either

 

[Losy]

My son has deadlocks on his Raptor and they are great security when off road and you air down below 20 psi.

 

[luterdan]

My son has deadlocks on his Raptor and they are great security when off road and you air down below 20 psi.

So is the about how low you can go without beadlocked??? 20 pounds or so

 

[Losy]

So is the about how low you can go without beadlocked??? 20 pounds or so

The guys we off road with seem to think so. I imagine you can push it lower, but at times we are many many miles out in the desert.

 

[Rob41]

Beadlocks are not DOT approved. With that said, I've never personally heard of a beadlock flying off or anoyne getting cited for running non DOT approved wheels.

A few buddies of mine run them year round and have never had an issue. One of them told me he kept checking the torque every couple thousand miles and after about a year they never needed to be retorqued. Now he only checks them when he rotates the tires. He carries 2 spare tires when he wheels (tires only) and a torque wrench.

On regular wheels I air down to 15psi. That's going to depend on tire width and rim width though. I've seen some people go as low as 10psi with a relatively narrow wheel to tire ratio but I wouldn't be comfortable going below 12. I've seen beadlocked wheels running 5-6lbs.

Another consideration running beadlock wheels is that many tires shops will not balance them and install on your vehicle because they are not DOT approved. A lot of people running the beadlocks simply put whatever tires they want onto the wheels and then take the wheels in to be balanced and then take them home to install on their trucj themselves.

Unless you've run them before and know you want/need them, chances are you don't.

Pros and cons either way, YMMV.

 

[Cupholders]

Beadlocks are not DOT approved. With that said, I've never personally heard of a beadlock flying off or anoyne getting cited for running non DOT approved wheels.

A few buddies of mine run them year round and have never had an issue. One of them told me he kept checking the torque every couple thousand miles and after about a year they never needed to be retorqued. Now he only checks them when he rotates the tires. He carries 2 spare tires when he wheels (tires only) and a torque wrench.

On regular wheels I air down to 15psi. That's going to depend on tire width and rim width though. I've seen some people go as low as 10psi with a relatively narrow wheel to tire ratio but I wouldn't be comfortable going below 12. I've seen beadlocked wheels running 5-6lbs.

Another consideration running beadlock wheels is that many tires shops will not balance them and install on your vehicle because they are not DOT approved. A lot of people running the beadlocks simply put whatever tires they want onto the wheels and then take the wheels in to be balanced and then take them home to install on their trucj themselves.

Unless you've run them before and know you want/need them, chances are you don't.

Pros and cons either way, YMMV.

I have some DOT approved ones (Hutchinsons). Tire shops won’t touch them. If you’re not inclined to mount them yourself you can find a shop to do them at whatever their shop rate is, altough I don’t think that is much concern for this group. I also couldn’t find someone that wanted to balance them, they felt they weighed too much for their machine, so mine are unbalanced

 

[CVSJR]

Exactly right, if you need them you'll know what's involved. I actually talked with guy on the side of the road a few years ago that had all but one ring bolt shear off on a front tire, the ring somehow swiveled, kept hitting the ground then whacking his wheel well before breaking off. Probably no balancing or retorquing ever happened, if I had to guess they were probably just for looks.