Bead Lock Wheel Discussion

[Holaday07 4.7]

Damnit I checked the website and saw the RT233 which look awesome and are 17x8.5 with 4.75" backspace (not much worse than my current setup).... but they're all "not DOT approved for highway use" and they also seem to state a max pressure of 25 psi.

....my search continues

BTW not DOT approved is not ticketable. If i am correct you have your old wheels and tires in your back yard for allignment, so you could still pass inspection with a quick swap. THat would be the only possible time you would run into trouble. There is nothing illegal about not DOT approved. as far as the 25 psi, there are several guys in my club that run them at 35 psi with 0 issues for several years. I will give you an update as I rack up the miles on these

[Matt]

It may not be ticketable, but there's enough risk to me so its just not worth it. Have a tire blow out and cause an accident- wonder what insurance would do if they found out I wasn't running DOT approved wheels and/or the wheel manufacturer specs 25 PSI max. Not to mention the XK drives my family (2 very young kids) for all our long trips/vacations. Whether they're "safe" for long term street use is debatable.... it could be the manufacturer just doesn't want to go through the trouble to get the proper DOT approvals, or it could be they're actually not safe for long term high speed street use. Regardless, just another risk not worth taking due to the liabilities involved IMO; they're just wheels.

[Holaday07 4.7]

true and extremely good points. The TJ doesnt see any real street time, so I am rolling the dice on that. In my search I found some DOT approved add ons for the Moab Wheels though, let me find the link.

[Holaday07 4.7]

http://www.omfperformance.com/beadlocked_wheels.php

[Matt]

Oh yeah man, if this was more of a trail rig where I basically drove it to the trails or around the town for short trips- i'd run them too. For a 9+ hour drive on the highway to OBX, or 3 hour trips to Maryland, Vermont, etc I'll stick with the safer bet.

Gonna check out those one other you just posted, I like the 5-star look!

[Holaday07 4.7]

Oh yeah man, if this was more of a trail rig where I basically drove it to the trails or around the town for short trips- i'd run them too. For a 9+ hour drive on the highway to OBX, or 3 hour trips to Maryland, Vermont, etc I'll stick with the safer bet.

Gonna check out those one other you just posted, I like the 5-star look!

I agree. I almost went with the DIY weld ons, but I was scared one of those might fail with my family in the Jeep. I can see that headline and it is not a good one.

The link above looks like you can transform any wheel into a beadlock.

[Matt]

That link is pretty cool. I wonder if a similar principle could be used just for installing rock rings. I don't think i wheel enough to really need beadlocks with this rig, but i beat the hell out of my wheels on the rocks.... Finding a wheel with replaceable rings with the proper backspace and that dont cost a mini fortune has been the difficult part.

[Holaday07 4.7]

I like the rock knobs too, almost a slider or skid for the bold heads

[Omelet]

I have always liked the benefits of the internal beadlocks, so for a while I planned to go with Staun until I recently discovered this company:

http://www.innerairlock.com/beadlocks/

Same thing just a little cheaper! That way I don't have to buy new wheels, plus I can keep my light weight Moabs instead of using heavy beadlock wheels. I still want to protect the bead from getting chewed up off road so I will probably do some kind of replacement ring too. Something I have been toying with:

[AJeepZJ]

That's pretty cool... How much would a set of 4 run?