Flex a seal...anyone use it

marty79

marty79

the LS Swap Guy
Joined
Nov 24, 2013
Location
Conover, NC
Anyone use that rubberized spray/flex-a-seal stuff with good results. At $14 a can, I'd like to know its worth it.
Wanting to spray all the bolt heads on my homemade beadlocks to completely seal them in. Each tire might loose 5psi over a week just sitting so I figured that spray stuff would cure that.
 
marty79 said:
Anyone use that rubberized spray/flex-a-seal stuff with good results. At $14 a can, I'd like to know its worth it.
Wanting to spray all the bolt heads on my homemade beadlocks to completely seal them in. Each tire might loose 5psi over a week just sitting so I figured that spray stuff would cure that.
Click to expand...

Used it on the bottom of my boat. Worked for what I needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I will say, there is a flex a seal tape strip you can get, it's like 3" wide and 3' long or something... it does an amazing job of sealing cracks in wet stuff. On our shower surround, the floor (plastic) developed some cracks where a leak had allowed he under floor to rot and get soft. I put some of that on it and it has held water tight for 3 months.

Buuuut - @marty79 can you explain what you're thinking of doing with it?
Most commonly leaks in DIY beadlocks are through the welds, not the bolts. You'd probably be best off removing the rings and smearing silicone or other sealant all over them, setting it back, and waiting a day before airing back up.
 
Fabrik8 said:
Help me out here.... What type of DIY beadlock has a bolt that is a leakage path? Aren't all of the bolts exterior to the bead sealing surface?
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IMG_20130201_213930_181-500x281.jpg









:flipoff2:
 
Had to make a condom once, sprayed it on, went with it.

No kid from that night.

Yup, good buy.
 
Fabrik8 said:
Help me out here.... What type of DIY beadlock has a bolt that is a leakage path? Aren't all of the bolts exterior to the bead sealing surface?
Click to expand...
Oh my bad figured everyone knew lol.
I got 30some screws through each side of rim that go in behind where the bead sits. Worked flawless on my old jeep with them only on one side but this one I did both sides. At 20psi, will leak maybe 5lbs over a week or so, at 10psi takes several weeks to get to 5psi. The rubber washers hold good but some just have the tiniest of bubbles when sprayed. So I figured that flex a seal would work for that...or the "green slime" can and call it good? Thanks
 
marty79 said:
I got 30some screws through each side of rim that go in behind where the bead sits.
Click to expand...

Radially into the rim I assume instead of axially like a standard beadlock orientation? I'm having trouble picturing this in my head. Need a picture.

Is the rim threaded for the screws?
 
Fabrik8 said:
Radially into the rim I assume instead of axially like a standard beadlock orientation?

Is the rim threaded for the screws?
Click to expand...
They sit roughly 1" inside of rim..predrilled each hole small than used #8 self drilling screws 1.5"long..pretty sweet cheap little beadlock
 
marty79 said:
Oh my bad figured everyone knew lol.
I got 30some screws through each side of rim that go in behind where the bead sits. Worked flawless on my old jeep with them only on one side but this one I did both sides. At 20psi, will leak maybe 5lbs over a week or so, at 10psi takes several weeks to get to 5psi. The rubber washers hold good but some just have the tiniest of bubbles when sprayed. So I figured that flex a seal would work for that...or the "green slime" can and call it good? Thanks
Click to expand...
So you have old school bead screws not beadlocks w a inner/outter ring???
 
Basically this...
178521d1111532446-diy-beadlocks-outter2.jpg
 
Looks ghetto and probably is lol, but works pretty awesome
 
obullfish said:
The 9th from the middle is the one that’s lea
king. Wow that’s some fro rigging at it’s finest.
Click to expand...
That's not his fro riggin.Unless he lives in Cali its a pic from a thread on pirate
Screenshot (14).png
.
 
Aside form the leaking - I'm not sure this is a terrible idea, assuming your screws all line up juuuust right w/ the bead.
I guess you could solve the leak a couple of ways.
1 - pull out each screw, dip/spray/dab some silicone on it, thread it back in. Add air 24 hrs later. Undoing this will be a bitch.
2 - get a bag of rubber discs/washers. Poke each screw through them and tighten down like a washer so it seals the hole.
 
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.
 
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.
Click to expand...

The screw orientation is different for drag slicks; the screws are axial like most DIY beadlocks (Fuller are radial) and they screw through the bead instead of next to the bead.

On the plus side, the Fuller solution is technically street legal because the bead seat profile on the wheel is not modified. Most DIY beadlocks are not street legal because of that.
 
RatLabGuy said:
2 - get a bag of rubber discs/washers. Poke each screw through them and tighten down like a washer so it seals the hole.
Click to expand...
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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