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 Ever think about beadlocks without the rings? Or without buying as whole new set of wheels? Click read more to get the rest of the story....
They are sold by Staun in Australia, and should be available soon here.
Murfman has a set of these for testing in the States, and I was able to con him into letting me give them a sound thrashing at The Cliffs on Sunday.
They aren't available in the US yet, but will be soon. They consist on an inner liner made from a rubber tube, and a kevlar girdle type device that keeps them from expanding in diameter, yet still allows them to press out against both beads at the same time- locking the beads to the rim.
Here is the tube-
..and the Nylon and Kevlar girdle-
You have to drill a 5/16" hole for the valvestem of the beadlock, and then install the tire on 1/2 way before you insert the B/L. Dry powdered lube is provided to ease the installation.
Here Murf is inserting the B/L into the tire. You slip one side over the bead, and then into the drop center of the rim so you can slip the other side, just like mounting the tire. (we mounted the tires by hand as well)
<"img src="http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/168774/original/DSC00150.JPG">
B/L half inserted-
![](http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/168775/original/DSC00151.JPG")
To allow air to get past the B/L to the original valve stem, there are these straps which push the B/L off the rim just enough to allow you to air the tire up or down.
Inserting the tube (It seemed a bit ackward at first, but we were worried about hurting the B/L. By the third one, they were cake to install.)
Mounted up on the TJ, the 35x10.50 Boggers seemed to run a bit short compared to other 35s I have run, so they should work great for anyone worried about fitment, such as on a shorter TJ, or an XJ or ZJ. These are my 35x12.50 BFGs, but to be fair, I have them mounted on a 7" wide rim. The 35x10.50 Boggers are on an 8" rim for comparison.
![](http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/168778/original/DSC00154.JPG")
I couldn't get a bead to budge, and not for a lack of trying. I ran them up #7, down the Cooter trail, through the ravine on #11, up #10 (The Great Lakes Trail), and on #12 (the same trail The Ultimate Adventure had all of their bead problems on.) I ran them against trees to pivot turns, tight into crevasses, and even with the TJ laying hard on its side, and all I got for my efforts was a twig pushed partially into the bead. (it didn't cause the tire to leak)
We evan ran the left rear completly flat, and drove it out of the park on trail #3 and on the rocks along the creek without losing the bead or damaging the tire. (they were brand new Boggers) There is no way I could have gotten away with that with my BartLocs- I would have destroyed the tire.
On this off camber, the TJ was driving completely sideways on the sidewall, and you can see the bead is still holding firm. There were 4 more off cambers like this we drove on with no air pressure in the tire, and just the beadlock aired up to 40 PSI.
I really like these B/Ls, and depending on when they become available, may be running some of my own soon. (I like the Sleeper look)
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Posted on Tuesday, January 11 @ 23:59:27 CST by truth |
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Average Score: 4.5
Votes: 4
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