[fritter]

Ok.. Stupid noob question time.

From my reading here I've noted that many people have stated that bead locks are illegal. However, I've never seen anyone post as to why they are illegal.
So my question is, why are they illegal?
I would have thought that anything that helps keep your tyres on your rims would be a good thing?

I'm sure I'm missing something, but a short response would be great.

[Fatzook]

The same things that you say help keep the tyre on the rims, are also the same reason they are illegal.

Bolts can shear. Bolts can come undone. There is no ADR standard for them. There are no regulations regarding the grade of hardware used for the mechanical lock. They are much harder to balance.

Probably quite a few other reasons, but in short.... They are illegal because the govt says they are.

[fritter]

haha... Fair enough.

[Gwagensteve]

All of the points raised by Fatzook are relevant, there's also another. Conventional bolted beadlocks, such as the trik weld in kits, allied, kmc, Walker Evans, trail ready etc all seal the tyre on the wrong side of the bead-that is they seal on the inside surface of the tyre, not the surface the tyre was built to seal on. From an approval standpoint, this isn't going to get up. The tyre would need to be made with a smooth sealing surface to suit the wheel.

There are road legal beadlocks- they use a two piece rim with an inner sleeve that forces the two beads against the rim. Hummers were legally sold in Australia with these rims, and you can buy the same rim design from your jeep dealer for the jk wrangler. The rims are made by Hutchinson in the US. These rims are allowed because the tyre is still retained and sealed exactly the way the tyre manufacturer intended.

They are very expensive though.

Many years ago I researched the testing requirements for approving a new rim design. It's VERY expensive and involves actual on- vehicle destructive testing (such as a simulated blowout)

Steve

Ps even the best bolted beadlocks do loosen my Walkers were torqued to spec, and did loosen off after the first couple of drives. Steel beadlocks can be a nightmare to seal and get to run true.

[Bruce]

internal beadlocks are legal AFAIK.

[SierraDan]

With the Staun ADR approved rims designed to use the internal bead locks.

Drilling a new hole in a rim makes it illegal.

[want33s]

Bruce wrote:

internal beadlocks are legal AFAIK.

They are legal IF you don't modify the wheel at all.... EG: Drill a hole for the second valve stem.

[want33s]

Beaten by seconds...

[SierraDan]

But if you're using bead locks you're probably driving some tough terrain and I'm sure there are some other illegal bits on your car you're not worried about. The extra valve in the rim attracts less attention than a bright red ring of steel welded to each wheel..

[SierraDan]

want33s wrote:

Beaten by seconds...

Woops

[Bruce]

Righto then. Thanks Dan and Jas.

[fritter]

Thanks guys. I'm unlikley to ever use them. It was just one of those things I wondered about.

[Gwagensteve]

And that's a key point. If you need beadlocks, theyre not the illegalest part of the car.

Steve.

[Shansh]

thought beadlocks would become a neccesity on tyres bigger then 33's to avoid beads breaking as soon as they needed to be aired down significantly or do i have it all wrong?

[Fatzook]

That depends on rim width, tyre pressure and sidewall rigidity.

[Shansh]

oh ok so what about say a KM2 33x10.5 then, was thinking if i needed beadlocks the staun internals would be the go

[Fatzook]

Shansh wrote:

oh ok so what about say a KM2 33x10.5 then, was thinking if i needed beadlocks the staun internals would be the go

IF you need them, the stauns will be the most stealth option.

[Gwagensteve]

Are 33's legal on a Suzuki? The wheels aren't the legal problem under those circumstances.

In any case, I don't like internal beadlocks. I've seen too many leak/fail in the bush, be slow / impossible to air up or down, and they still get mud, roots etc under the beads.

One of the other issues is that they don't add strength to the rim, so rims are more likely to get damaged once the pressure is very low.

Yes, in my opinion if you're running 33's on a suzuki you're not getting enough out of your tyres if you aren't running beadlocks.

Steve.

[Shansh]

thanks pete/steve, good info

[HarryHoudini]

OK.my ignorant question,why not use tubes like the Rally Cars & Off Roaders of the 1960's & 70's.

[BlueSuzy]

People do, But in low pressures, The tube can run around the rims and snap the valve off. Every ridden a bike with a flat?

[SierraDan]

They only work to a degree.

A bead lock locks the tyre to the rim so it can't pop off or spin on the rim.
A sticky/bias ply tyre will twist up and flex at low pressures with lots of gearing and traction like a drag cars rear tyre, so you don't want to lose that drive with the rim spinning in the tyre.

[Reubs]

BlueSuzy wrote:

People do, But in low pressures, The tube can run around the rims and snap the valve off. Every ridden a bike with a flat?

I've used inner-tubes on 31x10.50R15 Maxxis Trepadors on 15x7" rims at 6PSI and found the valves have rotated slightly after only a few trips putting them at risk of being snapped off.

Also, you still get a lot of mud and grit between the rim and tube causing a risk of puncture from abrasion also. Like tubeless tyres at low pressures they still need to have the tyres taken off and the grit cleaned out.

IMO tubes are better than tubeless off-road but bead locks would be better still - a bit like the unlocked vs auto-locker vs air locker debate.

The other thing to be mindful of is unlike a tubeless tyre - if you get a puncture in an inner-tube the tube could rip apart and the tyre will flatten nearly instantly (potentially dangerous at speed) so there is an on-road safety aspect to consider as well, but having said that people have used split rims with tubes for years...

[christover1]

Simex Heavy Duty Tubes kept me going for years.
They also have the option of inserts to protect the valve stem.
Requires rims valve hole to be drilled out a tad.
Still not invincible,
but I never lost a bead, or got a flat in many years of abuse.

I don't like stock tubes, too fragile.

[want33s]

I spent $700 on my Staun internal beadlocks. ... There is a reason Staun is now defunct.
The product isn't really that bad it's just that they aren't a cure all.
They require regular inspection and cleaning. Mud still works its way past the beads and abrades the tubes.
The air passage things are trouble too.
More work than they are worth.
I'd run tubeless tyres or external beadlocks.

[Shansh]

cheers for the heads up, sounds expensive for something that is that much hassle