Are these Walker Evans beadlocks or "streetlocks" (fake beadlocks)?

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mojowrangler

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This is kind of a continuation of another post...


I popped the ring off one of the Walker Evans beadlock wheels on my vehicle, with plans to replace the valve stems with stems that have a ~85-degrree bend and and a hardware clamping mechanism. I want the bend to make it easier to air up/down without pulling the stem away from the beadlock ring, which currently blocks it. I want the hardware clamping for additional assurance against air leaks around the valve stem.

I assumed that when I pulled the ring off I would see the tire bead between the ring and the rim. However, the tires are installed "normally" (inside the rim like a non-beadlock wheel) rather than using the beadlock ring. I'm now debating whether to use the beadlocks as the wheels were designed for or leave them as-is. I'm leaning toward leaving them as-is for now, but still want to replace the valve stems which requires breaking the bead.

I also read somewhere that Walker Evans made "fake" beadlocks (wheels that look like beadlocks, but really are not), called "streetlocks" (some people like how they look, but don't care about the beadlock function). I don't think that's what these are, but it got me thinking. I couldn't find any pictures or a way to tell the difference. I'd be surprised if the "streetlocks" still have all the bolts around the ring since it would be a strange waste non-functional hardware.

The rings are also abused enough that I would consider replacing them before I attempt reseating the tire using the beadlock functionality.

So, I assume these are beadlock wheels (just based on the way they look like they should work), but they are not being used as beadlocks. Am I looking at this wrong? I'm just trying to reconcile why these look different than the beadlock installations I've looked at online and why anyone would own beadlocks and install tires as if they were not beadlock wheels.

If it isn't obvious, I've never replaced tires on a wheel before AND I'm new to beadlocks (didn't even know these tires of wheels existed a couple weeks ago).

Here's some pics...

20241031_135528.jpg


20241031_142930.jpg


20241031_142946.jpg


20241031_143007.jpg
 
It looks like the rings were originally red, then abused, then painted blue. I'm tempted to repaint them (another shade of blue to match some other paint on my Jeep). I assume painting both sides of the rings is OK (the paint won't effect the beadlock functionality if/when I ever re-install the tires using the beadlock ring as the wheel manufacturer intended). However, looking at the abuse on these rings, I might just replace them (buy new rings, and probably bolts too).
 
jjvw said:
With the ring off, what is the tire psi?
Click to expand...

I let the air out before taking the ring off (imagining ways my wife would find me on the garage floor with a blue ring stuck to my forehead). So, zero PSI, right now. This was before I discovered the ring is evidently not doing anything right now.

I'm "pretty sure" I can just go ahead and take the rings off the other wheels though, without deflating - assuming the rings serve no functional purpose right now as installed. I'll still be nervous doing this though! I'm considering doing this now to paint the rings, but like I said, I think these rings might be toast anyway (maybe the reason why a previous owner had the tires installed in the rim instead of using the beadlock functionality).
 
mojowrangler said:
I let the air out before taking the ring off (imagining ways my wife would find me on the garage floor with a blue ring stuck to my forehead). So, zero PSI, right now. This was before I discovered the ring is evidently not doing anything right now.

I'm "pretty sure" I can just go ahead and take the rings off the other wheels though, without deflating - assuming the rings serve no functional purpose right now as installed. I'll still be nervous doing this though! I'm considering doing this now to paint the rings, but like I said, I think these rings might be toast anyway (maybe the reason why a previous owner had the tires installed in the rim instead of using the beadlock functionality).
Click to expand...

If you can fill them to street pressure without the ring installed, then those are not beadlocks.
 
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Those look more like trim rings.

Some wheels you can swap the trim ring for a beadlock ring but I’m thinking those don’t have that option based on the design.
 
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Apparition said:
Those look more like trim rings.

Some wheels you can swap the trim ring for a beadlock ring but I’m thinking those don’t have that option based on the design.
Click to expand...

Good news is I can probably take them to a normal tire shop. Not sure if I should mention they're not beadlocks, but I think a tire shop should be able to figure it out.

I have no need to switch them to beadlocks now. But it was a good learning experience to consider getting beadlocks later
 
Well, I've spent way too much time looking at these wheels. I tried to positively identify some kind of wheel "model", but that doesn't seem to be easy to do. I found a lot of wheels that look just like mine (usually in different finishes, but similar wheel design from photos. All the wheels that I saw that look like mine claim to be beadlock wheels. So, I'm guessing these are beadlocks, but the tire was mounted inside the rim (like a normal tire) instead of outside the rim. I could be wrong. It's a moot issue for me in the short term since the wheels/tires seem to perform well the way they are setup now (except for a recent leak that I think was related to the valve stem). I have a minor concern that the tires are not "supposed" to be installed inside the rim on these wheels, but I also figure they wouldn't have held up this long if that was the case (which is the main reason I want to positively identify the wheel model, specs, etc.). In the long run, if I decide I want beadlocks, I'll take these into one of our local 4X4 shops, see what they say, and go from there. If I can use them, great. If I can't, new beadlock wheels look pretty damn expensive, so I'll have to "really want them" (emphasizing the "want" over need here).

Here's some wheel that were for sale a while back that look similar (if not the same) as my wheels... https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/walker-evans-racing-legend-wheels.73830/
I saw some other examples googling around and could never find an example (in pictures) of the so called "streetlock" wheels. I was hoping to compare and see if they went to the trouble to use real bolts on these (again, a waste of 24 bolts that serve no purpose, so I suspect they just use some kind of "bolt head facade".

Now I just need some warm weather before I repaint the rings (not necessary, but I think it will look cool, and why not). That might not be for a while (I live in Colorado). The wheels themselves clean up pretty good, so I'll just leave them alone (gloss black - when they're not covered in dirt).
 

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