Flex a seal...anyone use it

rockcity said:
Those tek screw beadlocks are nothing new. However, they are typically used by drag racers to keep the wheel from spinning in the rim. For off road use they are, meh. You are relying on the integrity of the rubber to keep it on the bead.

Just spend a couple $ and get real DIY beadlocks. Hate to ruin a good set of wheels with all those holes and time spent drilling all those holes. DIY beadlock rings are like $200 for four. Cheap and pretty hard to fawk up.
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I believe his latest XJ project has 16.5 rims with some 37" military tires that he got all for cheap, so he needs a double beadlock with his current el-cheapo tire and wheel combo.
 
I don't see tire slime stuff working since it would all sling to the outside surface when driven after install.

Unfortunately I think the only solution is to remove each screw and coat it with something, reinstall, then wait 24-48 hrs to reinflate like Ratlabguy suggested.

Or just deal with pumping them up every time you want to drive it.
 
drkelly said:
Or just deal with pumping them up every time you want to drive it.
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Yeah that's what I do now. Its really really slow leaks so not too worrisome. I kinda wanted to try that stuff anyways but for the price, not on this lol
 
drkelly said:
I believe his latest XJ project has 16.5 rims with some 37" military tires that he got all for cheap, so he needs a double beadlock with his current el-cheapo tire and wheel combo.
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Yep I learned already that it needs em on both sides lol..12.50 tire on 10"wide wheel bead wants (and did) to come off on back side at 2psi. Fixed now
 
Just use a roofing tek screw with a rubber coated washer. It should help a lot without having to use some type of silicone on every screw
 
The way I see it, the spray stuff is designed so that it wo't allow water, to get inside. Not to keep air inside. So I think if you take the time to do it right, if that is such a thing in this application, I'd do as recommended, and pull each screw put some silicone on each and use a rubber washer. THEN, add a qt of slime in each tire.
 
rockcity said:
Just use a roofing tek screw with a rubber coated washer. It should help a lot without having to use some type of silicone on every screw
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That's what he has now. It apparently works 98%.
marty79 said:
The self tapping screws have these already and seal pretty good. Taking them back out is too much work...coating each screw would've been too much work lol. I've only got 20 min into each tire so that's not bad but def don't wanna remove them until changing tires. Kinda why just wanted to spray something and let it ride.
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marty79 said:
Yeah that's what I do now. Its really really slow leaks so not too worrisome. I kinda wanted to try that stuff anyways but for the price, not on this lol
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OK John I'm going to try and be polite and helpful here.
this right here is where 95% of your posts/threads on this forum go sideways.

You have asked a question on whether something will work. At least 4 people now have told you, no, it won't, and what the RIGHT thing to do is.
Please, this is the time to stop arguing your original intent, accept our advice, and walk away.

I will say, I kind of like this trick. I had not see this before. But you also have found the clear downside, getting all those screws 100% air tight is no trivial task.
 
rockcity said:
Just spend a couple $ and get real DIY beadlocks. Hate to ruin a good set of wheels with all those holes and time spent drilling all those holes. DIY beadlock rings are like $200 for four. Cheap and pretty hard to fawk up.
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My understanding is the problem with DIY beadlocks is getting the welding done properly. For anybody that isn't a good welder (like me), this is a pretty daunting chore.
Is there some easy way to weld the mounts on I've overlooked?
I have seen some kinda neat Rub-Goldberg machines rigged up to rotate a wheel slowly around a pivot while an arc rags along a fixed point.
 
RatLabGuy said:
My understanding is the problem with DIY beadlocks is getting the welding done properly. For anybody that isn't a good welder (like me), this is a pretty daunting chore.
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Plus the added weight, plus there are about 6000 bolts on each one, plus the anti-coning portion needs to match the bead thickness of your specific size and model of tire (they are all different).
 
marty79 said:
The self tapping screws have these already and seal pretty good. Taking them back out is too much work...coating each screw would've been too much work lol. I've only got 20 min into each tire so that's not bad but def don't wanna remove them until changing tires. Kinda why just wanted to spray something and let it ride.
And your right, besides ruining rims, its a great cheap way to have a "headlock" type setup. I had a tire go flat on my last jeep pretty far into the woods at the Flats, drove it to camp through all those turns/bumps holding perfect.
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OK after thinking about this, I really don't see why adding silicone would be so much work.
All you have to do is:
- pull valve core so tire starts deflating
- use drill to remove all screws (90 secs)
- take your finger a run a smear of silicone into every hole (120 secs)
- wipe the excess off of the rim so it doesn't looks like ass (20 secs)
- zip all your screws back in (90s secs)
- reinflate 24 hrs later
This is like 5-7 mins per tire. You've spent more time checking on this thread now.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Plus the added weight, plus there are about 6000 bolts on each one, plus the anti-coning portion needs to match the bead thickness of your specific size and model of tire (they are all different).
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There aren't more bolts than a normal beadlock though right?
 
I did this on a cheap set of wheels/tires years ago.... The only way to seal the hole is as stated, remove the screw and silicone in and re-insert. This didnt work 100% for me even, but helped a ton. Winshield urethane worked better, but basically glued the screws in the wheel.

I also found that filling the tire right up to the bottom of the rim with water/antifreeze/stop leak mixture helped seal the bolts up from the inside. But it is extra weight and load on the axles.
 
Or how about this??? Get a squirt bottle full of sudsy water and go around the wheel spraying the screws until you find out which one is leaking.Just pull that one,or those if that's the case,and seal those particular ones.
 
1-tonmudder said:
Or how about this??? Get a squirt bottle full of sudsy water and go around the wheel spraying the screws until you find out which one is leaking.Just pull that one,or those if that's the case,and seal those particular ones.
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My suspicion is that the time and meticulousness needed to find all of them would be about the same as just quickly doing all.
Remember, when you pull one out, you lose the air. And it really needs to have no pressure inside get the silicone to seal. Which means marking all the bad ones, airing down, replacing. So if you don't get all of them, you gotta go through the whole process again.
 
NickMaul said:
I think H1 beadlocks are cheaper than all of this.


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No way. I'm guessing John got all four rims used for around $100 or less. Screws are cheap. Re-centered H1 rims with stamped/pressed centers are not cheap, and the vast majority of rigs cannot run them without being re-centered.
 
So if you are going to use the sealing washers with the flat neoprene seal bonded to them, there are a few things to remember:
  1. They aren't really meant for pressure, so you're doing pretty well if they don't leak. They're weather seals, not pressure seals. (Edit: I take that back, there are actually versions that are meant for pressure sealing, but they're a few bucks each and not the product in question)
  2. You're asking a lot for them to seal with a self tapping screw, which are usually manufactured cheaply/badly and have a difficult thread profile to seal.
  3. Don't reuse them and expect them to seal at all, because the material creeps under compression. If you remove them to change a tire or because they're leaking, throw them away. I know they can be reused, but that's pushing your luck.
  4. You can use a silicone O-ring lubricant on the flat neoprene seals to help them work better. This is NOT the same as RTV silicone, which is a bad choice for sealing any kind of conformal seal like that (or an O-Ring, which is the maybe the worst hack-job sin you can commit against an O-ring). If you're going to use RTV, don't use a rubber/neoprene sealing washer.
 
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NickMaul said:
H1 hummer wheels/rims

This and some 1.5” spacers? His springs certainly wouldn’t get in the way.

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Plus the time and money to get them, then you have to buy o-rings and inserts or they arent beadlocks. So factor in a few hundred more by the time you get spacers/centers, orings, inserts, etc. And then you have more time cutting down the inserts if you didnt spend the $$ on plastic ones.

Oh and you really need to have rings welded to the lips on hummer wheels, because they seem to bend them more than other steel wheels.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Plus the time and money to get them, then you have to buy o-rings and inserts or they arent beadlocks. So factor in a few hundred more by the time you get spacers/centers, orings, inserts, etc. And then you have more time cutting down the inserts if you didnt spend the $$ on plastic ones.

Oh and you really need to have rings welded to the lips on hummer wheels, because they seem to bend them more than other steel wheels.
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Touché.

More than one way to skin that cat but I wouldn’t want to be behind a rig on a tight trail with sheet metal screws holding the tire to its bead. Some patience and saving some money for another month or two and this could be much more simple.


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Fabrik8 said:
Don't reuse them and expect them to seal at all, because the material creeps under compression. If you remove them to change a tire or because they're leaking, throw them away. I know they can be reused, but that's pushing your luck.
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Yessir, this I found out on my other jeep I had so that's why I'm not taking them out lol.
Its not that big a deal, to loose 5psi over a full week or so is nothing considering I have 60screws into each rim lol (yeah I'm doing pretty good as someone stated).
It was just a "thought" and wonder since I ran across that can stuff the other day.
If I didn't think I might use the rims for bigger tires later on I would put gorilla glue over each bolt & call it good but never know when looking for different tires later.
I appreciate everyone's advise though!
 
NickMaul said:
Touché.

More than one way to skin that cat but I wouldn’t want to be behind a rig on a tight trail with sheet metal screws holding the tire to its bead. Some patience and saving some money for another month or two and this could be much more simple.


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I can see the thoughts, but Id rather be behind someone running screws in their tires vs someone without beadlocks at all. While unconventional here, screwing tires isnt that rare for those that snow-wheel alot.
 
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