DJ1

Not sure about bedrocks but as far a beadlocks go, really depends if you want to keep it DOT approved or not. Below is a list of the ones that have been tried and tested but not all are DOT approved. I personally have a set of Raceline Monsters and a set of Trail Ready beadlocks. For me, if they've been good for multiple years on the "Hammers" then they're good enough for me. Even though I'll never trash them as hard as those guys do, you can't put a price on peace of mind in my opinion.

These all run about ~ $400 to $500 each. What I have gained in off-road traction and peace of mind has offset the price 10x. Plus if I ever need to sell them, it is no problem finding a buyer for a reputable set of beadlocks. Try getting 75% of your money back on a run-of-the-mill wheel......most likely won't happen. As an example, just look at the 4 sale section here on the forum for all the standard wheels people are trying to sell.

Hutchinson - made in USA
Walker Evans - cast in China, machined in USA.....although I believe they have a series of forged wheels that are entirely made in USA
Allied/Raceline Monster - made in China
ATX Slabs - made in China
*can't remember their name but it's the mfg from which the ATX Slabs were cloned off of but they're made in the USA
Trail Ready - entirely made in the USA and LIFETIME WARRANTY
*there are a couple more mfg's but I can't think of their names right now...

Method Racing just came out with a less expensive set ~ $330 each. I believe these are made in China. These are fairly new to the scene so long-term use/durability may still be questionable.

http://www.northridge4x4.com/wheels/...eels-beadlocks

FWIW, I'm still running 3.73 gears which have done the job but will probably upgrade to 4.88 later this year and will probably slap on a LSD/Tru-Trac up front with some manual hubs. Still haven't got my Cs done or the OEM ball joints changed yet...

Like it was mentioned earlier:
Actually instead of a winch, like another poster mentioned just go with a tru-trac up front for the least cost. See how that works with stock wheels and a decent A/T tire (Duratrac). Have room to spend a little more $? Get the beadlocks/ball joints/Cs.

PG-JKU

I'm in Canada, northern BC. Daily driver. It's a compromise but hardly the death trap like everyone makes it out to be.

Mark Doiron

While that is true, beadlocks do come with disadvantages. And airing down to 10 PSI (or much below 20 PSI) can be a disadvantage for some uses of the Jeep. Overlanding tends to be at much higher speeds (okay, 10-20 MPH much of the time) over very rough roads. One wants to air down some--20 PSI is popular--because it tends to smooth out some of those bumps. And, if one runs into a serious obstacle, then one might air down to 15 or so, cross the obstacle, then air back up. Let me emphasize: Folks like Tom Sheppard who drive across the Sahara run that at 20 PSI unless they get to a particularly difficult stretch. And they don't have beadlocks. Why? Because of those disadvantages: Expense, continual maintenance hassles (have to retorque all of those screws every few thousand miles), and the biggest one: When aired down, your sidewalls bulge out and become vulnerable to sharp rocks. So, while a rock crawler playing a few miles from a town in an off-road park might like beadlocks, an overlander who is two days travel from the nearest bit of humanity would not benefit from them. And even a rock crawler may be more concerned about ground clearance than grip: Airing down will lose some of that precious ground clearance.



BTW, do you know what the motto is for Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas is? "Bring Two Spares." Because there's a good chance you'll need both!

DJ1

That's why we got on-board air Got a stretch where you need to run to 10psi for max traction, no problem. Back on an over-land stretch and need to air back up? Fire up the compressor. Sure they bulge out when you air down to 10psi, but you also get the max traction. It's give/take. Try running the Rubicon trail alone at 20 psi with his current setup. I don't see it happening unless you plan to winch out every 10 minutes.

Even at 15psi, it sucks! How do I know? Because I tried it before finally settling down to 10psi and the 2012 Rubicon 2-dr in front of me who was running @ 15 psi on a 3.5" lift had to winch out twice. Advantage = beadlocks.

I've got 35k out of 52k miles on the beadlocks. It takes 10-15 mins to check the torque for all 4 mounted wheels. I check them every 3 months. If I'm planning an offroad trip, I'll do a JK "pre-flight check" before I head offroad.

But lastly, let's say the worse happens. You're using your spare and that happens to go flat. Try driving 1 mile on a flat tire mounted on a standard wheel without losing the bead completely. Good luck with that.

Got beadlocks? No problem. There are several vids & testimonials of race rigs able to complete & finish the race because they were running beadlocks. If anything, I like knowing that if SHTF and I really needed to, I could still make it home even with a trashed tire so in essence, that counters your argument on running beadlocks away from civilization.

Also, let's take a look at baja race rigs for example. That's pretty much high-speed overlanding. All, if not most, run beadlocks. There's a reason for that and it's primarily because if the worse happens and you have a flat, you can still finish the race.

Beadlocks for these champions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKwDcLUXlvU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyjeoZUaJBg

Try these with a standard wheel....
Flat tire on beadlock = finished race @ 0:30:49 and 0:30:54
Flat tire / NO tire driven on beadlock for 20 miles = still finished race @ 1:14:35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ygZu9RpJM

Having said that, I hear you Mark.

Let's not forget the OP is running a 2.5 AEV on a stock Sahara. I'm assuming he doesn't want to re-do his whole suspension setup and is looking for the best way to get more traction without throwing a ton of money on a 95% DD. And it sounds like his next excursion is going to be more rock/crawling related.