DIY beadlocks......what width wheel to use

[6.2Blazer]

I want to go upgrade to some DIY weld-on style beadlocks. Tired of blowing beads and constantly getting dirt/sticks/rocks stuffed in the outer bead and causing air leaks....and beating up the outer lip of the rim.

Current rims are 16x10's with 13/38-16 TSL's. These tires are really pretty narrow and would probably work better, in non-beadlock state, on an 8" rim. I really don't to spend the dough on new tires so please don't tell me to get a different size rim.

The weld-on beadlocks (inside the lip style) typically add around 1-1.5", which would make the already too wide rims even wider. Though I do realize that having them beadlocked would solve some of the problems of the rims being wider than optimal for the tire size. In the future I would like to get bigger tires which are also wider (39.5x15 TSL would be great...if TSL ever decides to make it.....).

The other option is buying new 16x8 rims and then adding the beadlocks. Ideally the overall width (9-9.5") would be ideal for my current tires and work great for just about any tire out there in the future..........but the extra cash outlay is something I would like to avoid if at all possible (new cheapie steel rims would at least double the overall cost of this project).

Like I said, $$ is a serious concern.......but I don't want to feel like I just threw away several hundred dollars and a lot of time to make beadlocks that I will regret in the future.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions????

[avainaffairs]

I have 16.5x12 and just welded on some bead locks.

I bought mine from Great Lakes Offroad
http://www.greatlakeoffroad.com/
They are a bit cheaper then DIY. You may have to email him about the bead locks but they are $200 for the set. I dont recall how much DIY was but I know they were more expensive.

As to your question, um....I dont know, I am not even entirly sure what your question is. But you mentioned money was an issue so maybe that will help you out.
I think the bead locks are a good idea and I would stick with the wheels you have. I would have perfered that my wheels were only 10" wide and not 12. Then they would fit on my trailer, with out the bead locks my tires were touching the sides of my trailer and now it is even worse, very hard to get my truck on the trailer now. However, my 12 inch wide wheels and 1 1/2 bead locks gives me a wider foot print.
Here are what mine look like
These are just some pics of mine. Maybe your interested in seeing them. I dont have pics with my tires mounted on them.
http://img470.imageshack.us/img470/4...offroadbea.jpg
http://img499.imageshack.us/img499/4...offroadbea.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/4...offroadbea.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4...offroadbea.jpg
with this pic you can see what I was saying about my wheels and tires touching the sides of my trailer
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/891...05nov052so.jpg

[Smash-K20]

I would guess that with 10" rims + 2" beadlocks = 13" tire on a 12" rim. I think you will start to loose the inner bead often even with the outer beads locked.

GreatLake is alittle cheaper, but DIY seems to offer a wider selection of nice looking custom rings for very little extra money. They have mud rings and a few custom designs. Great lake just has the plain rock ring.

I have never ordered rings from either, I had to have the rings for my 16.1 X 14"s custom made.

[rockreligious]

ive got a set of greatlakes rings on 15x10's should come out to 15x12 when im mounted up.. mounting 38.5x14.5x15 tsl sx's next week. right now the tsl's are mounted on 8" rims and i liked it because the sidewall stuck way out and protected the bead and rim. but Id still rather have 12" beads with 14.5 wide tire. hey avian, did you use a grinder or a surfacer on you wheels? nice job.

[dragbody]

i recently did a 14bolt swap and had to get new wheels, so i ordered 15x8 rock crawlers and added a weld on kit to them... i run 38x12.50 tsl's, and they fit perfect!!! but on to your problem, cheap, even though i bought my wheels new, if you look around at used tire stores, you want the tire store where they have spray paint and plywood signs that say "cash only", you can usually find old "wagon wheels" that are old and banged up... remember to the tire dealer these look bad and that means cheap... also if the wheels you have look descent the tire guy might just trade w/ you, hell that's a win, win situation...

[avainaffairs]

Originally Posted by rockreligious

hey avian, did you use a grinder or a surfacer on you wheels? nice job.

Thank you, that is just a grinder. I wish I could take all the credit but I cannont, I had an old retired welder weld them up for me. He did a great job I agree. I was really pleased with them. Even if I owned a welder I could not have done a job like that. But anyway, grinder, I used a grinder to clean them up.

[Greatlakeoffroad]

I would personally do as drag body stated and find a set of old wagon wheels or even go to the pic and pull and find a set of stock steelies alot of times you can get them 8" wide add the b-lock and your looking at 9.5" if you want more width shim the ring away from the rim a bit and have the slight gap welded. Been doing these awhile and I always use steel stockers but just my 2cents Thanks Shawn