Testing Aero Racing Beadlock wheels on my Jeep
My Wagon wheels have gotten pretty beat up over the last ten years or so. I decided to try some beadlocks this time around. Since Scuffy used to be a race car before he was a rock crawler, I decided to try race wheels instead of rock crawler wheels.
I ordered the same backspacing and width as my current wheels. 3″ BS and 8 inches wide. I got the Aero 53 series wheel.
I test fit the wheel to make sure everything cleared before mounting the tire. The first difference I noticed was the valve stem hole was larger than normal. Luckily I had some .625 valves on the shelf for use in my tractor wheels so I was set.
I set the wheel on my tire changer and lubed up the inner bead of the tire. It slipped on easily with no tools. The second bead sat down nicely on the Beadlock face. The 12.5-inch wide tire was a perfect fit for the 8-inch rim even though a wider rim is recommended by the tire manufactures.
I had to find some longer 5/16 bolts to start the ring into place. But with four of those snugged down just a little, the supplied bolts were able to be threaded in. The ring on the Aero wheels is threaded so there are no nuts on the back.
I used my battery impact to carefully bring the bolts down in an even manner. I replaced the four starter bolts with the supplied bolts. With all of them snug, I use my digital torque wrench to set them all to 18 ft-lbs.
The Aero wheel has only 16 bolts so it did not take very long. The tire seems well centered. I did not try to balance it. I inflated it to 35 psi to seat the rear bead and checked for leaks. There were no bubbles so I test fit it on the Jeep.
Now I have to order the proper 45-degree taper lug nuts before I can test drive.
Update: After a few days parked waiting for the lug nuts to arrive, I noticed the tire had lost air. So I ordered some bead sealer and placed on the locking ring. So far, it is holding air.