Slab Beadlocks and road driving

C

Captain Ed

Member
I am wondering how beadlocks hold up on road. I have a great line on some ATX Slabs for my 37x13.5x17 Cooper STT pros and I am curious. I see that ATX says these are for Off Road Only and that gets me thinking. Why? I cant find any evidence of ATX Slabs exploding or falling apart as one drives.

What are your personal experience with beadlocks as well as any tips for maintaining them (I.E. do you actually deflate and retorque them and how often?) I live in the rust belt in Wisconsin so my next thought is how are they in shitty salty conditions? Do they hold up?

I love the look and the ability to air down a lot but I want to know who has put lots of "road" miles on their beadlocks?

Thanks!
 
I live in Iowa and have had slabs on year round for 4 or so years with no issues. I have not taken the rings off since so I don’t know what it’s like behind them as of yet so maybe they are jacked up I just don’t know. I do torque them every few months except in winter. No heated garage! But honestly they have yet to need it since I put them on.


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Bead locks are off-road use only because they are not DOT approved (ie. You could get harassed by the cops for running them on the road). I remember a bead lock thread and I think most were re-torquing ring bolts after the first 100 miles then checking torque at oil changes. I think a few people said they quit checking so often because nothing was ever loose. Not a bead lock owner, this just what I remember reading here.

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Initially I had the same concerns 3 years ago when I first got my beadlocks but now I don't even give them a second thought. I have roughly 55k miles on mine now.

The reason they say offroad only is that they are not DOT approved. There are DOT approved beadlocks out there - Hutchinson is one - but the manufacturers simply don't spend the money to get them approved. It's not that they won't pass. They certainly are stronger than many DOT approved wheels out there - looks at the abuse they withstand during an offroad race. As far as maintenance goes, checking the bolts now and again is really all there is to it. I used to check mine constantly but I've never had to re-tighten any of the bolts so I tend to do it at each oil change (5000 mi.)

You will experience corrosion on the backside of the bolts from the salt & brine put down on the roads but if you do the initial install with anti-sieze it will help. Still, that will wash off the exposed ends of the screws. I have broken mine down each winter to clean up the screws and just a general maintenance thing I guess. I replaced the bolts after the second time I took them apart but ATX/Wheel Pros really don't have a replacement schedule for doing this. If those wheels are raw aluminum and you Jeep is your daily driver, be prepared to spend a LOT of time keeping after them. They will NOT stay nice unless you are ANAL about keeping the shitty salt off of them. If they have the black finish, you're good to go. Surprisingly, the ring in the raw aluminum really doesn't seem to show much regarding the corrosion. Probably because they get all beat up if you get into any rocks.

Bottom line is that they require a little more maintenance but certainly not a significant amount. Go for it. You won't be disappointed.

Edit: NVM on the raw aluminum comments - I don't think they even offer Slabs in raw aluminum. The black finish on them holds up great. I have a set of those I run in Winter so my Chamber Pros don't get all jacked up.
 
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Bierpower said:
Bead locks are off-road use only because they are not DOT approved (ie. You could get harassed by the cops for running them on the road).
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I have yet hear from anyone that had this happen. PA has yearly inspections and honestly, I don't think any garage would notice the wheels are beadlocks. Cops either. I can't see one of them getting down on hands & knees during a traffic stop looking for a DOT stamp on a wheel. Maybe it's different in other states, but the ones I've talked to here are more worried about not getting shot than DOT approved wheels. :twocents:
 
All I've talked to have never had issues. All I was pointing out is that they are not road legal and a dick head cop who wants to ruin your day could harass you about them. Probably won't ever happen but it is a possibility.

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Bierpower said:
All I've talked to have never had issues. All I was pointing out is that they are not road legal and a dick head cop who wants to ruin your day could harass you about them. Probably won't ever happen but it is a possibility.

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True that, but in my case I have so much other shit he could give me grief about I don't even think about the wheels anymore :crazyeyes:
 
Ddays said:
True that, but in my case I have so much other shit he could give me grief about I don't even think about the wheels anymore :crazyeyes:
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I’d have to agree with you there. If an officer gets to looking at weather your bead locks are real or not, you probably have other problems to worry about that led him there. I’d say get them and don’t worry about it.


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Captain Ed said:
I am wondering how beadlocks hold up on road. I have a great line on some ATX Slabs for my 37x13.5x17 Cooper STT pros and I am curious. I see that ATX says these are for Off Road Only and that gets me thinking. Why? I cant find any evidence of ATX Slabs exploding or falling apart as one drives.

What are your personal experience with beadlocks as well as any tips for maintaining them (I.E. do you actually deflate and retorque them and how often?) I live in the rust belt in Wisconsin so my next thought is how are they in shitty salty conditions? Do they hold up?

I love the look and the ability to air down a lot but I want to know who has put lots of "road" miles on their beadlocks?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Unless your state specifically outlaws them, I think your biggest issue is going to be fighting corrosion from the elements, road salt, etc. Thankfully I live in a dry climate and don’t have to deal with that.

I’ve been running Chamber Pros for several years and have thousands of road miles on them. A few times a year I check the torque of the ring bolts. Other than that, no issues. I have not heard any persuasive reason to deflate periodically. I don’t do that, and it hasn’t been an issue.

One thing to note, though, is many tire places won’t touch them. So be sure you have a shop within reasonable distance from you if you want them mounted and balanced.
 
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I’ve been running my set for almost two years, zero issues aside from the fun of mounting and dismounting your own tires. I’ve been in one accident where a lady side swiped me right on to the rim and it’s still like new. Cops come and wrote the report and didn’t care or looked that it was a beadlock. There’s so many beadlock fake wheels nowadays that everyone unless your a Jeep enthusiast knows they are real beadlocks. My Jeep even passed Texas inspections with them on


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fiend said:
One thing to note, though, is many tire places won’t touch them. So be sure you have a shop within reasonable distance from you if you want them mounted and balanced.
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This is pretty important ^^. If you don't/can't/won't mount these yourself it'll be tough to find someone to mount them for you. If you do mount them yourself, and I'd suggest you do it so you're familiar with the process if you ever run into problems down the road, you may be able to find someone to balance them for you. Just don't tell them they're beadlocks. May have to search around some. Some guys don;t even bother to have their wheels balanced. Mine were ok without it up until I got about 25k mikes on them and they shook some when you got up to 70mph. Eventually found a guy to balance them and they're smooth as glass now.
 
Thanks guys I do appreciate all the input and advise. I am buying them within the week. 325 per wheel is hard to beat. Take care!
 
I don’t have the slabs but I do run the chamber pro II. I keep them torqued properly and check them regularly. Never had an issue in the 8 months I’ve been running them. I also run them on cooper STT pros 37x13.50x17. Heavy as fuck though. Fair warning.
 
Yep I watched both Mel and Eddie and that gave me the confidence to do this. I have good wheeling buddy who has beads on his LJ with 35's so I have back up. I posted to get more info from all here who have experience in some form. I will post pics once they are mounted and ready to wheel. I know they are heavy but so am I and enjoy lifting so I am going to go for it. Now I am wondering if I should paint my rings or leave them shiny. I dont have any shiny things on my Jeep.
 
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