Newbie question about "beadlocks" and "slabs"

Rubiconsean23

Rubiconsean23

Member
So I have a few questions about what beadlocks and slabs are and what are their purposes and what are the best companies that sell them? If you can attach pictures pleas do!
Thanks!
OIIIIIIIO


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Stotch

Stotch

Caught the Bug
Rubiconsean23 said:
So I have a few questions about what beadlocks and slabs are and what are their purposes and what are the best companies that sell them? If you can attach pictures pleas do!
Thanks!
OIIIIIIIO


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

dwvninety said:
They allow you to air down your tires in the single digits without popping a bead.
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I'm going to assume you don't know what "popping a bead" is since you didn't know what beadlocks are... You get better off road performance with low tire pressure. The risk you run with too low of tire pressure is the tire coming off the rim. Beadlocks (or slabs a brand of beadlocks) clamp the tire down so it won't come off at low pressures.
 
Rubiconsean23

Rubiconsean23

Member
Newbie question about "beadlocks" and "slabs"

Ok great that makes perfect sense! And are these rims street legal? I live in the super strict but amazing state of California! Lol


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boardsurfer

boardsurfer

Active Member
Rubiconsean23 said:
Ok great that makes perfect sense! And are these rims street legal? I live in the super strict but amazing state of California! Lol


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There are some that claim to be DOT compliant whatever that means. You would have to look up your local vehicle code to know for sure. I would operate assuming they are not street legal. However, I have never heard of anyone being written up for them.

Give this video a watch to better understand what a beadlock does and how it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVdoepZcljA
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Rubiconsean23 said:
Ok great that makes perfect sense! And are these rims street legal? I live in the super strict but amazing state of California! Lol
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Technically, they are not legal and most tire shops won't touch them. That being said, you'd be hard pressed to have law enforcement give you grief for running them.

Here's a video that shows among other things, how to take apart and install a bead lock wheel.
 
QuicksilverJK

QuicksilverJK

Caught the Bug
The USDOT and NHTSA make laws regarding vehicle safety and haven't outlawed Beadlock wheels.

BUT SAE does not recognize them as a "safe" aftermarket wheel under SAE J2530.

Being that SAE sets standards, not laws means that they haven't been made illegal, but you could get cited under a broader law like operating an unsafe vehicle.


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scrota76

scrota76

New member
Rubiconsean23 said:
Ok great that makes perfect sense! And are these rims street legal? I live in the super strict but amazing state of California! Lol


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http://www.liftlaws.com/california_lift_laws.htm

The simple answer is no, you cannot have true beadlock wheels in California. Here is the deal, most makers of beadlock wheels do not certify them with DOT. If they do get a DOT cert, in most cases there is not a weight load rating officially on the record with DOT. The cert is for offroad use only and is for liability purposes.

Imagine putting your jeep on a truck scale and getting the total weight, divide it by 4, and that is the amount each wheel (not tire) has to support.

The reality is you would have to be a special kinda asshole to motivate a chp officer or blue police officer to get your GVW, then attempt to locate the weight rating of the wheel just to issue a citation for having an unsafe vehicle for road travel. Plus they could tow your vehicle, but most agency policies allow cops and chp officers to release the vehicle.

24002 CVC is the catch all for this kind of stuff. This section was big on the late 80's and 90's in the L.A. area to tow lowriders with wire rims. Also, in most cases this section is incident to another vehicle code violation, such as speeding or tinted windows.

I know that's a lot of info. If you find a shop that will mount beadlock wheels, don't be surprised if they make you sign a receipt that had small print saying your wheels are for offroad use only.

If you have your beadlocks on and you are cruising down the road and see a Deputy Sheriff, wave, smile, point to your pretty shiny new beadlocks and that Deputy will probably give you a thumbs up (or the middle finger up), depends how far into the shift that Deputy is.

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JeepJeep75

JeepJeep75

New member
Growing up in southern Cali, I'm gonna say with 99% certainty that the cops aren't gonna care about your wheels. I've spent a good chunk of my life driving around in the shittiest traffic LA has to offer. Seeing some of the shit that people drive down the road, it's freaking amazing/unbelievable. I'm fairly certain that the law won't care two shits about your beautiful new wheels on your jeep, and if they are DOT approved or not.

One more thing to really consider about BL's is they are NOT(!!!) maintenance-free. Repeat, NOT maintenance-free!!! The ring bolts need to be regularly checked and re torqued.

So, do they look cool? Hell yah they do! But keep in mind they are a lot more expensive than regular wheels, and if you do actually use them for their intended purpose, they are gonna get all scratched and rashed up.


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zimm

zimm

Caught the Bug
Do beadlocks lose more air than a non-beadlock over time? I don't know if you have to add air every week or something like that. That would drive me nuts on a daily driver.
 
KYRubi

KYRubi

New member
They shouldn't lose more air than a regular wheel, but many of them do. I had an issue with 2 out of my 5 losing air. We had to break them back down and remount them, but it fixed both of them and they've worked very well since then. Shouldn't be a problem even if they leak a little though since you need to check the torque on all the bolts often anyway. Doesn't take long to check pressure at the same time. I'm getting ready to sell my current steal beadlocks and street wheels and tires. I'm replacing them with a single set of DOT compliant beadlocks that don't have all the bolts to maintain. I thought that switching the 2 sets of tires and wheels would be OK, but they are heavy and it sucks.
 
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R

rockwell

Member
KYRubi said:
I'm replacing them with a single set of DOT compliant beadlocks that don't have all the bolts to maintain. I thought that switching the 2 sets of tires and wheels would be OK, but they are heavy and it sucks.
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Which ones would those be?
 
KYRubi

KYRubi

New member
rockwell said:
Which ones would those be?
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I'm going to try out the B.A.D. Wheels Eklipse 17 wheels with some Toyo 37X13.50R17 Open Country M/T tires. This will be my 5th set of wheels and 6th set of tires for this Jeep. Hopefully I'm getting it right this time.
 
jesse3638

jesse3638

Hooked
KYRubi said:
I'm going to try out the B.A.D. Wheels Eklipse 17 wheels with some Toyo 37X13.50R17 Open Country M/T tires. This will be my 5th set of wheels and 6th set of tires for this Jeep. Hopefully I'm getting it right this time.
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How are they bead locks with out bolts? If they are bead locks I'd assume there will be maintenance. Just the nature of bead locks.

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KYRubi

KYRubi

New member
jesse3638 said:
How are they bead locks with out bolts? If they are bead locks I'd assume there will be maintenance. Just the nature of bead locks.

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There are 3 pieces of aluminum that go inside each tire and each bolt on with 2 bolts and retaining pins to keep them from backing off. You can look them up and see videos on YouTube about how they work.
 
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