Montana Overland & 4x4 Adventures

Beadlock: "A mechanical device that secures the bead of a tire to the wheel of a vehicle."

Many people, especially new off-roaders, have questions about what beadlocks (bead retention devices) are and how they might help them when off-roading. So here goes;

In normal driving conditions (out on the street), your tire is held tightly to the wheel by the air pressure within the tire, pushing the bead of the tire firmly against the lip of the wheel. For safety: When on the pavement and/or at highway speeds, you should always inflate your tires to your vehicle's or tire's recommended or "normal" highway pressures. 

However, it is common to reduce tire pressures (PSI), sometimes substantially, when off-roading. Reducing tire pressures when off-roading can provide several benefits, including improved ride quality and traction. If you go off-roading (or want to) and are unfamiliar with airing down, you are getting a bit ahead of yourself by looking at beadlock wheels. Beadlocks are all about being aired down. 

You can check out one of our posts on airing down, like this one: AIRING DOWN (SUMMER EDITION)

The folks at Method Racing Wheels tell us that a beadlock wheel "relies on clamping force generated by tightening a set of bolts that thread into the wheel, applying force to the beadlock ring." The ring mechanically clamps and seals the tire's outer bead to the wheel." This effectively locks the tire and wheel together, so you cannot spin the wheel in the tire, and it dramatically reduces the chances of unseating that outer bead. While a less common occurrence, it does little to keep the inner bead seated as it only "locks" the outer bead.  However, the inner bead generally experiances lower side pressures, so is less likley to de-bead than the outer side.

Tech Tip:  This is the best known type of beadlock.  There is such a beast as a "double beadlock" that effectively locks both beads, but they are not as common and can be very expensive. We will cover those and some other dual locking technologies later in this post.  

A downside of standard beadlock wheels is that it requires regular maintenance and retorquing of the ring bolts for safety. People failing to maintain their Beadlock wheels properly is a primary cause of their reputation for being unsafe.  If you do your part, they are very safe.

Another thing of note with beadlock wheels is the debate over whether they are "street legal" or not. Very few beadlocks are DOT Compliant. While I am unfamiliar with any Montana law against using beadlock wheels on the street, some other states are less friendly about them. Utah's vehicle inspection rules come to mind. In Utah, if your wheels are not DOT Compliant, they won't pass inspection.  It is also best to remember that most (if not all) Beadlocks are designated as "For Offroad Use Only" by their manufacturers, even if they also claim their wheels to be DOT Compliant. This means many tire shops will not mount beadlock wheels due to both the additional work required and the liability potential.

To learn more, click here: Method Race Wheels Beadlocks