Waste of time for you maybe - not me. They're certainly not for everyone. Thanks for sharing tho...

 

If you reach the point your off-road skills have improved enough that you are taking on obstacles that pop beads or burp air they are definitely worth it. Not to mention being able to air down further. I also went through 2 sets of wheels that got ground and bent in rocks. My slabs have been abused bad but the huge ass 5/8 thick rings take a lickin and keep on tickin. Guess it really depends on your terrain.

 

I had TR 15" on my old YJ, took a pounding and never required much of anything in the way of maintenance, bolt torque, etc. Since my JK was going to be a double duty rig I decided to skip the bead locks. But after bending two sets of MT Classic IIs I opted for a fresh set of TRs, no more issues. Had the local tire monkeys remove the tires from the old rims, mounted them myself using a paint bucket, some dish soap solution, torque wrench and patience. Probably a two hour job overall. They balanced easily, rarely have a loose bolt.

 

Exactly. Popping a bead while on the trail? No thanks. I ain't got time for that crap.

Like everyone else has said, get them road forced balanced. I'm glad my local mom-n-pop tire shop only charges me $5 per each wheel to pop the bead. When it comes to actually mounting the ring, you don't want to leave that to some Joe Schmoe to do it because they'll do it the easiest/fastest way possible = no bueno.

 

Speaking of which, my buddy popped a bead today on our last trail. Had to jack the Jeep in place enough to get off the ground, used a ratchet strap, and compressor. Bead popped on, but took us a good 30 minutes total due to jacking up the Jeep safely. Overall it was a good learning experience, everything went smoothly, and no damage.

 

Excuse my ignorance but Can you explain road force balancing ? I have a set of method 105s and says no highway right on the box which concerns me. I had no intentions of putting them on until I need new tires which isn't for another 30k+ miles

 

Ok. Just got my first set of beadlocks put on last week. 37" Toyo's on ATX Slabs. Shop did not balance. Said there's no need to and that they are too heavy to do so anyway. Jeep drives great! Not a hint of vibration. Thoughts?

 

Just a different type of balancing method. It will put force on the tire during the balancing to figure out better on where the weights should be placed to balance the tire. Just a better way of balancing a tire in the long run than the traditional balance done.




This happened twice in 2 days, not mine though. No ether or lighter fluid so a ratchet strap did the trick both times.

 

You may not need anything man, just got lucky I guess.

 

Thanks! Maybe! Still thinking.... from reading all these posts....what's going to wear prematurely because they aren't balanced properly? Bearings? Ball joints? Is there no vibration now cause everything is brand new and tight? Shop says their balancing machine cannot balance a tire/wheel combo this heavy. Says they never balance a Beadlock wheel / tire over 35". And...they put on a lot of them. Hmmmmm?