A peak at what a certain traitor has been up to

[DutchVDub]

I should be getting an early X-mas present on Tuesday

 

[DutchVDub]

WooHoo!!!! They finally came in.

And while the pricing is really good, keep in mind that the 128 bolts (plus their requisite nuts and washers) add up quick. I just dropped 75$ at Home Depot on just Grade 5 hardware and thats after my military discount. I even refrained from buying washers for the backside or lock nuts. My plan is to tack weld the nuts to the inner ring and use lock-tite and lock washers to keep them tight. After helping Nick torque all of his I decided I don't want to deal with holding the washer and nut in place inside the wheel for 128 bolts. This way I can just thread them in and torque them down w/o need of assistance.

 

[DutchVDub]

Got the anti-cone rings and nuts tacked/welded onto two of the inner rings. It takes awhile just to get them all setup. Of course what I'm looking the least forward to is lugging all 4 of the rims/tires to work to dismount them just so I can remount them again after I finish welding the approx. 53.5" of inner ring to to the rims.

 

[Gotlift01]

Those rings look sweet! You'll thank yourself many times over for tacking those on there. I wish I could have done that with my old Trail Ready beadlocks...man those were a pain in my ass!!:smsoap:

Now my Spiderlocks on the other hand! :smoker:

 

[xjnco]

Dutch,
You should by hardware at the JAX Store in Loveland, west of Sam's Club on E Eisenhower. They charge by weight and have a nice large selection of stuff you'd like.

 

[DutchVDub]

So the inner circle on my beadlock rings is going to pretty much make it imposssible to get the lug nuts on the front axle. The rear is do-able bu the fronts, well no way in hell. Long story short I'm just fixing the problem myself and was thinking of doing something like this (the 4 red sections so I can at least fit the socket in there). Opinions??

 

[UnlimitedMatt]

Could you fit a universal socket on the lug nuts?

 

[DutchVDub]

On the rear, yes. On the fronts I can barely fit the extension between the ring and the hub. The socket/wobble I was able to fit through one of the skulls, and then holding it with the tips of my fingers slide the extension into the wobble. But then I would have to try and put each lug nut through a skull and drop it into the socket thats on a wobble, then manuever it around to get it started onto the lug. Not something that cans be easily done, especially 16 times.

 

[DutchVDub]

Thanks to my buddy Nick I got was able to finish customizng my custom outer beadlock rings. The original hole was about 5.8" diameter, a little on the small side for my 8x6.5'' bolt pattern (especially with that big D60 hub up front). We were able to get the majority of the hole up to 7.5" and as you can see in the last picture the relief for the skull's Jaw fits nicely between the lugs. I''' probably still need a wobble for the fronts but at least I now have ample room to actually get the socket and wobble in there. End result? I'm once again happy aabout my beadlocks and actually think the end result turned out better looking than before.

Clamping it down:

Initial test pass on the first cut

The machine at work:

First cut complete:

Initial test of the final cut:

All done:

How it fits on the rim:

 

[time2getdirty]

looks sweet

 

[DutchVDub]

I got the first wheel done tonight, woohoo!!!!!!

A flapper wheel makes quick work of the powdercoating

I used a feeler gauge set to get the ring evenly spaced within the rim

tack tack tack

decided to weld in small sections alternating sides of the wheel, like you do lug nuts

primered

painted

final product

 

[ClarkPeach]

Very nice! Just curious, why didn't you weld the entire circumference?

 

[DutchVDub]

I did, I just didn't take a picture of it before painting.

 

[jeepfreak1020]

Those look super sick Dutch

 

[fireLt.]

Awesome. Glad the beadlock disaster is worked out.

 

[DutchVDub]

Got a second one done today

 

[DutchVDub]

Holy hell, its about time. Finally have them all ready to go. Put new valve stems in the original holes and then drilled new holes for valve stems in a more accessible area. Tires went on pretty easily and now I'm just waiting for the paint to fully dry on my outer rings so I can bolt them on.

Of course I did run into ANOTHER snag. I got the "standard" anti-cone ring set that sticks up about 1/2" above the inner ring. I based the length of my bolts off of that as all of my tires were still mounted at the time. Well my Irok's have a 1" thick bead/lip so now my bolts are too short. Not a huge issue as I can use longer bolts to start the rings and then put the rest in once the tire is compressed some. I already tried it on one prior to painting the outer ring and it'll work fine. I can't use washers or lock-washers though as the ring cones a lot by the time I get the bolt flush with the nut. With just the bolts it barely cones and definitely gives the tires lip a good squeeze.

Eventually I'll get some strap steel and make my own anti-cone rings that are the right height to do what they're supposed to. Right now I just want the damn things done. I love how they look but next time I'm just going to buy pre-manufactured beadlocks. I did the math and with me having bought new steel wheels I only saved myself about 300$ compared to buying some Allied aluminum beadlocks.

This one is ready to go, but I'm waiting for the paint to fully dry before I tighten it all down. Still, I couldn't help but mock it all up and take a pic.

 

[dannanw]

yes but $300 is the price to pay for playing, and you can say you didn't buy it and will never see another one like yours....ever, BTW looks nice.

 

[time2getdirty]

Why didnt you get a smaller Dimple die! urggg

 

[DutchVDub]

smaller than 1.5"?? What the hell for?