Beadlocker kit

[Tear it up]

Is THIS the poor mans version or is this really how it's done? Don't know too much about beadlockers, but thought you did more than cut your rims and weld these on?

[ste clark]

Is THIS the poor mans version or is this really how it's done? Don't know too much about beadlockers, but thought you did more than cut your rims and weld these on?

fork that... welding rims is a job for a pro.. heat twists things and an air tight weld is a bloody good one!! dont think in will be buying one of these kits!!

[jil6939]

Is THIS the poor mans version or is this really how it's done? Don't know too much about beadlockers, but thought you did more than cut your rims and weld these on?

This is one of the ways it can be done but you don't cut your wheels. One of the rings is welded to the outside of your existing wheel rim. The tyre is then sandwiched between the new ring you have just welded on and a second ring by bolting the two together. You wheel then ends up about one inch wider than when you started. Mine were supplied and fitted by gwyn lewis to my mach 5 wheels but i dont use the vehicle on the road.If you want some to use on the road i should buy a set of wheel that are made with locks as standard as i wouldn't imagine a 35 simex and all that extra metal would balance very well. (don't know i never bother balancing for what i do).Hope that helps and is clear enough.

[robhybrid]

This style of kit is used by a lot of off road competitors, the Americans have been doing this for years.

Two of my wheels are bead locked like this done by myself.

I drew up the bead locks and sent the drawing off to a laser cutting firm via Gwyn Lewis.

This type of kit effectively increases the rim width outwards by 1"

I have not heard of welding for this type of bead lock noticeably distorting the wheel.

If you are capable of using a mig welder and grinder fitting is not technical or difficult.

Fitting the tyre is a slow job though (loads of nuts and bolts to do up evenly).

The inside rim is not bead locked though (usually not a problem).

Having all this extra steel on the outside of the rim does make the wheel reassuringly tough.(ideal for challenge use)

I would not recommend using these as an every day road use wheel rim and would not like to comment on their type approval/road worthiness regs.

my rear wheels are stayn type tube bead locked and I would not recommend them for challenge style use.

[Mark]

Why wouldn't you reckomend the stauns for challenge use rob? is it just the vulnerability of the valves, or something else?

Mark

[saley]

If you want a set of ring like those i can supply them for £180 for 10

or send me your wheels and I will weld them in for £25 a wheel

[robhybrid]

Why wouldn't you reckomend the stauns for challenge use rob? is it just the vulnerability of the valves, or something else?

Mark

Valve vulnerability is relatively easily fixed by welding on either a small hoop of steel or piece of tube.

My personal opinions for not using stauns for challenge use are:-

The tyre is held against your standard rim by an inner tube that is constrained from moving up and into the tyre void by a webbing type band.

This means that it is only air pressure (60psi in my case) that is holding the tyre against the rim.

When you are pushing hard slowly against the sidewalls (winching sideways) dirt pushes in between the tyre and sidewall, the tyre then goes flat,(admittedly slowly but irritating.)

If the staun is not fitted correctly (they can be very difficult to fit) the tyre becomes very difficult to set to your desired pressure.

This type of bead lock does nothing to improve the strength of the wheel rim either. (wheel rims need to be strong on challenge vehicles when running at lower pressures due to the increased risk of the rim coming into contact with rocks and hard surfaces)

I do think that stauns are however great if you do not want to drastically modify your wheels (eg alloys) or if you regularly use your wheels on the road and only occasional need bead lock type protection.

I would think that rock crawling large relatively clean boulders in America with huge tyres has less chance of dirt pushing in past the bead.

[plasticbadger]

Having fitted a set of DIY beadlock rings similar to the off road armoury ones I have a few comments.

Try Saley, who posted above or Gary Andrews on here (who I got mine from) for a set of DIY rings. Don't forget to add the cost of bolts, some form of fan belt seal and painting on to the cost when looking at alternatives. It's still cheap though, my Landcruiser steels cost about £85 each complete this route, including A4 stainless hardware, bead blasting and powder coating.

The advantages of this system is it gives you a nice wide, deep off set wheel from you exsiting wheel, it reinforces the outside edge of the wheel rim, it protects the valve and it completely locks the outer tyre bead onto the rim (with 16 or 32 bolts at 15lb/ft, rather than a bag at 60psi, like a Staun).

As for the air tight weld, you only need a decent machine and 'good' welding, not a fully professional job. I used a 130 amp Clarke mig for 2 wheels, and one leaked. I then changed to a 220 amp Sealey mig and the 3 remaining wheels had no problems. You'll be welding 6mm steel plate on to 6 to 8mm steel wheels, so you don't need to take it too slowly to ensure no distortion. I just welded 1 inch, then turned the wheel through 90 degrees and welded another inch, and so on.

Technically I believe these 'fabricated' wheels are not road legal, but that said most large competition off road tyres are technically illegal on a landrover due to their low speed rating anyway (Simex extreme trekkers are 'L' rated to only 75mph, and all Landrovers can technically do over 75mph). My wheels fitted with 37" super swampers are nicely balanced and run at 70mph without a problem.