Mounting and assembly of Hummer Beadlocks

[86M10086.2L]

I've been searching to no avail. Does anyone have a write up, or know of and where I can get a TM or book that explains or outlines how to mount tires to and assemble the hummer bead locks? I can't imagine that there is anything too complicated about them. They seem fairly straight forward 12 bolts an o-ring two halves and a tire. I heard from a few people that have them they're a bit of a chore the first few times until you get familiar with them. But any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sermis]

12 bolt uses a rubber runflat. It is a pain to get into and out of the tire as it is one piece. 8 bolt use the metal bolt together. Not hard. 4 bolts on each side I think. Run flats will kill your tire if you drive on them with the tire flat.

 

[maddawg1]

Guys I have a ton of experience with this what I do is to set the beads is use a 2 inch ratchet strap and ratchet it down (go around the tire cirumfrence) and if you think its tight enough tighten it some more. Once it is tight then air it up and it will "Pop" once it does this release the strap and your bead is set. Then inflate to proper PSI... As far as bolting the rims together I just go in a tighting sequence as like 12 o clock 6, 3,9,2,7, ETC.. It is important you tighten them down equally or it will not seal proplerly and leak. But if your careful and tightnen them down like a cylinder head you will achive sucess.

When you put the O Rings In you should use just a tad bit of bearing grease on them.. It helps the Oring stay in place and form a better seal.

As far as the runflats they are a real pain in the _______ (fill in the blank) if you want them in you need a runflat compressor (military tool) basically what is done is they are folded in half then inserted and worked around and then you undo the compressor once the runflat is inside and thats that. It takes some one that has experinece to do one prob. 1 1/2 hours. someone that has never done it could be rough job!! It sucks unless you need them leave them out. The tire will seal on the rim without them unless your worried about the cops shooting out your tires id leave them out lol.

my 2 cents

 

[86M10086.2L]

that pretty much sumsit up. I wasn't aware you could just leave the run flats out. If thats the case forget them. I didn't figure theywould be too complicated but until you acually do them who knows.

 

[sermis]

I thought about putting the rubber run fleat in a large lythe and turn off the run flat part and just use the bead lock. Think it would work?

 

[M1075]

Re: RE: Mounting and assembly of Hummer Beadlocks

I thought about putting the rubber run fleat in a large lythe and turn off the run flat part and just use the bead lock. Think it would work?

I think it would work just fine.

By the way, does anyone have a source for the compression or ratchet tool used to compress the runflat? I need one that will handle the 20" runflats too.

 

[Elwenil]

RE: Re: RE: Mounting and assembly of Hummer Beadlocks

Hmm, I think I will keep the runflats when I get my rims. I wonder if you couldn't use a HiLift jack in winch mode to compress the runflat and then wrap a strap around it to keep it folded and stick it in the tire?

 

[maddawg1]

RE: Re: RE: Mounting and assembly of Hummer Beadlocks

Well them tools are only good for a little while. After long the gears strip out and they become worthless. I think the idea of turning down the flat part would work. A guy that I know has a HMMWV and runs them with no runflats no prob he says. He says the truck rides better with out them. As far as the 20 inch runflats i got no ideas for that as ive never worked with something that big.

 

[sermis]

RE: Re: RE: Mounting and assembly of Hummer Beadlocks

I have never seen any 20" rubber run flats.

 

[dilvoy]

The Hutchinson Bead Locks are still a work out to install, but are way easier than the rubber runflats. The wheels bolt together as mentioned as an earlier post, but a little care when placing the tire/run flat assy over the wheel is necessary, so the groove in the run flat is in the correct position to allow the nut that holds the schrader valve adaptor in place has a place to nestle into.

 

[86M10086.2L]

so does the wheel become narrower without the run flat? or does the runflat slip over and bolt to the two halves of the rim?

 

[emmado22]

Using 2 each 5,000# ratchet straps work well for the rubber runflat compression..... Tighten one as much as you can, then put the 2nd onr on and compress it more.. Much easier to put in the tire that way. Thats what we did in the Army..

 

[M1075]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Mounting and assembly of Hummer Beadlocks

I have never seen any 20" rubber run flats.

I have purchased 36 of them and I am still waiting on volunteers to come over and put them in! I put a call into Hutchinson to see about buying one of their compression tools. That should make things easier (and safer).

 

[Brian1]

This is a pretty good visual of how to install the rubber runflats. I took one out recently and it worked the same way but just in reverse. It is easier to use the type of hook shown in the pictures, I still got by with the normal hook but it made the ratchet almost too long to compress the inserts. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51927

This is also a good article on the hummer rims with an emphasis on the 8 bolts and the modifications to them: http://www.pirate4x4.com/articles/tech/billavista/PR-Hummer_Rims

There are several alternatives to the runflat and still keeping the beadlock function of the hummer wheels. I run steel cage inserts from Performance Cryogenics (see above link) while many others run PVC inserts, cut down magnesium inserts and a few other ways. The pic attached is of my steel cage beadlock inserts.

 

[tsmall07]

So these wheels come with a bead lock insert and runflat or is the runflat used as the other part of the sandwich? Is this o-ring something that needs to be replaced when you take them apart, or can you reuse the o ring? If you need to replace it, where can they be purchased?

 

[emmado22]

You can try to reuse the O ring, but dont expect it to work too well.. Get a new one...

 

[sermis]

So these wheels come with a bead lock insert and runflat or is the runflat used as the other part of the sandwich? Is this o-ring something that needs to be replaced when you take them apart, or can you reuse the o ring? If you need to replace it, where can they be purchased?

Bead lock / runflat is one piece and goes in the tire. Used O rings, sometime they hold, sometimes not.

 

[86M10086.2L]

How is the run flat part of the beadlock? If i am understanding all this correctly the runflat is a solid ruber ring the is pressed over the innner hub of the wheel halves giving thetruck somethingto ride on in the even of a tire failure. the beadlock portion is on the wheels themselves and as far as I can tell would work whether the runflat was there or not. Please correct me if I am wrong or missing something.

 

[Elwenil]

Ok, if I understand it correctly, the rim looks like this ]|[ with ] being the inner half of the rim, | being the run flat insert, and [ being the outer rim half. The run flat insert is inserted in the tire and the rim is assembled with the insert inside. The inner bead of the tire is sandwiched between the inner rim half and the insert and the outer bead of the tire is sandwiched between the insert and the outer rim half. Have I got that about right?

 

[Brian1]

Have I got that about right?

Sounds right to me. Since the runflat sandwiches the tire once the rim is clamped down with the nuts it is also a beadlock. The beadlock and runflat are one in the same.