Look into the FMCSA, they have a section on Split Rims. This makes all two piece faced wheel illegal. They made Split Rims illegal back in the late 70s. Now you know, surprised lawyers couldn't come up with that 😂
@@Hanibul_Lecktor there's still split rims being run on school buses and some other local large trucks, I see those same trucks get on and off freeways, regardless of their legality.
@nutronik9 not here in the USA you don't, wouldn't pass the yearly inspection, all CMV go thru. They're 100% illegal on anything other than farm equipment, can't leave the zip code or 3 miles from registered address...So there's that factoid..
@nutronik9 you're thinking spilt hubs, not rims with the outer ring that comes off. Split hubs, basically bolt to the outer barrel, yeah 100% still in use. Apples to oranges..
@@Hanibul_Lecktor nope I'm thinking 2 and 3 piece split rims that have inner tubes. I used to work for Goodyear, the shop that worked on large tires for semis and other large format vehicles. I'm familiar enough with them. The outer ring is tensioned into place and, well, makes widows of they're not
As a 30 year ASE Master Technician, I find it comical that the Government/Lawyers trust 2 bolts to hold your Brake Calipers on, 3-4 bolts to hold your wheel bearing in place, and 5-6 to hold your entire wheel on, but don't trust 30 high strength bolts to hold your tire on.
I'm not sure it's a matter of trust as it is a matter of process. Just like the tires that go on the rims, all passenger tires require DOT testing and approval. I haven't seen any data showing me that beadlock rims have been DOT tested and failed. From what I can gather though manufacturers aren't sending off their rims for DOT testing. That costs $$$$. Let's not blame DOT, yet.
I’ve ram them on the road for years never had a issue. It’s super nice that fake bead lock wheels are so common now a days I don’t think anyone would get stopped for real bead locks anyways
Wow, the reason that beadlock wheels are not DOT approved is that the manufacture does not/cannot pay to have them tested and certified. So they just claim, not DOT approved and sell the shit out of them.
while yes you can run them on the street. it would be an easy ticket per tire of non DOT approved tire. hence why many folks trailer their offroad equipment becasue a majority is not rated for onroad use. the concept is the same if you mod your brakes and you couldn't stop. you would be liable for the accident because it was not an approved part nor installed by a certified mechanic. just be aware that kinda stuff exists out there esp in the overland world.
I’ve had double bead lock wheels on my jeep for over 4 years now and I’ve never had a problem or failed an inspection in Texas. The jeep doesn’t spend a whole lot of time on the road but I normally drive it to where I’m using it and will occasionally just take it to the store if it’s been sitting too long.
It seems less likely that a bead-lock would lose the tire in a blow out than would a regular wheel. With so many bolts several coming loose would still leave plenty to hold the tire on. Bead-locks look from an engineering perspective safer than regular wheels.
Military also fly F18s.. but really, ever pass a military convoy on the freeway? Of course you have. Those rigs don't go much faster than 60 mph flat out. DOT has to cover vehicles that go 75 mph plus. But yeah.. if you have a trail only rig.. maybe go as fast as 45-50 seldomly.. bead locks may be for you.
@@focusdrivenmedia3436 yeah.. Drag cars have been driving screws thru the rims into the beads since before we were born. No way a Funny Car is going to get down the strip without a bead lock.. but those bead locks are not the same. 1000 plus horse power. Vs say a Jeep with that anemic 3.8L v6..
@@WingWalker1 HMMWV wheels have a run-flat ring inside. This ring gets clamped between the two halves of the wheel thus creating a double bead lock. A lot of people remove this ring to save weight, and if this ring is removed, then you’re right, there is no bead lock.
Have been running beadlocks on the street for twenty years now and no blow outs. I have had some bolts break due to fatigue, but no blowouts just slow leaks. Install the bolts with a torque wrench and recheck every so often, no problems.
I've been running beadlocks for a few years now on my daily driver and never had even the slightest of issues. I inspect them 2x a year when I swap my winters.
DIY beadlocks here...5" trailer rims with weld on rings, dirt track center sections (Speedway) gives me an effective 5.5"x15" ZERO b.s. wheel that runs 34x9.50 TSLs beautifully. Balancing by 1/2lb Daisy BBs in each wheel. Fantastic on the trail, and 70 mph on the highway with no commotion. YMMV
I'm currently looking into the KMC Grenade wheels for my rig. It's amazing how "illegal" my Jeep is in NY just thinking about it. Color halos, tires/wheels sticking out of the fender, window tints, off road lights not covered, no front plate (replaced with a Jurassic Park vanity plate)... etc. but thankfully a lot of it is overlooked by law enforcement and I haven't been pulled over *fingers crossed*.
its just cause the rim companies havent paid the dot for "testing" aka the goverment has not gotten its cut of the auto industry so its not allowed. every single production rim must go through a license process to get a dot number... stupid eh? or is it a scam? probably both, but with some relevant safety mixed in.
Wow all the comments on here and I didn’t see anyone mention the KMC beadlocks. They are great and there website says DOT APPROVED. They have been making wheels a long time with a great history of no issues
I have been using Hutchinson wheels on my 2010 rubicon and 2018 power wagon no issues other than paying more money to mount and balance that’s if you are unable too? these wheels are DOT approved and you have a wheel that could be taken apart with simple tools and little effort to change a tire with less effort than traditional wheels that mostly use tire mounting machines not saying that you can’t change manually can be done but very difficult. Airing down to low pressure holding a bead is also nice to have if needed to get out of a jam!
Regarding the part where you say, "no issues other than paying more money to mount and balance." (?) Are you saying you needed to pay to have someone to mount and balance your Hutchinson BLs or did you mean the opposite of this(?)
@@__WJK__ cost to balance for street use. The reason to buy is giving the opportunity to repair or replace a tire on the trail and ability to air down without breaking a bead. Thanks for asking
Military bead locks work differently than what is described here. I have an M985 HEMTT with 2 piece bolt together combat wheels that have an insert between the inner and outer beads that when the halves are assembled lock or pinch the beads against the wheels allowing low air pressure operation without the bead coming free. This effectively locks both beads where the wheels shown in this video only lock the outer bead.
The explanation given to me was this: There is a certain amount of tire deflection that is actually desirable during emergency situations. This deflection will disengage the contact patch from the pavement when extreme cornering forces are encountered, allowing the vehicle in question to slide as opposed to roll over. Statistical research indicates much better average outcomes for occupants of vehicles involved in crashes where the vehicle does not overturn. Does this affect my buying decision? No, it's a risk I'm prepared to accept.
Would be extremely interesting to see what the actual % deflection difference would be, between a set of beadlock mounted tires and traditional rim-mounted tires ... using identical sized and branded tires and two identical stock test vehicles(!) I also wonder, what % deflection we would see between an OEM recommended stock tire vs a bunch of same-sized, aftermarket tire options... tested on traditional rims(?) Would the % of deflection remain near identical across all brands...(?)...I suspect the % of deflection would not remain identical but "could" "maybe" "possibly" still produce the desired (safer) rate of deflection(?) Too bad testing something like this is so prohibitively challenging and expensive :(
@@AustinH7 good .. and Ford sells them and installs them .. they are part of its catalog of options. In other words, they are parts that come from the factory. and Argentina for example. If you want it, it comes standard. It is not an Extra since there is the option with Beadlock.
don't know how true it is but I've heard that bead locks are not approved because they started as a drag racing wheel and that the ministries involved didn't want to encourage street racing by approving them for mainstream use.
nope. its only cause it costs money to get a dot number. oems can pay it and factor it as a cost of business, some aftermarket rim company, not so much.
Laws to do not give you permission in the US. If there is not a law specifically prohibiting a specific action, then that action is perfectly legal to do.
Not necessarily. All wheels, just like all tires, lights etc. must be accompanied by a dot stamp. If the stamp is missing they can stop and prohibit you from driving off after you've been pulled over at their discretion. So while there may be no law specifically outlawing them, that really doesn't mean anything when addressing dot guidelines.
@@supersportimpalass yeah, not true. Off-road modifications that you use only off-road don't have to be DOT approved. So long as you're not messing with the normal things you use on the road like your headlights tail lights high beams blinkers tires and rims and any body mods, you're pretty much good. Also it varies state to state. Like in California they have a decibel law for mufflers and exhaust, I live in Texas there are no laws for how loud your vehicle can be when it comes to exhaust in fact everybody I know including myself have straight piped vehicles. As long as you don't mess with the catalytic converter which is a federal crime, in Texas you can do a lot of stuff you can't do in those blue States.
Once you have put Loctite on, it will change the torque specs, because more of the torque will be utilized in overcoming the Loctite as opposed to tightening the bolt. If the Loctite is still holding, the torque wrench (if set to the previous spec) shouldn't break it free. If it is loose (or breaks free when torque testing), then the threads on both the wheel and the bolt need to be cleaned thoroughly to remove the old Loctite, before it is torqued again.
Ironically, the DOT allows major manufacturers to run junk until too many complications or deaths occur. It's about $$$. Look back at the Firestone tires that failed on the Ford Exploder.
I remember that, must've been twenty years ago. Was actually working at Firestone at the time. Saw for myself the cause was inner sidewall rubbing, on the park brake cable I think (it was so long ago). I do remember us all discussing it at work. Not a tire defect, but a clearance issue in those particular vehicles. I believe it was using the manufacturer recommended size, but the tires must have been slightly wider in that section, as tires do vary, and there was no allowable room for any more width. Ford's fault for not considering different than oem tires may be slightly different in actual dimensions? Firestone's fault for incorrectly sizing a tire? Don't know who to blame, I know Firestone did take the blame. I do know there was nothing inherently bad or destined to fail with either product, they just didn't fit together properly and it was overlooked on a massive scale, unfortunately.
I run them on my tundra now, I drive alot of well roads and I was having trouble with the stock rims getting dinged and getting slow leaks. No problems now. I just make sure the psi is good for the street.
@@brycemaggio6144 unsprung weight has the effect of 4 times sprung weight. Adding 25 lbs to the wheels is like 100 lbs to the chassis. Or 100/ 400. Spinning that weight UP to speed requires more HP.. stopping requires bigger brakes.
I used to run beadlocks on a daily driver, and they had an issue of bolt fatigue after about 300 miles. The heads of the bolts would start to pop off. Even tried running grade 9 bolts, still would pop off. When you figure the load cycles after 300 or so miles, it’s about 2,000,000. Depending on the design of the beadlock, there is a really good chance of getting a load cycle of each bolt on every rotation, since the rubber is sandwiched between the ring and rim. I suspect some designs get around this by having a metal to metal contact patch, which allows the bolt to only cycle once when being tightened. I bet if a company was to design and pay for dot testing, it could be done to get approved.
I'm un-locking my beads to move to the inside and put the beauty rings on. I have Mopar Bead lockable wheels, and have checked the torque often. Frankly , broken bolts can be a hassle. The Jeep dealer wanted $80.00 for three replacement bolts.. I walked away.. sayin NO WAY ! Anyhow, because I drive on paved roads more than dirt, I noticed some slippage due to braking on paved roads. The bead positioning looks off from one side to the other now from slippage on all four tires.. This tells me I'm pushing my luck. Better for me to have a second set of Wheels for off-roading or trailer my toy.
I have factory bead locks on my vehicle and with those tires, pass NYS inspection every year. If you can’t find a law banning them then they’re legal. Laws outlaw things not make them legal.
This was helpful! The previous owner kept the beadlock wheels when they sold the rig to the dealership...makes me wonder why they wanted to run beadlock wheels instead of basic aftermarket ones! If they were going for a look...
The Military stopped allowing drivers and unit level mechanics to install new tires on the two and three piece rims as many were injured taking them apart without properly deflating them.
My Method beadlocks have been fantastic and no the rock ring doesn't randomly fly off on the freeway. I have checked the torque many times, only had one bolt that re-tightened.
Another reason could be that tires are designed that when a tire blows out, it goes out away from the vehicle instead of towards it causing more damage or loss of control. Beadlocks might prevent a safe blowout.
That makes no sense. How could you design a tire so that it goes away from the vehicle? How would the tire know which way to go if it's mounted backwards? For the safety of other drivers wouldn't you want as much tire as possible to stay with the vehicle? And what is a "safe blowout"? If it's a blowout it's not safe unless handled correctly. If it just deflates or the tread separates then it's not a blowout.
@@infiniteepoch8 And your point is? They're legal, you can purchase and use if you choose...Carli, Thuren, Land Cruiser, etc., are expensive but VERY worth it!
@@infiniteepoch8 I still don’t follow your logic, can you not set aside some money and buy them when you have enough saved? Their price doesn’t negate the fact that it’s still a road legal option.
I drove cross country recently from Miami up to Breckinridge, from there to Moab Utah, then down to Southern California. Driving all the way back to Miami. Lots of highway and hard off-roading. My WJ Grand CHEROKEE was running bead lock Dirt Life wheels with 37s. I always new that bead locks were not dot approved and required strict attention to torquing the ring. On my trip I brought my tools and a good torque wrench checking torque at every fuel stop. On the last leg of my trip entering the Florida pan handle I ran into problems with the bead locks. The bolts had fatigued(my best guess) and started failing and snapping the head off on the rear passenger tire. Luckily these wheels were designed to have a regular lip so I simply mounted the bead normally and kept in going. Coming into south Florida the front wheel began to suffer the same. Lesson learned. Bead locks should not be used for long highway miles
The proper way to check torque is by indexing the bolts and wheel with a marker. By constantly checking with a torque wrench you are tightening the bolts every time and twisting the head. Likely reason for the bolt failure.
That's one reason I'm un-locking my beads to move to the inside and put the beauty rings on instead of the functional. I have Mopar Bead lock wheels, and have checked the torque often. Frankly , broken bolts can be a hassle. The Jeep dealer wanted $80.00 for three replacement bolts.. I walked away.. sayin NO WAY ! Anyhow, because I drive on paved roads more than dirt, I noticed some slippage due to breaking on paved roads. The bead looks off from one side to the other now on all four tires..
Seeing as how I’m on road 90% and off 10 I’ll just stay with regular rims with my daily driver pickup. Pulling trailers and hauling stuff in the bed is more important to me than me than the off road aspect. I only air down to 20-24 and haven’t had issues yet with stock wheels. Even then I only do it in snow, sand and slick rock. Just going across the pastures and checking cattle and fencing I don’t air down because it’d be a pain and too difficult. Now if I ever get a dedicated off roader I’ll get bead locks for sure. I gotta say the regular rims, y’all sell, with those grooves look intriguing however the expense isn’t justifiable at this point.
I thought it was cuz bead locks can hit a spike strip and still turn or accelerate. Or jump curbs and loose the cops. I wish they were lighter and cheaper for my Tacoma cuz I’ve always wanted a set 👍
i did have a cop pull me over once for a speeding violation and promptly slap me with a fix it ticket for my beadlocks. only time in 3 years a cop has said anything about them
I was told that why beadlocks are not approved by the dot because they increase the chance of rollover at highway speeds. If you go into a slide and go off the road if the tire rolls off of the bead it dampens the impact and lessens the change of grabbing and causing a roll. At least that’s what I was told when I was in fabrication school.
I need bead locks on my lawnmower. I thought my hydraulics went out onetime I couldn't tell until my dad came to help me move the downed mower that the rim was spinning on a film of slime inside the tire. I have to run too much pressure so that I can cross sidewalks and run sideways on steep hills. If I get a puncture I automatically assume it's just not sealing at the rim and I waste time looking in the wrong place for the problem. I've had several flats and inconveniences over the year's that would've been avoided by bead locks. I wish someone would make what I need. Grasshopper 329b
I was on the beach in long Island running 15 psi. Before I got my foot AT tires. I went over a rock the wrong way that broke the bead on one Of my tires. Thankfully I was able to give it some gas and rotate the rim enough to make good contact and get it to hold air. Had to do it a couple times to get off the beach. Never had an issue at street pressure. My daughter wrecked her car. I know it’s a car but when she slid off the road into the ditch sideways she lost the bead on both tires on the left and the lost All air and pushed back on the rims. If she had been in a truck with bead lock rims I wonder if the no five of the tires could have caused a roll over. Just two of my experiences.
Ultimately Just like you noted that you cannot find any legal precedent as to the legality of a bead lock, this one is a mystery I would love to see resolved, If anyone could locate and Prove a illegality with citation to using them on road I would love to see it. But as it sits any infraction received and court proceeding surrounding bead lock would be a huge one, and cost the courts and the defendant a lot of time money and effort in the debate with the current state of how in the Grey it is. As I understand it car manufactures are not permitted to put non DOT approved equipment on a stock vehicle, but there is too much gray area for the aftermarket addition and no specifications I can locate in that market.
Lol all that info to plug dirty life wheels. It’s so much easier to just have two sets of wheels and swap when trips come up. Also IMO if your rig is getting into situations where beedlocks are necessary? then it’s probably not the best street machine. And lastly thanks to all the fake beedlock wheels out there it’ll be hard for Pd or dot to tell real from fake.
@@b0wen11 unless a wheel broke or fell off I doubt an insurance would even know what a beed lock is. But yes I agree that if the wheel was to blame you’d be in a pickle
@@warrantydelete9122 Not sure if you have ever dealt with insurance companies, but they will find any issue they can to get out of paying to save their bottom line. "I doubt an insurance would even know what a beed lock is" you can be assured they know exactly what they are and will use that against you. I have taken insurance companies to court and they will use every trick in the book
It's not so much that there is any legislation to say bead-lock wheels are illegal on the road, as much as bead-lock wheels don't meet the standards for use on road which is what make them illegal. Tire manufacturers spec their tires assuming they are fitted to a J-bead, which a bead-lock isn't so the tire load and speed ratings are invalid. Most bead-lock wheels don't have a load rating and there are very few manufacturers of bead-lock wheels willing to state in writing that they are purpose designed for use on the road. It's all verbal or vague wording so they can wriggle out of any claim resulting from an incident caused by using a bead-lock wheel on the road. Bead-lock wheels should not be used on the road for a multitude of reasons, some of the concerns are • With a bead-lock wheel, if the ring detaches the tire bead is no longer contained within the rim and so it is far more likely to detach from the rim. • The bolts that hold the locking ring can come loose. This could be for a combination of reasons - insufficient metal to metal clamping, tire bead contraction, insufficient thread engagement, excessive vibration. • The number of bolts can vary from 36 (every 10 degrees of circumference) down to 24 or even less. The fewer bolts the higher the stress on each one and the higher risk that if some become loose it will cause a failure. • The additional locking ring can introduce additional leak paths, especially if the bolts extend to the air chamber inside the tire. The extra potential for tire deflation increases the safety risk. • A bead-locked tire is not free to move on the rim and there are reports that this can cause cracking and cutting of the tire near the rim. • Tire walls vary in thickness and may result in irregular clamping. Spacers may be required for thicker sidewalls, adding complexity and risk of improper assembly. At the end of the day, it is far more sensible to have a set of on-road tires fitted to conventional wheels and a second set of aggressive off-road tires on bead-lock wheels which you can change these on the side of the road in half an hour. Not only is this safer, but it prevents having to use an on/off-road tire that are less than ideal either on or off road.
I am using Raceline. 3 yrs no major issues. After install a few heads popped off, Do to over torqueing I'm thinking. Not much of a daily driver anymore as well.....
I've never heard of this being a problem. If people can be trusted, which sometimes they can't, to change there own tires, then this isn't really that much more complicated, and I'd argue, more secure than a regular old rim, plus your tire is going to go flat long before it throws the ring, if it starts coming loose it will just leak, it's not a split rim.
What am I missing? Isn't the reason they are not DOT approved is simply because DOT hasn't tested them? And DOT hasn't tested them because manufacturers haven't sent them off to DOT for testing, which costs $$$$.
The law doesn’t say that saw blades for wheels are illegal either. External bead lock rims are not intrinsically safe. Motorcycles have run internal bead lock for at least the last 4decades.
trophy trucks smash across the desert in excess of 130mph and the wheels, specifically the bead locks are not an issue. top fuel, smash a quarter mile in like 3-4 seconds, 300mph... bead locks not an issue. they are not intrinsically un safe i think thats what you meant to say.
@@g__wizz Top fuel gets rebuilt after 10seconds of use. Trophy trucks get rebuilt each day. These aren’t old mate in his shed with a gas axe making them himself and driving 20,000km without checking them
@@g__wizz After thinking about this, I’m betting you aren’t understanding the problem. Is it dot approved? Do you want cheap Chinese knockoffs being used as spare parts in passenger planes.
@@brucebaxter6923 i literally have trophy truck beadlocks on my truck. no dot number. dot number is only about paying the goverment and paying for testing/certification.
@@brucebaxter6923 do you even understand how much of car aftermarket is from china? even the rims on trophy trucks (McMillen's methods for example) are made in china. i dont think you understand what the problem is LOL.
Did I miss this in the video? My understanding is that a lot of tire shops won't touch beadlocks, which is another downside to running them. If you are on a long trip and need a repair or new tire, if most shops won't touch them, that would be a downside to using them on the road.
Just my opinion but they look to be safer because they are held in place by a mechanical means. But also would it not be better to run them on both the outside and inside of the wheel. Because the seal can still be broken on the inside and cause air pressure to be lost.
Beadlocks are considered a Split Rim,also know as Widow Makers,most states have done away with them on 18 Wheelers and different types of trailers,+ most NATIONAL Chain tire shops won't Touch Them for Any type of repairs !
I actually had both of my front Trail Ready beadlock wheels fail on the highway when half the bolts sheared off, but it was the same as getting a normal flat tire. It happened because Big O Tires over-torqued the bolts on my new Continental MPT 81 tires that have a really thick bead, and they didn't install spacers to compensate. It cost me $400 to replace the rock rings, but other than that it wasn't a near catastrophe or anything.
Because 30 torqued bolts are all gonna come loose and the tire is gonna blow off on the highway. Then what about the 5 little ones holding a wheel on???? Seems more means less of a chance of issues. And you could probably take half the bolts out and it would still hold air.
The lawyer BS I laughed so hard....if the case would be held against the beadlock by for the bolts used then that means that lug nuts or center hub locking rims shouldn’t be legal so cars in general would all be illegal. Legal jargon is so stupid
Another solution that's only slightly less of a pain and a bit more expensive is to keep two sets of wheels and tires. One set for daily driving and occasional or light trail use. Another set with beadlocks for dedicated trail use.
as a 25+ year automotive tech i've seen many many cars/trucks that shouldn't be on the road at all- and one thing that most all people are guilty of is regular maintenance, and there are certain people out there that shouldn't be allowed to hold wrenches...... traditional wheels with regular bead holding rings built in are fairly idiot proof. the problem for the manufacturers is lawyers and the power of the impact gun. almost no one is going to hand assemble and properly torque the wheels to assure even torquing and no overtorqing, so the manufacturers take the easy way out and just claim "not DOT approved". also, good designed wheel with a good bead retention ring built in can be almost as effective as a bead lock when aired down, my example was on my last rock crawler i ran some "Rock Crawler" steel rims by Pro-Comp. i never once had a bead come off even when aired down to 4psi. did plenty of rock crawling with never an issue.
NHTSA §571.120 no split rims are allowed on highway due to explosive potential and death. Bead locks are classified as a split rim as the rim may be removed or separate from the rim. Been a law since 1976. Hutchinsons beadlocks do not fall under this law as the bead is an integral part of the 3 piece wheel, not removable and not likely to separate itself under load. Beadlocks are legal in racing applications and have been for years as NHTSA has no jurisdiction over race vehicles as they are not for highway use. No one has spent the effort or time to correct the law as there is no money in it, and failures do not generally get noticed in an accident investigation as most investigators are not knowledgeable as to the functions of the modern day locks.
there isn't any federal laws against Beadlock Wheels being used on roads and the lawyers interpretations of bolts having to be tighten, checked or broken is false because Hutchinson Beadlocks can be used on roads and they have Bolts holding the wheels together, they just use a different style of a two piece wheel that holds both sides of the tire but it's still Bolts that need to be tighten and could be broken just like any other bolt.
@@regularperson7 Love them. Of course I've only had them down to 10 to 8 psi. But I've heard some people running them down to 5 psi. There light, and to be able to go that low, you can't beat the price. I have the 703's and really like the look.
One of the reasons they are illegal is the dynamics of an accident. By not being locked on the tires will go flat in many types of accidents and this is safer for the car to come to a stop and not bounce off of off road obstacles so much.
beadlock harken back to the semi bud wheel days... the old school spilt rims have a reputation of high failure rate and killing ppl at the same time...split rims are a big nono and shops will not work on them... they also might void tire warrenty.
safety sally side note..... for those that are running beadlocks or split rims. never stand infront of tire while airing up or down in case the bead ring fails. if possible always air up tire bead ring facing down or away from living things. historicly there is enough force when tire fails to take off body parts or kill. i can imagine a bolt snapping coould end up being a bullet.
Lots of people run non dot parts cheap headlights or lights/ bars for example, cheap rims might not even have the dot stamp. Don't get me wrong beadlocks on pavement is silly.
I'm more curious about how they are to balance. And if the bolts aren't perfectly alike how easy it is to screw up a balance. Once you unbolt and rebolt. Etc.
I’ve never seen a beedlock fail either ok or off road, but I’ve seen lots of wheels come off from Improper lug nut torque, the entire hub come off from the spindle nut coming undone. I’m with Steve polhill but I’ll raise you one better. Split rims are DOT approved, and those hood your bead in place with just one ring that’s hopefully sprung into place. I’ll trust my 32 grade 8 bolts over one ring any day of the week.
Not even up for debate. Been in 2 roll over as a result of tire pealing off bead then rim digging into dirt. Also running low psi makes popping a bead easy without bead-locks . Even on street , I wonder how many car accents are made worse when car loses control and tire peals off rim letting your rim scrape across asphalt .
Wait the bead lock is only on one bead? What good does that do? I guess the tire cannot spin on the rim, but it seems like both sides should be locked. I think the bead locks would be classified as split rims, and this outlawed in most places. Sure the design doesn't match the traditional split rim design, but some of the same reasons for banning them apply, though probably less so.
So what do you think the odds are that joe blows cheap Chinese hockey pucks have a blow out vs all of the bolts on one beadlock magically coming loose enough to cause a failure lol. I mean, the only thing holding your axle to the vehicle is "a few bolts" if we're being that arbitrary.
![fellow fellow - PROUD feat. INK WARUNTORN [STRING QUARTET]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BQrVkMPTdHE/mqdefault.jpg)
Get DOT Approved beadlocks here - bit.ly/3aDlspL
Look into the FMCSA, they have a section on Split Rims. This makes all two piece faced wheel illegal. They made Split Rims illegal back in the late 70s. Now you know, surprised lawyers couldn't come up with that 😂
@@Hanibul_Lecktor there's still split rims being run on school buses and some other local large trucks, I see those same trucks get on and off freeways, regardless of their legality.
@nutronik9 not here in the USA you don't, wouldn't pass the yearly inspection, all CMV go thru. They're 100% illegal on anything other than farm equipment, can't leave the zip code or 3 miles from registered address...So there's that factoid..
@nutronik9 you're thinking spilt hubs, not rims with the outer ring that comes off. Split hubs, basically bolt to the outer barrel, yeah 100% still in use. Apples to oranges..
@@Hanibul_Lecktor nope I'm thinking 2 and 3 piece split rims that have inner tubes. I used to work for Goodyear, the shop that worked on large tires for semis and other large format vehicles. I'm familiar enough with them. The outer ring is tensioned into place and, well, makes widows of they're not
As a 30 year ASE Master Technician, I find it comical that the Government/Lawyers trust 2 bolts to hold your Brake Calipers on, 3-4 bolts to hold your wheel bearing in place, and 5-6 to hold your entire wheel on, but don't trust 30 high strength bolts to hold your tire on.
I'm not sure it's a matter of trust as it is a matter of process. Just like the tires that go on the rims, all passenger tires require DOT testing and approval. I haven't seen any data showing me that beadlock rims have been DOT tested and failed. From what I can gather though manufacturers aren't sending off their rims for DOT testing. That costs $$$$. Let's not blame DOT, yet.
have you ever seen a beadlock that failed on the road?
They are projecting. They know that only 2-6 Government/Lawyers can be trusted more than 30 of them. 😂
@@steadyeddie7453 I blame the DOT. I blame them for existing at all.
Soo true! I love this comment 😅
I’ve ram them on the road for years never had a issue. It’s super nice that fake bead lock wheels are so common now a days I don’t think anyone would get stopped for real bead locks anyways
Wow, the reason that beadlock wheels are not DOT approved is that the manufacture does not/cannot pay to have them tested and certified. So they just claim, not DOT approved and sell the shit out of them.
while yes you can run them on the street. it would be an easy ticket per tire of non DOT approved tire. hence why many folks trailer their offroad equipment becasue a majority is not rated for onroad use. the concept is the same if you mod your brakes and you couldn't stop. you would be liable for the accident because it was not an approved part nor installed by a certified mechanic. just be aware that kinda stuff exists out there esp in the overland world.
@@blueelectricfusion When's the last time someone was held liable because a part wasn't installed by a mechanic that wasn't certified?
@@brianthompson9485 idk... ask a lawyer ^.^
I’ve had double bead lock wheels on my jeep for over 4 years now and I’ve never had a problem or failed an inspection in Texas. The jeep doesn’t spend a whole lot of time on the road but I normally drive it to where I’m using it and will occasionally just take it to the store if it’s been sitting too long.
Chances of a cop pulling you over for these rims is about 0%
Cops looks at them n says nice rig see ya!
It seems less likely that a bead-lock would lose the tire in a blow out than would a regular wheel. With so many bolts several coming loose would still leave plenty to hold the tire on. Bead-locks look from an engineering perspective safer than regular wheels.
it's funny that the military only runs beadlock rims
Military also fly F18s.. but really, ever pass a military convoy on the freeway? Of course you have. Those rigs don't go much faster than 60 mph flat out. DOT has to cover vehicles that go 75 mph plus. But yeah.. if you have a trail only rig.. maybe go as fast as 45-50 seldomly.. bead locks may be for you.
@@greggoett them driving that slow is more tire than wheel. Lots of motorsports use beadlocks and they go way faster than you ever will on a highway.
@@focusdrivenmedia3436 yeah.. Drag cars have been driving screws thru the rims into the beads since before we were born. No way a Funny Car is going to get down the strip without a bead lock.. but those bead locks are not the same. 1000 plus horse power. Vs say a Jeep with that anemic 3.8L v6..
@@WingWalker1 HMMWV wheels have a run-flat ring inside. This ring gets clamped between the two halves of the wheel thus creating a double bead lock. A lot of people remove this ring to save weight, and if this ring is removed, then you’re right, there is no bead lock.
The only vehicles I got operate in the military were 9 eyelet LPC's - used to run them both on and off road with just gutted 550 holding them in place
Have been running beadlocks on the street for twenty years now and no blow outs. I have had some bolts break due to fatigue, but no blowouts just slow leaks. Install the bolts with a torque wrench and recheck every so often, no problems.
I've been running beadlocks for a few years now on my daily driver and never had even the slightest of issues. I inspect them 2x a year when I swap my winters.
DIY beadlocks here...5" trailer rims with weld on rings, dirt track center sections (Speedway) gives me an effective 5.5"x15" ZERO b.s. wheel that runs 34x9.50 TSLs beautifully. Balancing by 1/2lb Daisy BBs in each wheel. Fantastic on the trail, and 70 mph on the highway with no commotion. YMMV
I'm currently looking into the KMC Grenade wheels for my rig. It's amazing how "illegal" my Jeep is in NY just thinking about it. Color halos, tires/wheels sticking out of the fender, window tints, off road lights not covered, no front plate (replaced with a Jurassic Park vanity plate)... etc. but thankfully a lot of it is overlooked by law enforcement and I haven't been pulled over *fingers crossed*.
How would this really be any different than split rims on a semi running at 120psi they fail and are held together by bolts?
These days semis dont run split rims and most tire pressures are 100-110 psi where you get your info from 1960's?
Split rims were outlawed years ago and are not legal for highway use.
@@supersportimpalass Are not legal for commercial highway use. See them on a lot of old trucks still on the road, just not commercial.
Also semi split rims are not held together with bolts, it's a lock ring!
its just cause the rim companies havent paid the dot for "testing" aka the goverment has not gotten its cut of the auto industry so its not allowed. every single production rim must go through a license process to get a dot number... stupid eh? or is it a scam? probably both, but with some relevant safety mixed in.
Kevin and Brittney built a beast with Step Child.
Wow all the comments on here and I didn’t see anyone mention the KMC beadlocks. They are great and there website says DOT APPROVED. They have been making wheels a long time with a great history of no issues
I'll keep using my double beadlock 24 bolt rims. Torque wrench is part of my on board tools :)
I have been using Hutchinson wheels on my 2010 rubicon and 2018 power wagon no issues other than paying more money to mount and balance that’s if you are unable too? these wheels are DOT approved and you have a wheel that could be taken apart with simple tools and little effort to change a tire with less effort than traditional wheels that mostly use tire mounting machines not saying that you can’t change manually can be done but very difficult. Airing down to low pressure holding a bead is also nice to have if needed to get out of a jam!
Regarding the part where you say, "no issues other than paying more money to mount and balance." (?) Are you saying you needed to pay to have someone to mount and balance your Hutchinson BLs or did you mean the opposite of this(?)
@@__WJK__ cost to balance for street use. The reason to buy is giving the opportunity to repair or replace a tire on the trail and ability to air down without breaking a bead. Thanks for asking
the bronco is sold with beadlocks and so is the 392 wrangler. so we are headed in the right direction.
So has the raptor, similar design to this. Aren't beadwork until you mount them so.
The Hutchinson double bead locked wheels on my H1 Hummer are DOT approved.
Military bead locks work differently than what is described here. I have an M985 HEMTT with 2 piece bolt together combat wheels that have an insert between the inner and outer beads that when the halves are assembled lock or pinch the beads against the wheels allowing low air pressure operation without the bead coming free. This effectively locks both beads where the wheels shown in this video only lock the outer bead.
@@68gt500man yes, that how the civilian version wheels on my H1 work as well.
The explanation given to me was this: There is a certain amount of tire deflection that is actually desirable during emergency situations. This deflection will disengage the contact patch from the pavement when extreme cornering forces are encountered, allowing the vehicle in question to slide as opposed to roll over. Statistical research indicates much better average outcomes for occupants of vehicles involved in crashes where the vehicle does not overturn. Does this affect my buying decision? No, it's a risk I'm prepared to accept.
Would be extremely interesting to see what the actual % deflection difference would be, between a set of beadlock mounted tires and traditional rim-mounted tires ... using identical sized and branded tires and two identical stock test vehicles(!) I also wonder, what % deflection we would see between an OEM recommended stock tire vs a bunch of same-sized, aftermarket tire options... tested on traditional rims(?) Would the % of deflection remain near identical across all brands...(?)...I suspect the % of deflection would not remain identical but "could" "maybe" "possibly" still produce the desired (safer) rate of deflection(?) Too bad testing something like this is so prohibitively challenging and expensive :(
Damn, a proper jeep in its natural habitat is something else
The beadlock system is so secure that Ford Raptor comes standard
You have to buy the bead ring they don’t come standard but also not dot approved
Bead is purchased and installed seperate .... same with the bronco.
@@AustinH7 good .. and Ford sells them and installs them .. they are part of its catalog of options. In other words, they are parts that come from the factory. and Argentina for example. If you want it, it comes standard. It is not an Extra since there is the option with Beadlock.
@@AustinH7 this video says they are not safe .. how does Ford offer add-ons that are not safe then?
Ford mechanic here. It's not an actual bead lock...
don't know how true it is but I've heard that bead locks are not approved because they started as a drag racing wheel and that the ministries involved didn't want to encourage street racing by approving them for mainstream use.
nope. its only cause it costs money to get a dot number. oems can pay it and factor it as a cost of business, some aftermarket rim company, not so much.
Laws to do not give you permission in the US. If there is not a law specifically prohibiting a specific action, then that action is perfectly legal to do.
Not necessarily. All wheels, just like all tires, lights etc. must be accompanied by a dot stamp. If the stamp is missing they can stop and prohibit you from driving off after you've been pulled over at their discretion. So while there may be no law specifically outlawing them, that really doesn't mean anything when addressing dot guidelines.
@@supersportimpalass yeah, not true. Off-road modifications that you use only off-road don't have to be DOT approved. So long as you're not messing with the normal things you use on the road like your headlights tail lights high beams blinkers tires and rims and any body mods, you're pretty much good. Also it varies state to state. Like in California they have a decibel law for mufflers and exhaust, I live in Texas there are no laws for how loud your vehicle can be when it comes to exhaust in fact everybody I know including myself have straight piped vehicles. As long as you don't mess with the catalytic converter which is a federal crime, in Texas you can do a lot of stuff you can't do in those blue States.
@@supersportimpalass there are no laws saying you must run DOT equipment
They make blue Locktite for a reason. Blue Locktite and checking the torque as part of weekly maintenance......No problems!
Once you have put Loctite on, it will change the torque specs, because more of the torque will be utilized in overcoming the Loctite as opposed to tightening the bolt. If the Loctite is still holding, the torque wrench (if set to the previous spec) shouldn't break it free. If it is loose (or breaks free when torque testing), then the threads on both the wheel and the bolt need to be cleaned thoroughly to remove the old Loctite, before it is torqued again.
Ironically, the DOT allows major manufacturers to run junk until too many complications or deaths occur. It's about $$$. Look back at the Firestone tires that failed on the Ford Exploder.
U got dat right.
I remember that, must've been twenty years ago. Was actually working at Firestone at the time. Saw for myself the cause was inner sidewall rubbing, on the park brake cable I think (it was so long ago). I do remember us all discussing it at work. Not a tire defect, but a clearance issue in those particular vehicles. I believe it was using the manufacturer recommended size, but the tires must have been slightly wider in that section, as tires do vary, and there was no allowable room for any more width. Ford's fault for not considering different than oem tires may be slightly different in actual dimensions? Firestone's fault for incorrectly sizing a tire? Don't know who to blame, I know Firestone did take the blame. I do know there was nothing inherently bad or destined to fail with either product, they just didn't fit together properly and it was overlooked on a massive scale, unfortunately.
I run them on my tundra now, I drive alot of well roads and I was having trouble with the stock rims getting dinged and getting slow leaks. No problems now. I just make sure the psi is good for the street.
I think you really understate how much heavier a bead lock rim is.
Let's be honest though. If your building an off-road rig, the weight of the wheels isn't your highest concern.
It’s unsprung weight. Just gear properly
@@brycemaggio6144 unsprung weight has the effect of 4 times sprung weight. Adding 25 lbs to the wheels is like 100 lbs to the chassis. Or 100/ 400.
Spinning that weight UP to speed requires more HP.. stopping requires bigger brakes.
Real Kmc beadlocks are 4lbs heavier than the fake beadlock Kmc wheels I have right now, not bad.
@@BUTTSBMX how much heavier than a non fake bead lock. A steel wagon wheel?
Same government that thinks steering a car with two hands that never cross is the greatest way to steer a vehicle ever lol
Bout time somebody said what I've been thinking 🤔
And 10-2 is the most effective
They are more secure than normal wheels
I used to run beadlocks on a daily driver, and they had an issue of bolt fatigue after about 300 miles. The heads of the bolts would start to pop off. Even tried running grade 9 bolts, still would pop off. When you figure the load cycles after 300 or so miles, it’s about 2,000,000. Depending on the design of the beadlock, there is a really good chance of getting a load cycle of each bolt on every rotation, since the rubber is sandwiched between the ring and rim. I suspect some designs get around this by having a metal to metal contact patch, which allows the bolt to only cycle once when being tightened. I bet if a company was to design and pay for dot testing, it could be done to get approved.
Your beads were too thick. You needed to shim the ring out to relieve the stress on the bolts.
I'm un-locking my beads to move to the inside and put the beauty rings on.
I have Mopar Bead lockable wheels, and have checked the torque often. Frankly , broken bolts can be a hassle. The Jeep dealer wanted $80.00 for three replacement bolts.. I walked away.. sayin NO WAY ! Anyhow, because I drive on paved roads more than dirt, I noticed some slippage due to braking on paved roads. The bead positioning looks off from one side to the other now from slippage on all four tires.. This tells me I'm pushing my luck. Better for me to have a second set of Wheels for off-roading or trailer my toy.
I have factory bead locks on my vehicle and with those tires, pass NYS inspection every year. If you can’t find a law banning them then they’re legal. Laws outlaw things not make them legal.
Looking to get a set of those, not a frequent visitor of the trail but the appearance factor of the beadlocks are great enough
This was helpful! The previous owner kept the beadlock wheels when they sold the rig to the dealership...makes me wonder why they wanted to run beadlock wheels instead of basic aftermarket ones! If they were going for a look...
The Military stopped allowing drivers and unit level mechanics to install new tires on the two and three piece rims as many were injured taking them apart without properly deflating them.
My Method beadlocks have been fantastic and no the rock ring doesn't randomly fly off on the freeway. I have checked the torque many times, only had one bolt that re-tightened.
Yep thats why I run 38's on Hutchinson Rock Monster's for my Rubicon JKU and love them.
Another reason could be that tires are designed that when a tire blows out, it goes out away from the vehicle instead of towards it causing more damage or loss of control. Beadlocks might prevent a safe blowout.
That makes no sense. How could you design a tire so that it goes away from the vehicle? How would the tire know which way to go if it's mounted backwards?
For the safety of other drivers wouldn't you want as much tire as possible to stay with the vehicle? And what is a "safe blowout"? If it's a blowout it's not safe unless handled correctly. If it just deflates or the tread separates then it's not a blowout.
imagine your entire wheel was just held on with bolts!
Hutchinson double bead lock rock monster wheels are DOT approved.
@@infiniteepoch8 And your point is? They're legal, you can purchase and use if you choose...Carli, Thuren, Land Cruiser, etc., are expensive but VERY worth it!
@@infiniteepoch8 I still don’t follow your logic, can you not set aside some money and buy them when you have enough saved? Their price doesn’t negate the fact that it’s still a road legal option.
I drove cross country recently from Miami up to Breckinridge, from there to Moab Utah, then down to Southern California. Driving all the way back to Miami. Lots of highway and hard off-roading. My WJ Grand CHEROKEE was running bead lock Dirt Life wheels with 37s. I always new that bead locks were not dot approved and required strict attention to torquing the ring. On my trip I brought my tools and a good torque wrench checking torque at every fuel stop. On the last leg of my trip entering the Florida pan handle I ran into problems with the bead locks. The bolts had fatigued(my best guess) and started failing and snapping the head off on the rear passenger tire. Luckily these wheels were designed to have a regular lip so I simply mounted the bead normally and kept in going. Coming into south Florida the front wheel began to suffer the same. Lesson learned. Bead locks should not be used for long highway miles
The proper way to check torque is by indexing the bolts and wheel with a marker. By constantly checking with a torque wrench you are tightening the bolts every time and twisting the head. Likely reason for the bolt failure.
That's one reason I'm un-locking my beads to move to the inside and put the beauty rings on instead of the functional. I have Mopar Bead lock wheels, and have checked the torque often. Frankly , broken bolts can be a hassle. The Jeep dealer wanted $80.00 for three replacement bolts.. I walked away.. sayin NO WAY ! Anyhow, because I drive on paved roads more than dirt, I noticed some slippage due to breaking on paved roads. The bead looks off from one side to the other now on all four tires..
Hutchinson Rock Monster wheels are DOT approved but they have a different, patented, beadlock design.
I was thinking the same thing!
Those are the way military bead lock wheels are and also made by Hutchinson. I have a set of 20"X10" on my M985 Oshkosh.
Seeing as how I’m on road 90% and off 10 I’ll just stay with regular rims with my daily driver pickup. Pulling trailers and hauling stuff in the bed is more important to me than me than the off road aspect.
I only air down to 20-24 and haven’t had issues yet with stock wheels. Even then I only do it in snow, sand and slick rock. Just going across the pastures and checking cattle and fencing I don’t air down because it’d be a pain and too difficult.
Now if I ever get a dedicated off roader I’ll get bead locks for sure. I gotta say the regular rims, y’all sell, with those grooves look intriguing however the expense isn’t justifiable at this point.
Always wondered why they weren’t “legal”
@Jay Sea no you dont. You can run whatever you want
I thought it was cuz bead locks can hit a spike strip and still turn or accelerate. Or jump curbs and loose the cops. I wish they were lighter and cheaper for my Tacoma cuz I’ve always wanted a set 👍
Look at “RRW HYBRID” you could run a bead lock or a protected ring pretty cool
I’ve never had a problem. I check the torque on the bolts and never had one back out.
i did have a cop pull me over once for a speeding violation and promptly slap me with a fix it ticket for my beadlocks. only time in 3 years a cop has said anything about them
I was told that why beadlocks are not approved by the dot because they increase the chance of rollover at highway speeds. If you go into a slide and go off the road if the tire rolls off of the bead it dampens the impact and lessens the change of grabbing and causing a roll. At least that’s what I was told when I was in fabrication school.
I need bead locks on my lawnmower.
I thought my hydraulics went out onetime I couldn't tell until my dad came to help me move the downed mower that the rim was spinning on a film of slime inside the tire.
I have to run too much pressure so that I can cross sidewalks and run sideways on steep hills.
If I get a puncture I automatically assume it's just not sealing at the rim and I waste time looking in the wrong place for the problem.
I've had several flats and inconveniences over the year's that would've been avoided by bead locks.
I wish someone would make what I need. Grasshopper 329b
Hutchinson Rock Monster wheels are DOT approved and are dual beadlocks
I was on the beach in long
Island running 15 psi. Before I got my foot AT tires. I went over a rock the wrong way that broke the bead on one
Of my tires. Thankfully I was able to give it some gas and rotate the rim enough to make good contact and get it to hold air. Had to do it a couple times to get off the beach. Never had an issue at street pressure.
My daughter wrecked her car. I know it’s a car but when she slid off the road into the ditch sideways she lost the bead on both tires on the left and the lost
All air and pushed back on the rims. If she had been in a truck with bead lock rims I wonder if the no five of the tires could have caused a roll over.
Just two of my experiences.
Ultimately Just like you noted that you cannot find any legal precedent as to the legality of a bead lock, this one is a mystery I would love to see resolved, If anyone could locate and Prove a illegality with citation to using them on road I would love to see it. But as it sits any infraction received and court proceeding surrounding bead lock would be a huge one, and cost the courts and the defendant a lot of time money and effort in the debate with the current state of how in the Grey it is. As I understand it car manufactures are not permitted to put non DOT approved equipment on a stock vehicle, but there is too much gray area for the aftermarket addition and no specifications I can locate in that market.
Been running beadlocks for over a year without issue. I check the torque on the bolts every other month
Like a responsible beadlock owner!
Lol all that info to plug dirty life wheels.
It’s so much easier to just have two sets of wheels and swap when trips come up. Also IMO if your rig is getting into situations where beedlocks are necessary? then it’s probably not the best street machine. And lastly thanks to all the fake beedlock wheels out there it’ll be hard for Pd or dot to tell real from fake.
The problem is, if you're part of an accident. the insurance company will inspect the rims and that's when things will get tricky
@@b0wen11 unless a wheel broke or fell off I doubt an insurance would even know what a beed lock is.
But yes I agree that if the wheel was to blame you’d be in a pickle
@@warrantydelete9122 Not sure if you have ever dealt with insurance companies, but they will find any issue they can to get out of paying to save their bottom line. "I doubt an insurance would even know what a beed lock is" you can be assured they know exactly what they are and will use that against you. I have taken insurance companies to court and they will use every trick in the book
So, the bead locks are held by bolts, and that's bad? Meanwhile, all wheels are held to the hub by either lug studs/nuts or lug bolts.
Yet, MR Govt trusts us simpletons to keep the only 4-8 lug bolts tight holding the whole wheel to the axle.
ikr + they trust ppl replacing steering components, swapping engines, transmissions & fuel tanks, etc...
It's not so much that there is any legislation to say bead-lock wheels are illegal on the road, as much as bead-lock wheels don't meet the standards for use on road which is what make them illegal.
Tire manufacturers spec their tires assuming they are fitted to a J-bead, which a bead-lock isn't so the tire load and speed ratings are invalid. Most bead-lock wheels don't have a load rating and there are very few manufacturers of bead-lock wheels willing to state in writing that they are purpose designed for use on the road. It's all verbal or vague wording so they can wriggle out of any claim resulting from an incident caused by using a bead-lock wheel on the road.
Bead-lock wheels should not be used on the road for a multitude of reasons, some of the concerns are
• With a bead-lock wheel, if the ring detaches the tire bead is no longer contained within the rim and so it is far more likely to detach from the rim.
• The bolts that hold the locking ring can come loose. This could be for a combination of reasons - insufficient metal to metal clamping, tire bead contraction, insufficient thread engagement, excessive vibration.
• The number of bolts can vary from 36 (every 10 degrees of circumference) down to 24 or even less. The fewer bolts the higher the stress on each one and the higher risk that if some become loose it will cause a failure.
• The additional locking ring can introduce additional leak paths, especially if the bolts extend to the air chamber inside the tire. The extra potential for tire deflation increases the safety risk.
• A bead-locked tire is not free to move on the rim and there are reports that this can cause cracking and cutting of the tire near the rim.
• Tire walls vary in thickness and may result in irregular clamping. Spacers may be required for thicker sidewalls, adding complexity and risk of improper assembly.
At the end of the day, it is far more sensible to have a set of on-road tires fitted to conventional wheels and a second set of aggressive off-road tires on bead-lock wheels which you can change these on the side of the road in half an hour. Not only is this safer, but it prevents having to use an on/off-road tire that are less than ideal either on or off road.
I am using Raceline. 3 yrs no major issues. After install a few heads popped off, Do to over torqueing I'm thinking. Not much of a daily driver anymore as well.....
I've never heard of this being a problem. If people can be trusted, which sometimes they can't, to change there own tires, then this isn't really that much more complicated, and I'd argue, more secure than a regular old rim, plus your tire is going to go flat long before it throws the ring, if it starts coming loose it will just leak, it's not a split rim.
What am I missing? Isn't the reason they are not DOT approved is simply because DOT hasn't tested them? And DOT hasn't tested them because manufacturers haven't sent them off to DOT for testing, which costs $$$$.
The law doesn’t say that saw blades for wheels are illegal either.
External bead lock rims are not intrinsically safe.
Motorcycles have run internal bead lock for at least the last 4decades.
trophy trucks smash across the desert in excess of 130mph and the wheels, specifically the bead locks are not an issue.
top fuel, smash a quarter mile in like 3-4 seconds, 300mph... bead locks not an issue.
they are not intrinsically un safe i think thats what you meant to say.
@@g__wizz
Top fuel gets rebuilt after 10seconds of use.
Trophy trucks get rebuilt each day.
These aren’t old mate in his shed with a gas axe making them himself and driving 20,000km without checking them
@@g__wizz
After thinking about this, I’m betting you aren’t understanding the problem.
Is it dot approved?
Do you want cheap Chinese knockoffs being used as spare parts in passenger planes.
@@brucebaxter6923 i literally have trophy truck beadlocks on my truck. no dot number. dot number is only about paying the goverment and paying for testing/certification.
@@brucebaxter6923 do you even understand how much of car aftermarket is from china?
even the rims on trophy trucks (McMillen's methods for example) are made in china.
i dont think you understand what the problem is LOL.
"beadlocks are not legal for street use, but we can't prove it"... hilarious!
I've never had an issue with any of my non-beadlock wheels and 15 - 18 lbs of pressure off-road.
I can run low as 8-12 in the snow on my skinny stock steelies, or "poor man's beadlocks".
Hutchinson rock monsters are dot approved pricey as hell though
Also are unfortunately not available in many designs and are limited to select blot patterns
I specifically chose Hutchinson Rock Monsters for being DOT approved and they are military spec designed for longevity.
Did I miss this in the video? My understanding is that a lot of tire shops won't touch beadlocks, which is another downside to running them. If you are on a long trip and need a repair or new tire, if most shops won't touch them, that would be a downside to using them on the road.
Just my opinion but they look to be safer because they are held in place by a mechanical means. But also would it not be better to run them on both the outside and inside of the wheel. Because the seal can still be broken on the inside and cause air pressure to be lost.
Beadlocks are considered a Split Rim,also know as Widow Makers,most states have done away with them on 18 Wheelers and different types of trailers,+ most NATIONAL Chain tire shops won't Touch Them for Any type of repairs !
I actually had both of my front Trail Ready beadlock wheels fail on the highway when half the bolts sheared off, but it was the same as getting a normal flat tire. It happened because Big O Tires over-torqued the bolts on my new Continental MPT 81 tires that have a really thick bead, and they didn't install spacers to compensate. It cost me $400 to replace the rock rings, but other than that it wasn't a near catastrophe or anything.
Because 30 torqued bolts are all gonna come loose and the tire is gonna blow off on the highway. Then what about the 5 little ones holding a wheel on???? Seems more means less of a chance of issues. And you could probably take half the bolts out and it would still hold air.
The lawyer BS I laughed so hard....if the case would be held against the beadlock by for the bolts used then that means that lug nuts or center hub locking rims shouldn’t be legal so cars in general would all be illegal.
Legal jargon is so stupid
Great info !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THX
Glad it was helpful!
I've heard if your tires are bias ply you might want to run beed lockers. I'm assuming it falls into your first point about running ultra low psi's
If the inside isn't locked, aren't you just making it half better?
How about the Ford Bronco or the Ram Power Wagon 75th Anniversary edition?
18 wheelers were once split rims, which is sorta the same technology.
No completely different.
My Method rims look exactly like the beadlock rims and never ever have I faced any scrutiny other than people saying "nice rig"
Another solution that's only slightly less of a pain and a bit more expensive is to keep two sets of wheels and tires. One set for daily driving and occasional or light trail use. Another set with beadlocks for dedicated trail use.
Does increased flexibility effect strength at high rotational speeds ?? Lower pressure increases friction and therefore increases fuel consumption ??
as a 25+ year automotive tech i've seen many many cars/trucks that shouldn't be on the road at all- and one thing that most all people are guilty of is regular maintenance, and there are certain people out there that shouldn't be allowed to hold wrenches...... traditional wheels with regular bead holding rings built in are fairly idiot proof. the problem for the manufacturers is lawyers and the power of the impact gun. almost no one is going to hand assemble and properly torque the wheels to assure even torquing and no overtorqing, so the manufacturers take the easy way out and just claim "not DOT approved". also, good designed wheel with a good bead retention ring built in can be almost as effective as a bead lock when aired down, my example was on my last rock crawler i ran some "Rock Crawler" steel rims by Pro-Comp. i never once had a bead come off even when aired down to 4psi. did plenty of rock crawling with never an issue.
NHTSA §571.120 no split rims are allowed on highway due to explosive potential and death. Bead locks are classified as a split rim as the rim may be removed or separate from the rim. Been a law since 1976. Hutchinsons beadlocks do not fall under this law as the bead is an integral part of the 3 piece wheel, not removable and not likely to separate itself under load. Beadlocks are legal in racing applications and have been for years as NHTSA has no jurisdiction over race vehicles as they are not for highway use. No one has spent the effort or time to correct the law as there is no money in it, and failures do not generally get noticed in an accident investigation as most investigators are not knowledgeable as to the functions of the modern day locks.
there isn't any federal laws against Beadlock Wheels being used on roads
and the lawyers interpretations of bolts having to be tighten, checked or broken is false because Hutchinson Beadlocks can be used on roads and they have Bolts holding the wheels together, they just use a different style of a two piece wheel that holds both sides of the tire but it's still Bolts that need to be tighten and could be broken just like any other bolt.
Then of course you could just get the method bead grip technology wheels and have the best of both applications
That's what I'm currently running.
@@corksauve4949 how do you like them?
@@regularperson7 Love them. Of course I've only had them down to 10 to 8 psi. But I've heard some people running them down to 5 psi. There light, and to be able to go that low, you can't beat the price. I have the 703's and really like the look.
What's the most you can safely air down to with non beadlock wheels?
One of the reasons they are illegal is the dynamics of an accident. By not being locked on the tires will go flat in many types of accidents and this is safer for the car to come to a stop and not bounce off of off road obstacles so much.
They are not illegal. Did you watch the video?
Sorry. Not legal for highway use.
@@freeze4777 they are legal to do whatever you want with them. There isnt a single law restricting you from having beadlocks
You can also purchase the true DOT-approved dual beadlock wheel, Rock Monster wheels!
beadlock harken back to the semi bud wheel days... the old school spilt rims have a reputation of high failure rate and killing ppl at the same time...split rims are a big nono and shops will not work on them... they also might void tire warrenty.
safety sally side note..... for those that are running beadlocks or split rims. never stand infront of tire while airing up or down in case the bead ring fails. if possible always air up tire bead ring facing down or away from living things. historicly there is enough force when tire fails to take off body parts or kill. i can imagine a bolt snapping coould end up being a bullet.
Lots of people run non dot parts cheap headlights or lights/ bars for example, cheap rims might not even have the dot stamp. Don't get me wrong beadlocks on pavement is silly.
I'm more curious about how they are to balance. And if the bolts aren't perfectly alike how easy it is to screw up a balance. Once you unbolt and rebolt. Etc.
I have never used beadlock wheels, and i can still wheel the way i like with a little caution.
But you can't wheel the way other people like..
I’ve never seen a beedlock fail either ok or off road, but I’ve seen lots of wheels come off from Improper lug nut torque, the entire hub come off from the spindle nut coming undone. I’m with Steve polhill but I’ll raise you one better. Split rims are DOT approved, and those hood your bead in place with just one ring that’s hopefully sprung into place. I’ll trust my 32 grade 8 bolts over one ring any day of the week.
Not even up for debate. Been in 2 roll over as a result of tire pealing off bead then rim digging into dirt. Also running low psi makes popping a bead easy without bead-locks . Even on street , I wonder how many car accents are made worse when car loses control and tire peals off rim letting your rim scrape across asphalt .
Beadlock are the best i see and everywhere even on road
Wait the bead lock is only on one bead? What good does that do? I guess the tire cannot spin on the rim, but it seems like both sides should be locked.
I think the bead locks would be classified as split rims, and this outlawed in most places. Sure the design doesn't match the traditional split rim design, but some of the same reasons for banning them apply, though probably less so.
love my beadlocks
Same with the 4/5 point seat belts. Not DOT approved. Cop told me , but agreed they are better. No ticket.. just the spiel and some car guy bs ing. 🙂😃
Another fully legal on and off road beadlock is the coyote enterprises no bolt bead
There are a few brand that are dot approved
So what do you think the odds are that joe blows cheap Chinese hockey pucks have a blow out vs all of the bolts on one beadlock magically coming loose enough to cause a failure lol. I mean, the only thing holding your axle to the vehicle is "a few bolts" if we're being that arbitrary.
Simple solution to the problem, simplify the laws, get rid of the Latin so people can understand them, then stand all the lawyers up against the wall.