Beadlock question

[Dvaniwaarden11]

Hey all. I’m purchasing new 315/75/16 cooper STT pro mud terrain tires and I’m wondering about beadlocks. I know that many are not DOT approved and from my reading you have to retighten the bolts every 2 weeks but does anyone have experience with them that they would be willing to share?

I’ve got a long arm lift and like to rock crawl with my rig but I am always worried about airing down too far and the wheel coming off the bead so I’m contemplating getting some good beadlocks.

My jeep is not my DD so I would only be putting highway miles on it when I drive to the trail.

Would love to hear some opinions!
Thanks in advance.

 

[rasband]

I don't have specific feedback about running beadlocks, but am interested to follow along. I would, however, encourage you to consider getting 17" wheels since the options on a 16" are pretty limited and have been getting even more so over the last couple years.

 

[tworley]

Theres a bounty to be had still--been going on for years--to prove that beadlocks are illegal.

Dont be worried about losing a bead. A simple air compressor can get a tire reseated. We've done it many times.

 

[Duck Doctor]

I run my rigs through Fordyce, Rubicon, Big Bear, Shaver Lake, and other moderately difficult trails in CA. Always at 10 PSI and never lost a bead.

 

[rasband]

I run my rigs through Fordyce, Rubicon, Big Bear, Shaver Lake, and other moderately difficult trails in CA. Always at 10 PSI and never lost a bead.

I am often down around 8 and have only ever lost a couple, usually because I am not paying enough attention. Since realizing that, it's not really been an issue. Even if you do, though, they're not all that hard to re-seat and we pretty much always can do it on the rig.

 

[Superjay5]

How low are you airing down now? I typically air my STT’s down to 8psi. I have yet to lose a bead. The possibility of losing a bead is always there, but I see a lot of people thinking air downed is 20psi….

 

[John Cooper]

Is this what happens when you don't have beadlocks and don't air down????

Sorry @tr21triton made me post that!!!

 

[D's Jeep Wrld]

Is this what happens when you don't have beadlocks and don't air down????View attachment 615557

Sorry @tr21triton made me post that!!!

Oh my ......that'll do it

 

[jjvw]

... I know that many are not DOT approved ...

There is no DOT approval for beadlocks.

 

[Frank M]

Is this what happens when you don't have beadlocks and don't air down????View attachment 615557

Sorry @tr21triton made me post that!!!

Someone missed lug nut day.

 

[rasband]

There is no DOT approval for beadlocks.

I am pretty sure there is no DOT approval for anything, only stated compliance.

 

[Rubeyu]

Greg Mulkey from Raceline wheels has done a number of different podcasts relating to beadlocks and wheels in general. One good one is the Modern Jeeper episode 60

 

[Irun]

The comments about tightening beadlock bolts every couple weeks is over hyped on the internet. What most fail to think about is beadlock wheels can weigh 10 pounds or more over a stock wheel. That rotational mass negatively impacts the Jeeps braking and acceleration. That said, I've run beadlocks on several Jeeps with zero issues.

My main reason for running them is the rocks where I wheel chew up the lips on stock wheels. While I've not lost a bead, I have had small rocks and sticks wedged in between the tire and wheel lip, and damaged wheels where the fix was to replace them. The beadlock rings do a fantastic job of protecting them from this happening.

 

[Apparition]

The beadlock rings do a fantastic job of protecting them from this happening.

they also protect the valve stems. Saw one sheared off last week in Moab.

 

[rasband]

they also protect the valve stems. Saw one sheared off last week in Moab.

I am pretty surprised I haven't seen this issue more frequently (so far not at all), though I do carry the fix for if/when it happens.

 

[Apparition]

I am pretty surprised I haven't seen this issue more frequently (so far not at all), though I do carry the fix for if/when it happens.

Second time it happened to that person. Maybe he’s just unlucky.

 

[rasband]

Second time it happened to that person. Maybe he’s just unlucky.

You never can tell, but he did give some good info for people with Coyotes. That answered something that had been on my mind.

 

[Apparition]

You never can tell, but he did give some good info for people with Coyotes. That answered something that had been on my mind.

Yep many things I hadn’t considered. Pros and cons to both options.

 

[jjvw]

You never can tell, but he did give some good info for people with Coyotes. That answered something that had been on my mind.

The info was that the Coyote stem into the main tire cannot be fixed beyond replacing it. It's a process, but it can be done in the field with a bottle jack.

 

[Dvaniwaarden11]

How low are you airing down now? I typically air my STT’s down to 8psi. I have yet to lose a bead. The possibility of losing a bead is always there, but I see a lot of people thinking air downed is 20psi….

I just purchased them so haven’t tested them out. My prior tires I would run down to 12-15 but would get nervous being that low as I’ve never had to reseat a tire in the field and don’t know how. (That’s a YouTube date for later)