Beadlock Wheels

Bead-lock Wheels

You’ve likely heard of beadlock wheels before, if you hadn’t you probably wouldn’t be on this website.  Bead-lock wheels are seen on a lot of the top high dollar rigs that you see on the trail or even at the shows.  However, do you really need a set of beadlock wheels or do you just want them for show?

Bead-lock wheels are designed to keep your tires on the bead.  What happens is that at lower tire pressures there is a lack of outward pressure on the rim.  And when sideways pressure (such as from rocks) presses against the tire it causes you to “pop a bead”.  Essentially taking the tire off of the bead that it’s meant to set on.

Reality is, a lot of people who want beadlock wheels don’t actually need them.  Bead-lock wheels are really only needed for low-speed trail use when you are going to be traveling at very low tire pressures.  In these situations a horizontal hit is much more likely to knock the tire off the bead.  So in reality if you probably don’t need beadlock wheels if you don’t run your tires below about 12psi.  Above this point there’s usually enough tire pressure to keep the tire seated.

However, you may want Bead-lock wheels simply so you can run your tires very low without having to worry about it.  Why would you do this you ask?  Quite simply beadlock wheels allow your tire to run at a lower pressure by clamping the outer tire bead in to place.  As we all know, this lower tire pressure means your tires has a larger footprint, and therefore more traction. 

The majority of Bead-lock wheels work only by clamping the outer facing side of the tire.  The reason that beadlock wheels don’t clamp the inner side of the tire is because this generally is not necessary, as the majority of the force a tire sees from turning and driving occurs on the outside of the tire.  Also, Bead-lock wheels can be inherently difficult to balance properly, and if you were to add a ring to both the inner and outer sides of the wheel it would be near impossible to balance properly.

Now that you know the upside of getting a set of beadlock wheels, it’s important to understand the down side.  Bead-locks wheels are excellent for offroading, but they are not good for the street.  Fact is, since most of them are not street legal at all.  They also require a significant amount of maintenance.  Beadlock wheels have bolts that need to have their torque checked before every trail outing.  If any of the bolts brake, you’ll need to replace the entire set as it will have caused undue stress on surrounding bolts leading to a potential failure.  Obviously you can see why this is one of the main reasons why Bead-lock wheels are not DOT approved for highway use.  So if you want to get yourself a set of bead-lock wheels, remember that you’ll need a second set of wheels to take your rig on the highway.