Tell me about beadlock

You can buy aftermarket, but they provide no advantage at street pressure, lose pressure over time and must be checked regularly. I'd check the torque every 100 - 250 miles.

Tires are the same, there arent beadlocks tires. You'll probably have to mount the tires yourself though.

The wheels on the 'Squatch package are "beadlock ready" - the rings are just for looks (although they do provide some protection for the wheel for rock rash). To make these into working beadlocks you need to buy the conversion kit from Ford (real BL rings and all the bolts). Ford lists them for $216 a wheel. New aftermarket beadlocks - the wheel and everything - are not much more than that. Ford lists them for off-road use only. Only a few aftermarket beadlocks claim to be DOT approved for on-road use. That said I've never heard of anyone getting a ticket for street use.

One other issue is beadlocks are not normally recommended to be run at normal street pressures recommended today - 35-40 psi or higher. Max recommended is usually no more than 20-25 psi. As Dead Man's Hand, er, AcesandEights, stated, they tend to lose pressure and require periodic maintenance. They are really a poor choice unless you really do some rock crawling and need to air down to 6-8 psi. No special tires are needed with beadlocks. One advantage is that you can change your own tires - you'll want to because you'll not want to pay the labor to torque all the bolts if you have someone else do it! LOL

I have the BL-ready wheels on my Raptor and I really like the looks better than the non-BL wheels. But I never intend to convert them. I have Walker-Evans true beadlocks on my Bronco crawler and they are great. I do drive it on the street but it's not a daily driver.

gibsBRonCO

They are really a poor choice unless you really do some rock crawling and need to air down to 6-8 psi.

I agree with this. My opinion and experience is, generally 35” tires aren’t big enough to tackle the terrain that requires someone to air down to single digit air during crawling. I have Raceline bead locks on my 68, but I acknowledge they are way overkill for the rubicon or the other trails I run. I would think if you’re desert running, bead locks might be more beneficial for those hard hits.

So, what do serious off-roaders do? Do they carry a 2nd set of mounted tires and change them when they get where they are going? Or just have non-deadlocks for most day-to-day driving, and just mount the beadlocks when a off-road trip is coming up?

3Dogs

So, what do serious off-roaders do? Do they carry a 2nd set of mounted tires and change them when they get where they are going? Or just have non-deadlocks for most day-to-day driving, and just mount the beadlocks when a off-road trip is coming up?

Yes some do just that. Most don't even daily drive their off road machines if they're hard core crawlers.

3Dogs

So, what do serious off-roaders do? Do they carry a 2nd set of mounted tires and change them when they get where they are going? Or just have non-deadlocks for most day-to-day driving, and just mount the beadlocks when a off-road trip is coming up?

Most serious rock crawlers don't use their rig with beadlocks as a daily driver. Just driving to and from a trail the beadlocks work fine. I drove mine from Buena Vista to Moab and back - going was a mix of trails and roads and the return was entirely highway. About 400 miles each way all on beadlocks. Again, they are usable on road, just not optimal. Also a lot of serious rock crawlers run "sticky" tires which have a very soft compound and will wear very fast with on-road use so their rigs see very little street use. Some people with sticky tires do have 2 sets and sometimes swap them mainly for the tires, not the beadlocks. My guess is 99% of people who off road don't really need beadlocks or sticky tires for the trails they run.

They do have a cool factor. Most people (including traffic cops who might pull you over) can't tell the difference between true beadlocks and fake beadlocks.

Thanks for all the answers.

Oftentimes, people with beadlocks trailer their rig to the trails, not soley because they have beadlocks; although, that may be part of it. Mostly it's because the trail rig isn't as fun/easy to drive on the street with all of the other mods, suspension, larger/heavier tires, steering mods, poor gas mileage, etc. So, people put their truck on a trailer and haul it to the trail so they don't wear it out on the street and can drive their tow rig in comfort.

Most beadlock wheels are not DOT approved. The ford ones allow you to run as std wheel or beadlock with purchase of extra beadlock locking ring (4 needed). I haven't seen any after market wheels with that feature.

Alot of guys run beadlock all the time, but just like driving in carpool lane you are risking a ticket, but you might get lucky.

AcesandEights

Oftentimes, people with beadlocks trailer their rig to the trails, not soley because they have beadlocks; although, that may be part of it. Mostly it's because the trail rig isn't as fun/easy to drive on the street with all of the other mods, suspension, larger/heavier tires, steering mods, poor gas mileage, etc. So, people put their truck on a trailer and haul it to the trail so they don't wear it out on the street and can drive their tow rig in comfort.

Usually, if you're wheeling hard enough to need beadlocks, you're wheeling hard enough to break something and need a ride home, hence the trailer and tow rig...
I've had the rear driveshaft on my 79 hit the ground with a pinion gear still bolted to it. Without beadlocks. I don't plan on running my $50k 2021 that hard until long after I'm done making payments, and by then I'm sure the factory tires will be worn slap out and non-consequential to the decision whether to run true beadlocks.

I found a couple of pictures that demonstrate the difference between a regular squatch rim one with the beadlock ring on it.

Deano Bronc

I found a couple of pictures that demonstrate the difference between a regular squatch rim one with the beadlock ring on it.
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Awesome! A guy at work the other day was asking me how it would work on the stock rims, I shrugged my shoulders and speculated, not sure if an insert was required or just a different ring. Now I know!