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Comments
While I do not intend to run these tires on the road, I have
found that many events - even those considered extremely hard
core, require some road travel and I wanted to make sure that
I had done a decent job in getting these mounted properly.
Duane
at The Shop Off-Road
Specialist in League City, Texas did a great job balancing
my tires, and I will admit they had to take two of them back
off in order to get them properly centered. This adds emphasis
to following the above steps exactly if you want your tires
mounted correctly on your beadlocks.
I
was anxious to get out and play, so we took a group out to
a local wheeling spot to see what we could do. The area we
chose to play in is mostly red iron ore covering hard jagged
rock. This would be a great place to test rims designed for
rockcrawling. We might even find a few more challenges as
well.
Without
beadlocks I usually run my TSL Radials at around 11 or 12
lbs. of pressure when on the trail. At 11 lbs. the tire only
begins to flex against the rocks on this steep hill climb
but doesn't grab enough to pull me up.
Once
I lowered the pressure down to around 7 lbs. the tire conformed
much better to the surface of the hill and seemed to grab
a hold and walk me right up.
If
you notice in the photos, one of my buddies (the picture of
the chrome rim without beadlocks) has the same problem on
the hill. His BFGs are running at 10 lbs. of pressure and
they simply don't grab as well as if he were running at the
lower air pressure. Though not a completely scientific
test, as the tires and the Jeep were different, it was still
evident that running a lower air pressure made a difference
- at least on this obstacle.
We
spent the rest of the day hammering the tires against as many
rocks as we could find. In the process, we found that the
lower air pressure is also helpful in wooded areas where you
are running over downed logs and stumps, as the tires were
able to conform better to them. The lower air pressure also
seemed to help in areas where the rock was covered with soupy
mud, as well.
After
running these beadlocks I can now answer some of the questions
that were raised, and maybe I can even disperse a few myths.
Here
are the positive, intrinsic things I have found. I have more
confidence running lower pressures. I am not worried about
a bead coming off at a bad time (like while climbing a jagged
vertical wall). I also wouldn't be worried in that same situation
if I did lose air pressure because I'm not worried about the
tire coming completely off the rim.
A
few of the things that I heard as the downside of running
beadlocks I have not experienced with
these rims.
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I
have heard of problems getting to valve stems because
they are too close to the beadlock and of having it ripped
off when getting caught between rocks and the beadlock
ring. The
valve stems are up and out of the way, so airing up and
down is as easy as any other rim.
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The tires centered fairly easily on the rims and installation
was pretty simple. It took me a weekend to do all five
tires but I only worked on them for a little while each
day.
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The rims and tires balanced out and run at street speeds
with no problems (although I would not recommend running
non-DOT Approved rims on your street vehicle).
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The
way these rims are designed, the beadlock bolts are protected
by the rolled rim and some extra material in the shape
of the outer edge. In fact, I found it rather difficult
to get even a scratch on the area around the bolt heads.
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The
beads are held in place with 32 bolts and while that takes
some time to put on, I have not experienced any of them
coming loose. I have checked the torque after each run
and so far nothing has worked loose.
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I
have had no air leaks with these beadlocks. I have
heard this is a problem with many other beadlocks and
purposely checked them everyday for a two week period.
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Allied
uses threaded inserts that the bolts attach to.
If one of the inserts gets damaged it only requires a
little force to push them out and they can be replaced
in moments without un-mounting the whole beadlock ring.
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I
have heard complaints of different manufacturers' beadlocks
shearing the retaining bolts. I have been
told that this is because the outer rings don't line up
exactly as they should and there is too much pressure
on the bolts which causes them to sit at a slight angle
to the outer ring. This isn't a problem with these
wheels because the bolt holes on the outer ring line up
directly with the mating surface on the wheel. The
bolts go in straight and flush against the ring even before
any torque is applied.
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My
tires (36x12.50x15 TSL Radials) mounted and balanced out
without too much work. It did take someone that
knew the proper way to balance truck tires with the proper
equipment, but it rides as well now as it did before.
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As
I have been told before, quality is probably the key factor
in getting a beadlock you can live with. I believe
no one can find a fault in the quality of the "Rock-A-Thon"
Competition Beadlocks. The quality of the fit and finish
is exceptional and they have been working flawlessly.
Of
course, some of the negative of beadlocks are true with these
wheels as well:
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Yes,
they do collect mud and other debris between the outer
ring and the mating surface.
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They
are heavy. The welded surface and the outer ring do add
unsprung weight to the vehicle.
-
They
are not DOT-Approved, so be sure to check all applicable
laws BEFORE running these wheels on the street.
I don't believe that any of these issues would deter someone
from purchasing them for competition purposes or for any other
reason that a beadlock is deemed necessary as the Rock-A-Thons
have many other advantages.
One
other factor that I have found is the security in knowing
that even at zero air pressure (like losing air pressure in
the middle of a climb), the tire stays on the bead and allows
you to clear the obstacle before changing a tire. In the pictures,
it would have been very difficult to change a tire without
multiple winches and a couple of friends.
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(Click
on Photos to Enlarge)
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You have to admit, they look pretty cool!
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Ledges like this make you appreciate low air pressure.
As you can see, at 11 pounds, the tires do not conform
to the rocks very well.
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See how much better it rolls over at 7 pounds.
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The tire envelops the surface much better.
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Without a beadlock, this Jeep's tire has too much
air to wrap around the rock.
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With a beadlock, even if you puncture a tire, you
can still finish the obstacle and get to flat ground
to get aired back up. |
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We found every sharp rock we could to test the rims.
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Even completely deflated, the tire stays on!
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With the tires completely deflated, the tires stayed
on the rims, even with heavy side pressure.
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Information direct from Allied
Allied
Racing Wheels are assembled using state-of-the-art manufacturing
technology with 360 degree welds. They are constantly
testing their wheels using in-house cornering and radial fatigue
testing machines to guarantee high quality and consistent
beadlock wheels. Their manufacturing facilities have
grown to over 320,000 square feet utilizing 57 punch presses,
4 rim lines and 8 precision high wheel assembly lines.
Every painted beadlock wheel is first E-coated and then finished
with a high-quality powder coat. Their in-house engineering
department utilizes the latest in CAD/CAM technology providing
new and innovative beadlock wheels. With world-class
design and manufacturing technology, Allied is committed to
providing the customer with the highest quality beadlock wheels
on the market.
Allied
currently offers these wheels in 15x8, 15x10 and 15x12 sizes;
5 on 4-1/2, 5 on 5, 6 on 5-1/2 and 8 on 6-1/2 bolt patterns;
3-1/2 is the standard backspacing; either circular or Daytona
(D-hole) pattern centers. The rims are available in
Chrome, Black or Mossy Oak Camouflage. The outer ring is black.
They will take custom orders and additional rims sizes will
be available soon, including 17" rims, which are due
in late April, 2002.
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