Bead Lockers

Yes it does appear that they are not road legal. I cannot put a finger on the relevant rules, but I'm sure someone on here will,

4x4 Australia did an article on them a while ago and mentioned that they are not road legal. Also some insurance companies won't cover you if fitted and not listed.

Josh

Wheels are covered by standards called up in design rules etc...

The issue with the bolt on type bead locks is that the wheel is modified to fit them so they don't comply with the standards anymore.

There have been a number of bolt on bead lock failures indicating that the structure of the wheel is compromised when it is modified in this way. Haven't heard of any bead locked wheels built from new that have gone through the standards process.

if the wheels don't comply then they are not legal.

There seems to be an acceptance of the inflatable bead lockers that go inside the tyre as they are not modifying the wheel but are technically just an inner tube. The extra hole for the valve doesn't appear to be an issue that is regarded as compromising the wheel.

One point seems to be that bead locks are meant for low speed work and are suspect at highway speed due to the extra weight and forces they generate so any imbalance can generate destructive forces.

legal road wheels are designed to handle the speeds that the vehicle is built for.


regards

A