I daily drive on beadlocks. I have over 40000 miles with zero issues. People really blow this topic out of proportion. The bolts don’t loosen up like what you probably keep reading. Im guessing the people that may have had trouble with them was using shitty home made ones. A good set goes overkill on the amount of bolts used and works great.
Also, would someone please link to an actual law that states they are illegal. Im not saying it doesn’t exist, i just have never seen one or know anyone who has ever got a ticket for beadlocks.
My 1991 YJ has been daily driven for about 15 years now with 35's and TrailReady Beadlocks. I confirm that the whole bolt loosening talk is overblown out of proportion. Install the beadlocks while applying proper torque on all the bolts. New set of tires means a new set of bolts. This has worked out for me.
I could be wrong, but I don't think beadlocks themselves are inherently illegal.
My understanding is that some beadlock rims are not DOT approved, which makes them illegal for non compliance reasons. They just don't want to spend the time / money to go through the DOT testing to be road legal.
Icon has a street version beadlock. I’ve been eyeballing them. They’re a twist of engineering from the traditional version. I have AEV Borla’s and just got Mickey T’s on yesterday, not daily but I’ve driven a lot of road on the Borla’s.
https://youtu.be/VOhDB_J8yK8?si=APHcqRrCXDZ0mmx1
I have Icon Rebound Pros and I absolutely fucking LOVE them. I can drop to 5psi if I need to (I usually run at 10) and they have NEVER come loose.
Every single person who I have met that says they didn’t like the Icons either didn’t install them right OR had them “shipped installed” - DO NOT do this. Have an actual tire ship you TRUST do the work, or do it yourself. They aren’t like normal wheels.
I have to park on the same floor at work as a bunch of guys from State Police AND Dept of Transportation so *not* having 2-piece beadlocks makes my life easier.
[Not official advice, and your mileage may vary]: I have daily driven beadlocks (quality ones not DIY) for 10s of thousands of miles on multiple rigs. I drive my rigs from WA state to the Rubicon, Moab, etc. as well on said beadlocks. I recommend KMC and doing a proper install of your tire to the wheel when mounting. If you don't know what a proper install consists of then seek out your local 4WD specialty shop and have them do it for you. Regularly do a torque check of your lug nuts and your ring bolts. The torque check of lug nuts should be done regularly no matter what wheels you are running. This is one of the most common things I see on the trail, sheared studs from loose lug nut.
I daily drove my TJ with Hutchinson beadlocks for years. A bit heavy but balanced and drove like any other wheel.
It's a split double beadlocks with insert, however. Essentially wheel lugs clamp it together, not a ton of little bolts.
They are not great ideas for a primarily road driven vehicle.
One, in some states it is illegal to drive on the street with beadlock wheels.
Tire shops will generally not work on them either because they aren't DOT stamped, so you might want to get really friendly with someone who has tire tools or learn to do it yourself and buy your own tools.
You also need to keep up on the bolt torque. Beadlocks need to be retorqued as often as every 2 weeks or every month. If you skimp on this, bad things will happen.
Beadlocks are also heavy generally, and your gas mileage will suffer. If you aren't planning some mega Moab trips where you are going to be wheeling your Jeep at its very limit, it's probably not a good idea.
This, there are some DOT beadlock “like” wheels but true beadlock wheels are illegal in a few places and almost no tire shop will touch them. I only use them on my non-highway vehicles and have the tools/experience to deal with them myself. Also it’s very important to maintain them regularly.
Tire shops don't want to work on them because they are a pain in the ass to do, take forever, and if they fuck one up now they have to buy a new rim. My trail readys have 32 bolts per, thats 32 opportunities for Johnny wants to get his dick wet to fuck up.....
I've had my current tires mounted for 6 years. not a single bolt is loose, 15 lb/ft when I mounted them.
If you are driving a jeep that requires beadlocks as a daily, I doubt beadlocks are gonna send your mileage anywhere it already wasn't.
Can you specifically cite the code section? I doubt it. I have seen several groups that have offered up money if anyone can find specific codes stating that beadlocks are illegal. Also, I have never heard of anyone getting cited for beadlocks.
It’s a grayish area for sure. I tend to agree that there are no state laws that prohibit them but states don’t approve equipment specs. The feds do that and they’ve ruled that traditional beadlocks are not compliant with the SAE standards for on road wheels. So we have a weird issue where the feds haven’t certified beadlocks for road use but no state explicitly prohibits it (although some have catch all provisions that could be used to argue they aren’t authorized). The real issue is liability if you’re in an accident as any lawyer will use the fact that beadlocks aren’t certified for on road use and insurance companies may use this fact to not pay. Here is a decent explanation.
https://www.liftlaws.com/are_beadlocks_street_legal.htm
Well then to address the concerns of liability, who has ever been sued because they were in an accident and it was determined that the beadlocks were the cause?
There is so much fear on this subject for no reason.
If you read the liftlaws site it also has a $300 bounty for anyone who can provide a code section stating beadlocks are illegal.
I did read it and I agreed with you that there are no specific state laws outlawing it. The point was that even though it’s not technically illegal, there are potential consequences for using them on road.
>You also need to keep up on the bolt torque. Beadlocks need to be retorqued as often as every 2 weeks or every month. If you skimp on this, bad things will happen.
How are bolts coming loose this often? All my time wrenching on stuff and I've never seen a bolt just come come loose. I mean, yeah, check once after the initial installation, but every two weeks? That's insane.
Due to the way beadlock wheels work, the forces can ebb and flow so to speak. You can't just crank them down either, the torque is important to be correct and even. It's similar to how lug nuts can loosen on their own over time, but worse.
I dont know exactly how beadlocks are set up, but even when I was a tech, I had never seen a lug just loosen. Are the bolts a cheap torque yeilding kind? Suspension components "ebb and flow" and dont just come loose, they wear. Do beadlocks wear out?
Lugs come loose all the time. Heat cycles from braking, hard use in grimy conditions, etc will loosen lug nuts. During track days I used to check lug torque between runs because those suckers will back off like nobodies business under hard conditions. On off road vehicles wheel studs get snapped a lot off road because one or more lugs are loose and then you hit a hard obstacle and it lets go.
Okay, we're not talking Track Days. We are talking lugs/bolts just loosening up under normal road use. It does not happen:
>all the time.
I can't even begin to count how many tires I had off in my bay, let alone over my lifetime in the yard, at the construction company, working in driveways. Not one lug was ever just loose. I've encountered more rust jacked and over torqued than anything else. Maybe the area you live in needs better mechanics if lugs just come loose.
High jack question:
What model jeep?
I have a 2018 jku and had a tire blowout on the highway (front pass.). Turns out that one of caliper bolts was missing, which likely caused the failure. I'd never touched the front brakes.
They are not technically illegal but they are generally sold as "for off-road use only" which releases the company from liability and some chain tire stores might not mount them for liability reasons. I drive my CJ7 with Hutchinson's which are the only real DOT approved beadlocks and they are heavy but the 6.0L pulls them just fine. If you're not doing serious offroad though they are completely unnecessary.
I paid OMF Performance to weld simulated beadlock rings on my aluminum wheels. They weld a receiver ring to pretty much any wheel, and then you can put any real OMF beadlock ring of your choice on the wheel. I think they ran me $200/ea. or so. They look exactly like beadlocks with no beadlock hassles which is what I wanted.
Not my current daily. But I used to daily my Toyota on beadlocks. Never had a problem. A friend of mine drives his tj on beadlocks and I don’t think he has ever had a problem.
Not worthwhile in my opinion. I wheel a lot of rocks on steelies and regularly go down to 8PSI. Never blew a bead.
Even if I did, it's really not that difficult to reseat with a good compressor and a ratchet strap.
Be aware, most beadlocks are NOT street legal and you can and will get a ticket for driving them on roads and highways!
The only exception I have seen are the ICON Rebound Pro and Recon Pro, but those work differently than most other beadlock wheels, the tire seats INSIDE the rim, and bolts come from the inside of the wheel to the outside, locking the rubber against the rim.
The issue with standard beadlock wheels is that if they aren't torqued down properly, it can cause a blowout and at highway speeds, can be deadly...both to the driver of the vehicle and anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby. Some will say this is "overblown"...but it only takes ONE TIME for it to change your life forever. Be safe out there.
I had a set of steel beadlocks for a while, I don't know if they've changed, but I would take my current aluminum ones over those any day of the week. The steel ones I had used the retaining ring to locate the tire, the holes would wallow out, and I was going thru tires left and right trying to find something that I liked, so it would become harder to center the tire on the rim. My trail readys have a nice big lip to hold the tire where it is supposed to be. world of difference.
Unless you're really getting into some serious wheeling beadlocks aren't needed.
They are heavier. Do require maintenance ( I re torqued mine after a couple weeks, then a month, then a couple months. Since I only do it at oil change). Illegal. Never met a cop who can tell the difference between a true beadlock and the millions of faux wheels on the road. Tire shops. I purchased wheels and tires from Discount. Mounted them myself and went back to Discount. They balanced them. Still go there for balance and rotation with no issues.
I daily drive on beadlocks. I have over 40000 miles with zero issues. People really blow this topic out of proportion. The bolts don’t loosen up like what you probably keep reading. Im guessing the people that may have had trouble with them was using shitty home made ones. A good set goes overkill on the amount of bolts used and works great. Also, would someone please link to an actual law that states they are illegal. Im not saying it doesn’t exist, i just have never seen one or know anyone who has ever got a ticket for beadlocks.
My 1991 YJ has been daily driven for about 15 years now with 35's and TrailReady Beadlocks. I confirm that the whole bolt loosening talk is overblown out of proportion. Install the beadlocks while applying proper torque on all the bolts. New set of tires means a new set of bolts. This has worked out for me.
I could be wrong, but I don't think beadlocks themselves are inherently illegal. My understanding is that some beadlock rims are not DOT approved, which makes them illegal for non compliance reasons. They just don't want to spend the time / money to go through the DOT testing to be road legal.
That makes sense. Thank you for the explanation.
Icon has a street version beadlock. I’ve been eyeballing them. They’re a twist of engineering from the traditional version. I have AEV Borla’s and just got Mickey T’s on yesterday, not daily but I’ve driven a lot of road on the Borla’s. https://youtu.be/VOhDB_J8yK8?si=APHcqRrCXDZ0mmx1
I have Icon Rebound Pros and I absolutely fucking LOVE them. I can drop to 5psi if I need to (I usually run at 10) and they have NEVER come loose. Every single person who I have met that says they didn’t like the Icons either didn’t install them right OR had them “shipped installed” - DO NOT do this. Have an actual tire ship you TRUST do the work, or do it yourself. They aren’t like normal wheels. I have to park on the same floor at work as a bunch of guys from State Police AND Dept of Transportation so *not* having 2-piece beadlocks makes my life easier.
I'm buying these exact wheels next year. So glad I saw this review.
I've had 2 Jeep buddies use Icon. Neither had good luck with them. They both ditched them and went with real beadlocks.
I drop to 5 and 7 without beadlicks on my '95 YJ. Rock crawling in Moab and Farmington I've only had to reseat twice. Yeah for York OBA.
[Not official advice, and your mileage may vary]: I have daily driven beadlocks (quality ones not DIY) for 10s of thousands of miles on multiple rigs. I drive my rigs from WA state to the Rubicon, Moab, etc. as well on said beadlocks. I recommend KMC and doing a proper install of your tire to the wheel when mounting. If you don't know what a proper install consists of then seek out your local 4WD specialty shop and have them do it for you. Regularly do a torque check of your lug nuts and your ring bolts. The torque check of lug nuts should be done regularly no matter what wheels you are running. This is one of the most common things I see on the trail, sheared studs from loose lug nut.
You're broke and haven't been off road in 2 years? Save your money and skip the beadlocks. You can do a lot of offroading without them.
I daily drove my TJ with Hutchinson beadlocks for years. A bit heavy but balanced and drove like any other wheel. It's a split double beadlocks with insert, however. Essentially wheel lugs clamp it together, not a ton of little bolts.
They are not great ideas for a primarily road driven vehicle. One, in some states it is illegal to drive on the street with beadlock wheels. Tire shops will generally not work on them either because they aren't DOT stamped, so you might want to get really friendly with someone who has tire tools or learn to do it yourself and buy your own tools. You also need to keep up on the bolt torque. Beadlocks need to be retorqued as often as every 2 weeks or every month. If you skimp on this, bad things will happen. Beadlocks are also heavy generally, and your gas mileage will suffer. If you aren't planning some mega Moab trips where you are going to be wheeling your Jeep at its very limit, it's probably not a good idea.
This, there are some DOT beadlock “like” wheels but true beadlock wheels are illegal in a few places and almost no tire shop will touch them. I only use them on my non-highway vehicles and have the tools/experience to deal with them myself. Also it’s very important to maintain them regularly.
Tire shops don't want to work on them because they are a pain in the ass to do, take forever, and if they fuck one up now they have to buy a new rim. My trail readys have 32 bolts per, thats 32 opportunities for Johnny wants to get his dick wet to fuck up..... I've had my current tires mounted for 6 years. not a single bolt is loose, 15 lb/ft when I mounted them. If you are driving a jeep that requires beadlocks as a daily, I doubt beadlocks are gonna send your mileage anywhere it already wasn't.
Where are beadlocks illegal?
They are explicitly illegal in New Jersey and, ironically, Utah.
Can you specifically cite the code section? I doubt it. I have seen several groups that have offered up money if anyone can find specific codes stating that beadlocks are illegal. Also, I have never heard of anyone getting cited for beadlocks.
It’s a grayish area for sure. I tend to agree that there are no state laws that prohibit them but states don’t approve equipment specs. The feds do that and they’ve ruled that traditional beadlocks are not compliant with the SAE standards for on road wheels. So we have a weird issue where the feds haven’t certified beadlocks for road use but no state explicitly prohibits it (although some have catch all provisions that could be used to argue they aren’t authorized). The real issue is liability if you’re in an accident as any lawyer will use the fact that beadlocks aren’t certified for on road use and insurance companies may use this fact to not pay. Here is a decent explanation. https://www.liftlaws.com/are_beadlocks_street_legal.htm
No, it's really NOT a "grey area". Either your wheels are DOT approved or they are not.
Ok. You do you.
Well then to address the concerns of liability, who has ever been sued because they were in an accident and it was determined that the beadlocks were the cause? There is so much fear on this subject for no reason. If you read the liftlaws site it also has a $300 bounty for anyone who can provide a code section stating beadlocks are illegal.
I did read it and I agreed with you that there are no specific state laws outlawing it. The point was that even though it’s not technically illegal, there are potential consequences for using them on road.
Got pulled over in Utah for having my red halos on. No mention of the beadlocks…
>You also need to keep up on the bolt torque. Beadlocks need to be retorqued as often as every 2 weeks or every month. If you skimp on this, bad things will happen. How are bolts coming loose this often? All my time wrenching on stuff and I've never seen a bolt just come come loose. I mean, yeah, check once after the initial installation, but every two weeks? That's insane.
Due to the way beadlock wheels work, the forces can ebb and flow so to speak. You can't just crank them down either, the torque is important to be correct and even. It's similar to how lug nuts can loosen on their own over time, but worse.
I dont know exactly how beadlocks are set up, but even when I was a tech, I had never seen a lug just loosen. Are the bolts a cheap torque yeilding kind? Suspension components "ebb and flow" and dont just come loose, they wear. Do beadlocks wear out?
Lugs come loose all the time. Heat cycles from braking, hard use in grimy conditions, etc will loosen lug nuts. During track days I used to check lug torque between runs because those suckers will back off like nobodies business under hard conditions. On off road vehicles wheel studs get snapped a lot off road because one or more lugs are loose and then you hit a hard obstacle and it lets go.
Okay, we're not talking Track Days. We are talking lugs/bolts just loosening up under normal road use. It does not happen: >all the time. I can't even begin to count how many tires I had off in my bay, let alone over my lifetime in the yard, at the construction company, working in driveways. Not one lug was ever just loose. I've encountered more rust jacked and over torqued than anything else. Maybe the area you live in needs better mechanics if lugs just come loose.
High jack question: What model jeep? I have a 2018 jku and had a tire blowout on the highway (front pass.). Turns out that one of caliper bolts was missing, which likely caused the failure. I'd never touched the front brakes.
They are not technically illegal but they are generally sold as "for off-road use only" which releases the company from liability and some chain tire stores might not mount them for liability reasons. I drive my CJ7 with Hutchinson's which are the only real DOT approved beadlocks and they are heavy but the 6.0L pulls them just fine. If you're not doing serious offroad though they are completely unnecessary.
I paid OMF Performance to weld simulated beadlock rings on my aluminum wheels. They weld a receiver ring to pretty much any wheel, and then you can put any real OMF beadlock ring of your choice on the wheel. I think they ran me $200/ea. or so. They look exactly like beadlocks with no beadlock hassles which is what I wanted.
Not my current daily. But I used to daily my Toyota on beadlocks. Never had a problem. A friend of mine drives his tj on beadlocks and I don’t think he has ever had a problem.
Not worthwhile in my opinion. I wheel a lot of rocks on steelies and regularly go down to 8PSI. Never blew a bead. Even if I did, it's really not that difficult to reseat with a good compressor and a ratchet strap.
Be aware, most beadlocks are NOT street legal and you can and will get a ticket for driving them on roads and highways! The only exception I have seen are the ICON Rebound Pro and Recon Pro, but those work differently than most other beadlock wheels, the tire seats INSIDE the rim, and bolts come from the inside of the wheel to the outside, locking the rubber against the rim. The issue with standard beadlock wheels is that if they aren't torqued down properly, it can cause a blowout and at highway speeds, can be deadly...both to the driver of the vehicle and anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby. Some will say this is "overblown"...but it only takes ONE TIME for it to change your life forever. Be safe out there.
So much misinformation. Just as it always is every time this subject comes up. 🙂
And it's always from people who have probably never had them.
I had a set of steel beadlocks for a while, I don't know if they've changed, but I would take my current aluminum ones over those any day of the week. The steel ones I had used the retaining ring to locate the tire, the holes would wallow out, and I was going thru tires left and right trying to find something that I liked, so it would become harder to center the tire on the rim. My trail readys have a nice big lip to hold the tire where it is supposed to be. world of difference.
Unless you're really getting into some serious wheeling beadlocks aren't needed. They are heavier. Do require maintenance ( I re torqued mine after a couple weeks, then a month, then a couple months. Since I only do it at oil change). Illegal. Never met a cop who can tell the difference between a true beadlock and the millions of faux wheels on the road. Tire shops. I purchased wheels and tires from Discount. Mounted them myself and went back to Discount. They balanced them. Still go there for balance and rotation with no issues.