My beadlock write-up

I finally got my wheels and tires in so I thought I would do a small write up on how I assembled them.

First thing to do is install valve stems. I decided to go with a steel, threaded, o-ring type. They don't pull out and even at 0 psi you cant push them back into the wheel. It is best to do all of your valve stems at the same time, before you put your tires on the wheels on I forgot one of mine and had to fish it through the hole between the tire and wheel.

Not much to this part just stick them through the wheel and tighten.Make sure your o-ring is on the tire side of the wheel. They don't need to be very tight,I just held the tire side with my finger and tightened the nut untill I couldn't keep the tire side from turning.

 

First thing is remove your lock-ring. You will need some kind of lubricant, I used dawn soap and water mixed in a squirt bottle. Soap the bead on the side of the tire you want on the inside of the rim. Push the beadlock side into tire as far as you can, I could push mine about half way before it got too tight...then I just stepped on it and shoved it the rest of the way. You are going to need a "work table" mine consisted of a Jager cooler,a piece of plywood and a 5 gallon bucket. You can use whatever table you want, but you are going to want the bolts to be at a comfortable height. The bucket is cheap,most people have one laying around and it works great.

 

Whats the dogs name? He looks really interested in whats going on there!!
The white eye makes him look like he would tear you a new one.

 

If you have a friend that owes you now is a good time to enlist an extra set of hands. You have to set the tire and wheel on the bucket. This allows the tire to hang down on the wheel and makes it easier to center the bead on the tire. Soap the top of the beadlock so that the tire moves around easily. Center the tire around the bolt holes. It is very important that you get the tire as close to centered as possible or it will vibrate extremely badly.

 

That's buddy I guess he does look a little intimidating. But he is still just a big puppy.

 

bump for a good guy and a badass SAS build.

 

The holes in my lock ring measured about 10mm the bolts only measured 8.x mm. This annoyed the hell out of me so I found some "bushings" that were the right size. They made the bolts outer diameter about .3mm smaller than the hole in the ring. The reason this bothered me is with the bolts that much smaller than the bolt holes it allowed the ring to move around too much.The less gap the easier it is to center it.

The bead on the tsl sx's are pretty thick, thick enough that the bolts Raceline sent wouldn't reach the threads from the lock ring when I sat it on the tire. I just went to the local parts house and bought 4 bolts that are 3/4 of an inch longer than the ones from Raceline. I put my bushings on these four bolts and used them to center the ring and pull it down far enough to start the rest. You want to evenly space these around the wheel. Tighten these only enough to start the rest.

 

Soap the bead. Now you have to center your tire use a tire hammer or whatever you have laying around. I used a handle out of a floor jack. Most tires have lines that travel around the rim use these to judge how close to center you are. In the pic I was too far to one side and had to beat it over until it was centered. If you can't move it with the ring bolts started loosen it until you can.
Start with the bolts on either side of your first four. Snug them down enough that the tire wont move around anymore then remove the longer bolts and install the ones supplied with the wheels. Do not tighten one at a time turn each one about a half round/turn at a time in a top-bottom-left-right pattern.
I used a drill with the torque turned down and an adapter to run the bolts in until they touched the ring. Then use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts to about 6 ft-lbs using the pattern above. You will have to make several cycles around the wheel to get it torqued. After you get them all to 6 ft-lbs go to 10 then 14 then finish at 16-18 ft-lbs. This is a pita but if you don't take your time with this part the ring will not be pulled evenly.

 

After you get all the bolts torqued. Soap the rear bead on the tire and the wheel. Connect your air line and after a few seconds you should hear a thump, if air is leaking around the back bead you should be able to press down on the tire and get it to start taking air. The thump is the rear bead seating. KEEP YOU HANDS AWAY FROM THE REAR BEAD WHILE SEATING IT. A tire can pinch or remove a finger if it is between the tire and wheel bead when it seats. If you you did everything right you should end up with something like this.

 

Very nicely done.

 

Are those manufactured beadlocks, or did you weld on a kit to standard wheels?

 

They are rock eights from Raceline.