JEEP TECH : How to Install ATX Slab Bead Lock Wheels Video w/ Off Road Evolution

Linebacker

Caught the Bug
Great instructional vid. I've used bubble balancers for motorcycles and cars with excellent results. Some of us live in areas where the local shops are far away or won't touch beadlocks with large off road tires. Is this a viable option for a garage operation? It looks a little wimpy.:thinking:
 

Showroom

New member
I've been considering purchasing these. Do bead locks balance as well as regular rims? Do they have to be balanced more often?
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I've been considering purchasing these. Do bead locks balance as well as regular rims? Do they have to be balanced more often?

The balance the same because they are in effect, the same thing as a regular wheel once assembled.
 

BlackKnight

Member
One thing to remember, they tend to have a lot bigger tires on them than a normal road tire. I would think that not many shops will be able to balance them as the modern spin balancers probably wont fit them verry well. You may need to rely on the "old Fashioned" bubble balancers...
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
One thing to remember, they tend to have a lot bigger tires on them than a normal road tire. I would think that not many shops will be able to balance them as the modern spin balancers probably wont fit them verry well. You may need to rely on the "old Fashioned" bubble balancers...

Discount tire will road force balance them. They are really no different then any other wheel.
 

Holeshot

Banned
One thing to remember, they tend to have a lot bigger tires on them than a normal road tire. I would think that not many shops will be able to balance them as the modern spin balancers probably wont fit them verry well. You may need to rely on the "old Fashioned" bubble balancers...

The one we have at the shop, can take up to 44" tires and it is brand new, we had it a couple weeks ago. But costs around 10-11 000$ :eek:
 

BlackKnight

Member
All the tire shops near to me only have the standard "spinner" balancing equipment, I've only seen one that would take a wheel/tire bigger than a 35" and he mentioned it topped of at a 37/38. Any bigger an it would hit the cowl, it wwas at a shop that only did tires, and usually SUV/truck tires..
 

kleinrider

New member
I've been considering purchasing these. Do bead locks balance as well as regular rims? Do they have to be balanced more often?

The only except to bead locks balancing well is with the homemade weld on type. I have yet to meet anybody running them (not that I've a ton) who didn't have issues with balancing them. They generally don't care because they trailer their rigs to the trails.
 

StrizzyChris

New member
So two questions

Since I have a procal AND have my tpms disabled, there's no need to transfer the sensors over in my 2013 JK right? Don't want some dash light going crazy on me and have to redo the whole process. I'm planning on using the traditional basic rubber valve stem.

#2- the torque settings are 20-24ft pounds for atx slabs specifically? I saw that at the end of the OP but wanted to triple verify. Thanks!
 

sc_rhino

Member
You are correct on both questions. I used the valve stems that came with my slabs and torqued them to 22 ft-lb.
 

tscastello

New member
Awesome video, I wonder if bead lock wheels are safe for a daily driver or if they are best only used at low speeds while off road only.

Sent from my SM-G900T using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Awesome video, I wonder if bead lock wheels are safe for a daily driver or if they are best only used at low speeds while off road only.

Sent from my SM-G900T using WAYALIFE mobile app

tons of people and even myself personally run them on our DD. no issues at all from wayalife running them or any others to date
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
tons of people and even myself personally run them on our DD. no issues at all from wayalife running them or any others to date

I literally have about 100,000 miles on my white JK running bead locks. I have about 70,000 miles on our Dozer JK running bead locks and had about 45,000 on our old Sunburst Orange JK. No issues, no problems. Granted, I run ATX Slabs (PS Sypderlocks before but they are the same thing). The Sunburst had Walkers and while I didn't have any issues with mine, I have seen some break bolts. Most all the lesser bead locks out there suffer the same problem.
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
I literally have about 100,000 miles on my white JK running bead locks. I have about 70,000 miles on our Dozer JK running bead locks and had about 45,000 on our old Sunburst Orange JK. No issues, no problems. Granted, I run ATX Slabs (PS Sypderlocks before but they are the same thing). The Sunburst had Walkers and while I didn't have any issues with mine, I have seen some break bolts. Most all the lesser bead locks out there suffer the same problem.

and all of those miles and abuse is one of the main reasons i got my ATX chamber pros!
 

dyn0mitemat

Member
Figured I'd add onto this thread rather than start another...

I picked up a set of atx slabs off of Northridge and got a set of 37" Baja MTZ's for them. I'm waiting on the 4 tires right now, but I did pick up a tire on craigslist for a spare and got it mounted EXACTLY like the video says. I went through and watched the video a few times now and did them just like Mel instructed.

The spare tire I've mounted so far is an old style goodyear mtr (37/12.50/17), everything seems to be good, I'm positive the tire went on the wheel correctly under the beadlock ring.

My question is, I've seen some people mention that when properly installed the rings mount 'metal to metal' to the wheel when the bolts are torqued down, implying that they'll contact the wheel when they're properly set. I torqued the ring down in a few stages, going around criss-cross like you should. If I stick my head in the wheel and look behind the ring I see that there's a small 1/16" - 1/8" gap between the beadlock ring and the wheel evenly around the whole wheel.

I torqued everything down to 20ft.lb until all the bolts quit moving when you goto torque them and noticed this small gap. I increased the torque upto 22.5ft.lb and then 25ft.lb. The gap did close up, but there's still a very very small gap where the ring is not sitting on the wheel face.

Everythings in place like it should be, and if it wern't for reading a few posts on here saying the ring should be sitting metal to metal on the wheel face I wouldn't have questioned it (I've mounted 37nittos on trailgear beadlocks, and a set on racelines with no prob). Wheel aired up and balanced fine. Am I good to go with the other 4 when they get here?
Thanks in advance.
 

sassmouth

Member
Figured I'd add onto this thread rather than start another...

I picked up a set of atx slabs off of Northridge and got a set of 37" Baja MTZ's for them. I'm waiting on the 4 tires right now, but I did pick up a tire on craigslist for a spare and got it mounted EXACTLY like the video says. I went through and watched the video a few times now and did them just like Mel instructed.

The spare tire I've mounted so far is an old style goodyear mtr (37/12.50/17), everything seems to be good, I'm positive the tire went on the wheel correctly under the beadlock ring.

My question is, I've seen some people mention that when properly installed the rings mount 'metal to metal' to the wheel when the bolts are torqued down, implying that they'll contact the wheel when they're properly set. I torqued the ring down in a few stages, going around criss-cross like you should. If I stick my head in the wheel and look behind the ring I see that there's a small 1/16" - 1/8" gap between the beadlock ring and the wheel evenly around the whole wheel.

I torqued everything down to 20ft.lb until all the bolts quit moving when you goto torque them and noticed this small gap. I increased the torque upto 22.5ft.lb and then 25ft.lb. The gap did close up, but there's still a very very small gap where the ring is not sitting on the wheel face.

Everythings in place like it should be, and if it wern't for reading a few posts on here saying the ring should be sitting metal to metal on the wheel face I wouldn't have questioned it (I've mounted 37nittos on trailgear beadlocks, and a set on racelines with no prob). Wheel aired up and balanced fine. Am I good to go with the other 4 when they get here?
Thanks in advance.

Metal on metal contact may happen but I would think that it matters on the tire being mounted. In my case with ATX slabs and 35" Nitto trail grapplers I have a small, consistent gap between the outer ring and the wheel.

2015-06-02 12.29.28.jpg

As long as the tire was mounted such that the bead is evenly set in the wheel prior to torquing I would think that you would be fine. As long as you have provided the specified torque on all of the ring bolts, then the correct amount of pressure would be applied to the tire to keep it seated.
 
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