School me on DIY Beadlock kits

frankenyoter

frankenyoter

No Rain, No Rainbow
Joined
Mar 17, 2009
Location
DARK CITY
I have been needing a set of bead locks for too long and have been looking at different companies designs.

Some weld inside the lip and some are outside lip. Some have provisions for anti coning materials built in and some don't. The differences good or bad?

These will be going on some 15" rims.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'd go with the ones that weld inside the lip of the wheel. This will help to reduce the amount of added width DIY beadlocks add to standard wheels. However, this can be a PITA if the wheels are beaten up or out of round; some rings won't fit inside the lip of the wheel. If you are looking for more width or have abused wheels, go with the ones that sit on top of the lip.

anti coning rings are cheap and look much better in the end. Keep an eye out for design of the ring as some kits don't have ways for mud and dirt to wash out from between the rings. Some kits just use 1/2" nuts as spacers but this is half-assed. The best way is to get a kit that has a 100% ring that sits just near the bolts. If you put a small amount of silicone on the anti coning ring, it helps to seal it up to keep mud and water from getting between the rings.
 
The type of welding procedure used should play a big part of deciding inside the lip or outside. If ur gonna tig it, outside the lip all day long. Mig and stick inside the lip.

When I bought mine I made a bunch of calls. Everyone explained to me, the ones that don't sit inside wr design for tig welding in mind. And as a welder by trade, I can tell u, the fit makes all the difference no matter which process is used

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Just dont get em from DIY Wheels. I can relate a real horror story to on those guys! Call Mud for the kit!
 
I have welded DIY beadlocks several times with no issues..
 
I measured and drew up a set that I sent to a metal shop. They water jetted them out for me. I also had them under size the holes on the inner rings and I tapped those holes with threads. This eliminated the need for nuts on the inside. Just run the bolt in. It was cut from 1/4" plate and I was able to get about 4 threads deep. More than enough bite.

Hell you could also do AVK threaded inserts for that matter.
 
https://totalmetalinnovations.com/i...roducts_id=6&zenid=c1ic85sctem98n1pb0nr4d3jt7
Im probably going with these on my next ones they have anti coning built weld in the inner lip, the last ones i had were on radial iroks and i was dding it they were diys i lost about 5lbs of air a week in two tires. This time when i grind the weld flat im gonna put some black silicone on the weld and let it set for a few days before i mount the tires, i was also not using anything for anti coning before
 
on a weld in beadlock, you shouldnt need to silicone them. The rubber (nylon?!)surface on tire itself will seal the bead, same as it would on a normal bead wheel. The lack of coning was probably keeping the beadlock from locking the tire down onto the rim and sealing it.

I like the tapped holes idea. Several of my dirt car beadlocks had them. However...seemed they wouldnt stay tight. Not a big deal on the dirt car since the tire got changed every week or so. But after the threaded holes seemed to get worse, (thread wear from coming loose? thread wear from being changed a lot?), I would drill em out so I could put lock nuts on the back side. Then there was always clamping tension on the tire.

Also...Here is a tip...
Dont grind the welds completely smooth. I like to leave a small raised bead...even with a little roughness. Helps keep the tire from slipping around behind the beadlock ring
 
ol'Jeeps said:
on a weld in beadlock, you shouldnt need to silicone them. The rubber (nylon?!)surface on tire itself will seal the bead, same as it would on a normal bead wheel. The lack of coning was probably keeping the beadlock from locking the tire down onto the rim and sealing it.

I like the tapped holes idea. Several of my dirt car beadlocks had them. However...seemed they wouldnt stay tight. Not a big deal on the dirt car since the tire got changed every week or so. But after the threaded holes seemed to get worse, (thread wear from coming loose? thread wear from being changed a lot?), I would drill em out so I could put lock nuts on the back side. Then there was always clamping tension on the tire.


Also...Here is a tip...
Dont grind the welds completely smooth. I like to leave a small raised bead...even with a little roughness. Helps keep the tire from slipping around behind the beadlock ring
Click to expand...

I was thinking the silicone would help seal at the stops and starts of weld cause im pretty sure thats where they leaked before. The silicone wouldnt hurt would it?
 
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I looked at the TMI ones alot. I was advised to close off the opening between the two rings to keep crap out. After that piece of advise (thanks Chip) I decided to run a set of from MudPro (thanks Scott). Plus I like the idea of giving a local shop my business.

It will be a little more work on my end upfront but should make bath time easier.
 
I just re-read this thread. I am about to start welding mine together.
It was recommended to weld the nuts to the back of the inner ring. This seems like a good idea however if a bolt were to break I would be have to extract a broken bolt. Most likely this would force me to break down the Beadlock. It seems like more work to mount the tire but I like the "insurance" down the road.

I will be using bulk hardware from TSC. Are locking nuts needed or will a lock washer suffice?
 
I bought mine in bulk too. With the nylon lock nuts. I simple bought 150 nuts and bolts, if one broke, I had plenty of spares in the jeep.

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No progress Frank. My truck crapped out yesterday so it took all of my time and energy. I'm going to try a new cps this am and if that doesn't work it can take a ride on a wrecker to a shop.

Hopefully when the little one takes a nap I will start laying some weld down.
 
If anyone reads this don't make the mistake that I did.

A REVERSE MOUNT RIM WILL NOT WORK!!!

And this is what it looks like. Note the location of the indentation on the rim. It needs to be on the OTHER SIDE.
image.jpg
 
frankenyoter said:
If anyone reads this don't make the mistake that I did.

A REVERSE MOUNT RIM WILL NOT WORK!!!

And this is what it looks like. Note the location of the indentation on the rim. It needs to be on the OTHER SIDE.
Click to expand...
Dang, that sucks. I probably wouldn't have caught that either.
 
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