Moab Beadlocks?

EZ_Wrangler

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JK Moabs with a beadlock conversion. There is a company in California that will convert alloy wheels. Probably others out there.
 
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They have been for sale for a while. OMF typically made those. You send them the wheels and they send you beadlocks back. Though, those wheels appear to have Trail Ready rings on them. Not sure if the rings were swapped or if TR provides that service as well.
 
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They have been for sale for a while. OMF typically made those. You send them the wheels and they send you beadlocks back. Though, those wheels appear to have Trail Ready rings on them. Not sure if the rings were swapped or if TR provides that service as well.
OMF and Champion both did conversions. I don't think either one does any longer. However, those 5 were not done by either one of those. Those were manually Tig welded and the outer weld is not continuous. Neither Champion or OMG did manual Tig. Both used spool guns with a rotator to do continuous one shot welds based on all the ones we've seen, owned, and assembled.
 
JK Moabs with a beadlock conversion. There is a company in California that will convert alloy wheels. Probably others out there.
All the ones I know quit due to liability from idiots running them on brodozers. Beadlocks of that style are only good for low pressure 35ish psi tires. Bros were running them with load range E truck tires at 80 psi and blowing the bolts up. I had several conversations with Champion trying to get one more set done and when they said they quit, they quit.
 
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All the ones I know quit due to liability from idiots running them on brodozers. Beadlocks of that style are only good for low pressure 35ish psi tires. Bros were running them with load range E truck tires at 80 psi and blowing the bolts up. I had several conversations with Champion trying to get one more set done and when they said they quit, they quit.

That's a shame. I would have considered converting my set of 15" Mamba faux Moabs.
 
OMF and Champion both did conversions. I don't think either one does any longer. However, those 5 were not done by either one of those. Those were manually Tig welded and the outer weld is not continuous. Neither Champion or OMG did manual Tig. Both used spool guns with a rotator to do continuous one shot welds based on all the ones we've seen, owned, and assembled.

That sucks. I was hoping to find a nice 15/17 inch wheel and get a set done. I always liked the way the beadlock Moabs looked.
 
All the ones I know quit due to liability from idiots running them on brodozers. Beadlocks of that style are only good for low pressure 35ish psi tires. Bros were running them with load range E truck tires at 80 psi and blowing the bolts up. I had several conversations with Champion trying to get one more set done and when they said they quit, they quit.

Think for $150 bucks they could clean up decent and run well? Or not worth the money?
 
I do not know if all the conversion companies have quit. I just know all the ones local to me have. Champion is about 10 miles or less away. OMF is 1/2 hour away.

Are there any other conversion companies you've dealt with? Seems like the OMF's didn't have too many problems? I've always wondered if the conversions are the same quality as a beadlock you'd buy from someone like TR or Raceline.
 
Think for $150 bucks they could clean up decent and run well? Or not worth the money?
The seller does not know what they have. When those were done, it was 150 to do one rim. That and although it was hard to tell in the pics, I believe those are 17" rims which likely makes them also 5 on 5 bolt circle.
 
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Are there any other conversion companies you've dealt with? Seems like the OMF's didn't have too many problems? I've always wondered if the conversions are the same quality as a beadlock you'd buy from someone like TR or Raceline.
I've only dealt with those two for conversions. No conversion is the same as a made from scratch bead lock. The big problem is welding aluminum and not heat treating it afterward. If you weld any tempered aluminum, the weld and areas next to the weld are converted to -0 non tempered condition. That makes them prone to failure if you need the strength of the tempered material and a rim certainly does.

I wasn't fully aware of the issue but a buddy had a set of Champions for a couple of years and started complaining that his front tires were losing air slowly over time. One day he was here and I took a look at them. After I did, I pretty much would not have driven his rig 10 feet. The weld that holds the bead lock mount to the original rim was cracked most of the way around the rim right in the center of the weld.

Phil Howell almost crippled himself for life messing with a set (brand unknown) when he replaced the bolts with them inflated. The bolts were slightly too long and bottomed out against the rim. After he got a few in, he basically jacked the outer welded ring off and it slammed into his forearms with a very high amount of force.
 
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