Wear & Tear Running Beadlocks

Pursesnatcher

Pursesnatcher

New member
Hello all

I have a stock 2016 JK Sport S that I'm lifting this January. Currently gathering parts to do a 3.5in setup on 35's. This is my daily, currently doing around 300mi of commuting a week (about to go down to 100 mi a week in 2017). I've had a set of 17x9 Method alloys on my build list, but I had a buddy who built a rock crawler that is parting out his ATX Slabs. He's willing to give me a good deal, by good I mean $1100 for the set of 5.

I have a few thoughts.

Part of me wants to pick these up because they're such a good deal... they're literally cheaper than buying a new set of alloys. However here are some hesitations I have:

1. Wear & Tear
-How much should I be worried about these having long term affects on my axels? Since I'll have the standard D30/D44 Sport S axels for a while, will this increase the chances of things breaking? I do plan to install an EVO C Gusset kit and doing a 4.88 re-gear with my build.

2. Fuel Mileage
-I know, we don't buy our Jeeps for gas mileage. But has anyone noticed a significant drop after going from a standard alloy to a bead lock?

3. Do I really NEED them?
-I have been running my stock setup on a farm on the weekends to go out to a shooting range, very light trails and easy field runs for the most part... but once I get lifted, I do plan to get into more technical trails. I just love the look of a bead lock, and for the price... this could be very hard to pass up.

My build plans, for reference
Phase 1

  • JKS JSPEC 3.5in

  • JKS Drag Link Flip

  • EVO C Gusset Kit

  • Method Vex 17x9/Walker Evans Streetlock 17x8.5 OR ATX Slabs 17x9

  • Nitto Ridge Grappler 35x12.50R17

  • 4.88 Re-gear

  • Programmer
Phase 2

  • Tom Woods F/R Drive Shafts

  • LoD Stubby F/R bumpers

  • Exhaust

Thanks in advance!
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
You aren't going to get any more wear and tear just from running bead locks. If you're not airing down real low and playing on tough terrain, they are far from being anything that you "need". Other than installing the rings, their biggest downside is that a lot of tire shops won't want to work on or even balance them. If you have a shop that will work on them and if the price is right for you, you may want to consider them if only because they are nice to have.
 
Draconianwinter

Draconianwinter

New member
Nice looking list of parts. As far as the beadlock wheels go, if they are in good shape get them but keep in mind you do have check torque on them every so often and after you wheel. That's really the only down side to them I have seen. As for the Tom Wood's drive shafts, I was looking at those at one point as well. Eddie spoke up to let me know that the u joints are crap and tend to have issues breaking. Made in China. And for the price I would think save a little more and go with either Adam's or reel shafts. Not heard anyone complain about them at all. Anything will break of you wheel hard enough and as for wear and tear the atx slabs will put a little more pressure on the axles due to being set further out so definitely keep that in mind. Now do you need beadlock wheels? Nope not really. You can do some seriously hard wheeling with standard wheels just won't be able to air down as much as you can with beadlocks. On that issue though it will be 6 one and 1/2 a dozen the other.

Sent from my SM-N920V using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
GraniteCrystal

GraniteCrystal

New member
I've wrestled with this myself. I don't think it's worth it for me. I hear of guys on here going down to 12psi or so without bead locks and I don't see myself wheeling hard enough to go below that. I'd rather put the money toward reinforcing another part of the Jeep and not have to deal with the hassle of retorquing bolts monthly or shops that won't work on my wheels.

In terms of driveshafts, talk to Trail Jeeps before ordering the Tom Woods ones. I assume you're ordering thru them since you're here in Denver?

Also, I started a thread for the JSpec lift which you may find interesting as you prepare to purchase/install that.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=41375

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?p=621404
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I'm gonna second the advice on skipping the Tom Woods shafts. If you insist on getting them, make sure you pay to have the u-joints upgraded to Neapco or Spicer. The China made "gold seal" joints that Tom likes to use standard are junk and I have seen them fail time and time again over a whole lot of nothing.
 
Pursesnatcher

Pursesnatcher

New member
wayoflife said:
You aren't going to get any more wear and tear just from running bead locks. If you're not airing down real low and playing on tough terrain, they are far from being anything that you "need". Other than installing the rings, their biggest downside is that a lot of tire shops won't want to work on or even balance them. If you have a shop that will work on them and if the price is right for you, you may want to consider them if only because they are nice to have.
Click to expand...

GraniteCrystal said:
I've wrestled with this myself. I don't think it's worth it for me. I hear of guys on here going down to 12psi or so without bead locks and I don't see myself wheeling hard enough to go below that. I'd rather put the money toward reinforcing another part of the Jeep and not have to deal with the hassle of retorquing bolts monthly or shops that won't work on my wheels.

In terms of driveshafts, talk to Trail Jeeps before ordering the Tom Woods ones. I assume you're ordering thru them since you're here in Denver?

Also, I started a thread for the JSpec lift which you may find interesting as you prepare to purchase/install that.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=41375

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?p=621404
Click to expand...

I see - so it's sounding like there is a lot of maintenance associated with running these.

Thank you for sharing that link, I'll sub to that thread and keep my eyes pealed. And yes, I'm relocating back to Denver soon. I planned on using Trail Jeeps for my re-gear. I will be doing the rest of the install my self! I've been meaning to give them a call to see what they would charge for the install, while I'm on the phone I'll have to bring up bead lock maintenance.

Draconianwinter said:
Nice looking list of parts. As far as the beadlock wheels go, if they are in good shape get them but keep in mind you do have check torque on them every so often and after you wheel. That's really the only down side to them I have seen. As for the Tom Wood's drive shafts, I was looking at those at one point as well. Eddie spoke up to let me know that the u joints are crap and tend to have issues breaking. Made in China. And for the price I would think save a little more and go with either Adam's or reel shafts. Not heard anyone complain about them at all. Anything will break of you wheel hard enough and as for wear and tear the atx slabs will put a little more pressure on the axles due to being set further out so definitely keep that in mind. Now do you need beadlock wheels? Nope not really. You can do some seriously hard wheeling with standard wheels just won't be able to air down as much as you can with beadlocks. On that issue though it will be 6 one and 1/2 a dozen the other.

Sent from my SM-N920V using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

wayoflife said:
I'm gonna second the advice on skipping the Tom Woods shafts. If you insist on getting them, make sure you pay to have the u-joints upgraded to Neapco or Spicer. The China made "gold seal" joints that Tom likes to use standard are junk and I have seen them fail time and time again over a whole lot of nothing.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the feedback on the Tom Woods drive shafts - I had no idea!
 
GraniteCrystal

GraniteCrystal

New member
Pursesnatcher said:
I see - so it's sounding like there is a lot of maintenance associated with running these.

Thank you for sharing that link, I'll sub to that thread and keep my eyes pealed. And yes, I'm relocating back to Denver soon. I planned on using Trail Jeeps for my re-gear. I will be doing the rest of the install my self! I've been meaning to give them a call to see what they would charge for the install, while I'm on the phone I'll have to bring up bead lock maintenance.





Thank you for the feedback on the Tom Woods drive shafts - I had no idea!
Click to expand...
Gears installed are $1000 at Trail Jeeps. I'll be installing my JSpec myself as well in the next week or so, so let me know if you have questions when you do yours.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?p=621404
 
Ddays

Ddays

Hooked
Pursesnatcher said:
I see - so it's sounding like there is a lot of maintenance associated with running these.

Thank you for sharing that link, I'll sub to that thread and keep my eyes pealed. And yes, I'm relocating back to Denver soon. I planned on using Trail Jeeps for my re-gear. I will be doing the rest of the install my self! I've been meaning to give them a call to see what they would charge for the install, while I'm on the phone I'll have to bring up bead lock maintenance.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that beadlocks require 'a lot of maintenance' as you state. Do they need checked regularly? Yes, but checking the bolts with a torque wrench only takes an extra few minutes at each oil change. As stated, I've run into shops not wanting to balance mine but honestly I'm borderline even needing it done.

One thing to note is that if you're going to purchase tires from Trail Jeeps, they may work you a deal on mounting and balancing them? Not speaking for them but never hurts to ask!
 
swampdog

swampdog

New member
Ddays said:
I wouldn't say that beadlocks require 'a lot of maintenance' as you state. Do they need checked regularly? Yes, but checking the bolts with a torque wrench only takes an extra few minutes at each oil change. As stated, I've run into shops not wanting to balance mine but honestly I'm borderline even needing it done.
Click to expand...

^^^^This. It's a breeze to keep the torqued. The only time I realized beadlocks were a pain in the dick is when I noticed a couple of cuts in the sidewalls of a tire. I couldn't just bring it to a shop and have them swap a new tire on. I would have had to take off the wheel with the cut tire, put the spare on (carry a full size, its foolish not to), break the tire down off the wheel, drive to the shop to get a new tire, bring said tire home, remount new tire on beadlock, then swap the spare to the back. It would have turned a 20 minute issue into a full day ordeal.....

That being said, airing them down to 8psi and the extra traction was THE TITS. I would do it again in a heartbeat, haha.
 
cozdude

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Ddays said:
I wouldn't say that beadlocks require 'a lot of maintenance' as you state. Do they need checked regularly? Yes, but checking the bolts with a torque wrench only takes an extra few minutes at each oil change. As stated, I've run into shops not wanting to balance mine but honestly I'm borderline even needing it done.

One thing to note is that if you're going to purchase tires from Trail Jeeps, they may work you a deal on mounting and balancing them? Not speaking for them but never hurts to ask!
Click to expand...

Hell I almost never check my torque on them. Maybe every other tire rotation/oil change or if that. I know I haven't checked mine since I got back from Moab in the spring.

As for balancing yea it can be hard to find a shop to do it but when you find one they will work with you. I have only one shop that will touch them for me and they only charge $10 a wheel for a high speed balance
 
13_gecko_rubi

13_gecko_rubi

Caught the Bug
Maybe it varies by location but my local discount tire has let me get the lifetime balance and rotation on my last 2 sets of beadlocks. They won't mount/dismount the tire but they rotate them for me and rebalanced every 3k miles. No issue at all. I've taken them to another dt closer to work once for convenience and they did it too

Sent from my SM-G900V using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
trailless

trailless

Caught the Bug
I can tell you one thing. I just got the slabs and I couldn't see myself running any other wheel. Sure, I don't wheel enough to warrant beadlocks but damn do they look good.

Maintenance is all of taking 10-20 minutes checking the ring bolts every few thousand miles.

BTW, I drive 120 miles a week on the interstate at 70-80mph. The slabs have been great so far.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
I haven't checked the torque on my beadlocks since I install them. Probably should grab the torque wrench and do a random sample of bolts to see if any have loosened up.
Discount Tire in my area balances mine no problem but I have had friends in other areas get turned away because they have beadlocks.
The biggest issue I'm dealing with is I want to polish my wheels but I'm going to have to take them apart to do it right and I know I will probably have to replace bolts and thread inserts during the process. also not looking forward to the amount of time it will take to do the whole process.
On the big plus side, having the tire come off the bead is something I don't worry about when I am aired down out on the trail
 
sc_rhino

sc_rhino

Member
Wear & Tear Running Beadlocks

I love the piece of mind they give me about airing down low. Also I like how the valve stem is usually out of harms way.

And I try checking the bolts after every ride. I usually find one or two bolts slightly loose.


Liston
Instagram: black_rhino_jk
 
NevadaZielmeister

NevadaZielmeister

Caught the Bug
Pursesnatcher said:
3. Do I really NEED them?
-I have been running my stock setup on a farm on the weekends to go out to a shooting range, very light trails and easy field runs for the most part... but once I get lifted, I do plan to get into more technical trails. I just love the look of a bead lock, and for the price... this could be very hard to pass up.
Click to expand...

GraniteCrystal said:
I've wrestled with this myself. I don't think it's worth it for me. I hear of guys on here going down to 12psi or so without bead locks and I don't see myself wheeling hard enough to go below that.
Click to expand...

swampdog said:
That being said, airing them down to 8psi and the extra traction was THE TITS. I would do it again in a heartbeat, haha.
Click to expand...

You know, I think it is important to realize that keeping tires at a certain pressure when there is a big difference between 8 and 12 PSI is very difficult. Now maybe my personal experience is flawed in that the tire pressure gauge is faulty, but I have measured 5-6 PSI after a trail run. The situation I find myself in is when I get off the freeway or roadway the air in the tires are hot and so when I air down to 12 PSI or 10 PSI, that is still a hot air reading. As they cool on the trail, this changes downward. When I go to fill them to get back on the road, I have readings that seem scary low.

But not scary when you have beadlocks. So it is something to consider for the peace of mind knowing that at least half of the bead is clamped down and will not roll off.

As for my ATX Slabs, absolutely love them and would recommend them. Especially when some shops (Like Off Road Evolution) will cut a deal, 5 for 4.

Good luck!!
 
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