I'm looking at getting Walker Evan bead locks but can't get the rims mounted because their not dot approved. Has anyone mounted their own rims, how easy is it, and what will I need to mount them?

 

I have WE wheels ordered and will soon have to deal with this myself. I did a search and found this somewhere, but copied it to a word document for when I need it. It will give you an idea of what it takes. I recently spoke to an elderly gentleman about his JK with WE wheels, and he said he mounted them himself with instructions similar to these. He told me it was fairly easy to do and also said I might learn something, HAHAHA. He is 84 years old . I figure if he can pull it off I can too.

Someone else's post........







Walker Evans beadlocks are among the very best available. Many Trophy Truck racing teams use them at speeds well over 100 mph in the desert bashing obstacles with no problems.

To mount your tires, put the wheel (without ring, of course) upright on a blanket or towel.

Install a rubber valve stem and remove the core.

Use a spray bottle to squirt water on the inside bead of your tire (soap isn't needed), then push the tire on the wheel. Sometimes this means bouncing a bit with your knee to get the bead over the wheel.

Make sure the upper bead seats around the beadlock ring lip (it easily does this and usually falls into place).

Place the outer ring over the outer bead, lining up the bolt holes. If you're running a tire with a thicker bead, you may have to get four bolts that are longer than those that came with your beadlocks (I've always had to do this and use bolts that are 1/2" longer). This will allow you to put the bolts in and pull the ring down to a point that the other bolts will start. Make sure you dab a small bit of antisieze on all bolts.

Install the four bolts and washers at the 12:00, 6:00, 3:00, and 9:00 positions on the ring. Tighten them enough to pull the ring down just a bit, crossing to the opposite bolt to tighten.

When the ring is pulled down enough, put stock bolts and washers on either side of each longer pilot bolt. Tighten those just a bit, then remove the pilot bolt and install a stock bolt in those positions.

Now, put washers and bolts in the open spaces and start to tighten all bolts, crisscrossing the wheel as you go. The ring will pull all the way down to the wheel, even if it doesn't look like it when you start.

Don't tighten one bolt all the way down - tighten them all equally a little at a time and pull the ring down fairly evenly.

DON'T OVERTIGHTEN! Use a torque wrench and tighten all bolts to 15-20 ft. lbs.

I now squirt around the rear bead with some water, then place the wheel and tire over a 5-gallon paint bucket to get it off the floor, then start filling the tire with air. Usually, the bead will seat right away, but sometimes you need to press on the tire to seat the rear bead.

Once you hear the "pop" of the bead seating, remove the air chuck and reinstall the valve core you removed earlier.

Inflate the tire to no more than 30 psi.

I've never had a problem finding a tire store to balance the tire/wheel combo.


This sounds really complicated, but it's not. I like mounting my tires on beadlocks and you will too, once you get the hang of it. Set aside some time, turn on some music and start in.

NEVER trust anyone else to do this for you, as others almost ALWAYS tighten bolts too much and foul up your expensive wheels.

You'll enjoy your Walker wheels and will have the confidence of knowing you're driving on some of the best wheels available today.

 

I can understand if a tire shop won't mount you tires on the wheels and then bolt them onto your vehicle. But have you tried just taking the wheels and tires to a shop and tell them to mount the rubber and toss them in the back of your rig? There is nothing against the law about a tire shop mounting a non DOT approved tire or else they couldn't ever fix or replace a lawn mower tire!

 

the second post is how I seen it done and would and I would do it the same way you just got to bounce on it sometimes

 

I thought one of the main points to bead locks is to be able to do it your self? Here is a write up that may help: Hutchison Beadlock Wheels Installation Write-Up