DIY Beadlocks

HDMike

HDMike

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Location
Kingsport, TN.
Ok I hope I can explain this so I can get the right answer and I hope I haven't screwed up already.

I brought some 17" steel wheels with DIY bealocks. I had posted a thread about the rings and the beads on the tires not working out.

I had noticed that Ben (Hokie_YJ) had some DIY Beadlocks he had purchased for his project buggy. There where the same bolt count as mine so I assumed that they may have been made by the same person/fabshop. they are 17" rims with 39 bolt rings, so I asked him to measure his rings and he told me they were around 18 3/4" on the OUTER DIAMETER. Now that's what mine measured but I couldn't get them down inside the bead to where I could bolt them up. So I had JD2 shave the OD down to 18 1/2".

I measured the rims and the outer ring for the bead measures 18 1/2"

I would think that ALL beads for certain size tires, i.e. 17", would be exactly the same.

So am I suppose to try to get the bolts started and they will eventually pull the ring down inside the bead or what. I hope I haven't screwed up by having the rings shaved down.

Here's a pic of what I am talking about. You can see where the ring will go down inside the bead but on the opposite side of the ring is way too far outside the bead.

awww.supermotors.net_getfile_947599_fullsize_dsc06247.jpg
 
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Like I said that's what I did but my buddy Ben has a set of 17" wheels with DIY Beadlocks and are mounted up with tires and his rings measure 18 3/4" which is what mine were until I had them cut down. Now I'm afraid I've made a mistake.
 
beadlocks pinch the tire down to the inner ring thats welded... ie you now have a set of rings that are use less. except for a paper weight

sent from deep space via galaxy S 2
 
Where did you get each of these parts? Did you buy wheels and rings separate? Did you have the inner rings welded to the wheels first? Is this a joke? It is not April 1st. WTF?
 
Here is a pic of what I am talking about.

awww.supermotors.net_getfile_967621_fullsize_tire_1.jpg


Here's a pic of the ring sitting on the tire and you can see where the ring won't go down inside the lip referred to in the above pic.

awww.supermotors.net_getfile_947598_fullsize_dsc06246.jpg
 
I read through the link that cgm147 posted and found these pics of his ring dimensions. Now mind you in the pics his beadlocks are for 16" rims but you will get the idea of what I am talking about.

Now where his outer dimensions on his rings were the same measurement mine were not. My outer ring was 1/4" bigger not allowing the ring to sit down on the bead of the tire.

awww.supermotors.net_getfile_967628_fullsize_inner_ring.jpg


awww.supermotors.net_getfile_967629_fullsize_outer_ring.jpg
 
ok from what i see here you havent wasted a set of rings. i would start bolts at n.s.e.w and start tightening in a cross patteren and hope they pull down even. if not you might have to weld some round stock to the inner ring for a centering device. every set ive done i habent ran into that problem the outter ring just lays on the tire and tighten her down.

sent from deep space via galaxy S 2
 
What brand and model are the tires you're trying to mount up and what is the inner diameter of your outer ring? in the 16" wheel drawing you posted the difference between the inner and outer diameter is 4.375 which means that the ring is half of that wide around the wheel so.... 2.1875. How wide is your ring? Most weld on beadlock kits I've dealt with lay centered on this mold line of the tire.... I would say you'd be okay with going down to this diameter and absolutely no less. It really doesn't make sense to me that it's so far off. Are you sure your tires arent a 16.5"?
beadlock drawing.jpg
 
Those look like a Cooper Discoverer STT, but I could be wrong. At any rate, Cooper doesn't make them in a 16.5, plus that bead looks all wrong to be a 16.5.

Anyway, it just looks like to me that the "rim guard" around the upper bead area on those tires is fairly pronounced. I wouldn't think that every manufacturer's tires will be the same, so it's very possible that you just need to make your rings fit these tires.
 
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