Are Beadlocks legal in Australia?

[mudnut]

After reading the Bridgstone article, which mentions the use of internal beadlocks, I am a little confused. I thought beadlocks were illegal in Australia, but am happy to be proved wrong.

[Clunk]

not over here they're not

[threedogs]

Pretty sure the answer is no, most motor x bikes have them std
Not sure about internal bead locks as well

[Maxhead]

Last I heard external ones were illegal and internals were legal but this is a few years ago...so not sure now

[Winnie]

Last I heard external ones were illegal and internals were legal but this is a few years ago...so not sure now
Nah internals aren't because you have to drill a hole for the second valve so it's a rim modification and I don't know of any rims that come with 2 valve holes.
As far as I know rims that are manufactured with externals are legal.

[mudski]

Nah internals aren't because you have to drill a hole for the second valve so it's a rim modification and I don't know of any rims that come with 2 valve holes.
As far as I know rims that are manufactured with externals are legal.

Thats what I am led to believe too. I don't even think an engineer will sign off on drilled rims too. But yeah. Rims made with locks from the factory, are o.k.

[mudnut]

Ah, so even though running the internal beadlock can improve the footprint of the vehicle in soft situations it is illegal if a hole has been drilled. I have had a quick look for rims with the two done at manufacture. Surely it wouldn't be too hard for them to be factory engineered, would it?

[nissannewby]

I still think it is state dependant but if if the wheel is manufactured as a bead lock and has adr approval then its legal as said above.

[mudski]

Ah, so even though running the internal beadlock can improve the footprint of the vehicle in soft situations it is illegal if a hole has been drilled. I have had a quick look for rims with the two done at manufacture. Surely it wouldn't be too hard for them to be factory engineered, would it?

If you find some steelies with the second hole drilled from factory let me know. As I like the idea of internal bead locks.

[Sir Roofy]

If you find some steelies with the second hole drilled from factory let me know. As I like the idea of internal bead locks.

www.secondair.com.au

[mudski]

www.secondair.com.au

Still illegal though. As you need to drill a hole in the rim. Which we can't do. :(

[Sir Roofy]

Still illegal though. As you need to drill a hole in the rim. Which we can't do. :(

from what read there's only the one valve hole
did click on the one you fancy there's a discripion

[mudnut]

A lot of mucking around to fit the internal bead lock. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJbAsemU6LU

[mudski]

from what read there's only the one valve hole
did click on the one you fancy there's a discripion

Yeah I read that, then they say this. The only modification required is the drilling of an additional hole in the rim. The system will fit one piece steel and alloy rims

[mudnut]

http://www.secondair.com.au/howitworks.htm Secondair still requires a hole drilled. Edit, beat me to it.

[mudski]

You snooze, you lose. :harhar:

[Sir Roofy]

must have missed that bit that's a different page to what I was looking at
ah well Sh happens

[Robo]

Love the pic of the bloke standing between the recovery rope.
it looks real safe.
lucky he has gloves on, that'll save him.

[bazzaboy]

Pretty sure the answer is no, most motor x bikes have them std
Not sure about internal bead locks as well

Internal bead locks were also common on many early British road bikes, before tubeless tyres.

[Big Gags]

Bit of an old thread but I was interested to read about the inflatable bead locks. I looked at the Staun inflatable bead locks a number of years ago for use on a vehicle being supplied to the Australian Army and even went as far as getting one of our rims drilled for a second valve hole and having a Staun bead lock fitted as a concept demonstrator but we didn't end up going ahead with them. I can remember at the time thinking that surely it wouldn't be that hard to come up with a bead lock that had a single valve that was able to somehow "telescope" in and out to allow you to fill either the bead lock or the main tyre from the same valve. A while ago I saw that this concept has been developed for mountain bikes to allow them to run tubeless setups and they have implemented a single valve that can inflate either chamber (albeit a presta valve and not a schraeder valve). https://www.schwalbe.com/en/procore.html

Pretty nifty piece of German engineering and it had me thinking that surely this concept could be pretty easily applied to a Schraeder valve on a 4x4 tyre??

[mudnut]

PeeBee. How hard would it be to convince an engineer at, a manufacturer like ROH to produce double drilled Sunraysias.

[PeeBee]

The legal certification process would probably kill it against the physical cost and demand for the product. They are not going to put their business at risk unless it is 100% certified i would guess. lLoking at the website of the mob mentioned, they don't sell rims but actually provide a detailed installation instruction set. There is no disclaimer regards fitness or legality to use on road so I guess they put the onus on the user to validate the item. They can't control how the unit is installed or how it is used - they probably have legal opinion that says they are protected from a liability perspective. At the end of the day anything can be made to work, but what is out of the suppliers hand is the condition and style of wheel that is being modified. If you purpose made the rims like you suggest it would be straight forward but need some investment. Why not ring a VASS engineer and ask the question?

[poindexter]

I have asked the VASS engineers at work (we have heaps of them here) and they all say " while drilling one additional hole will not compromise the rim, validation needs to be done, and the cost vs benefit (ie sales) means that no rim OEM will spend the $"
Their advise is to run with the internal bead locks and keep your head down from the police.
One guy there even got pulled over, and the police did not ping him on his external beadlocks!
Interestingly, Club 4X4 insurance, claim that they will insure non engineered mods, go figure.

[growler2058]

In Australia, laws typically function on being approved rather than being disapproved. Beadlock wheels simply haven't been approved, and nor do they fit into the standards that have already been approved so, by default, they're not legally able to be run, and therefore running them is illegal.12 Oct 2019

[mudski]

Interestingly, Club 4X4 insurance, claim that they will insure non engineered mods, go figure.

Correct. But if the non engineered mod is in anyway linked to a claim, your cover is null and void. ‘‘Twas what I was told by a rep from C4x4


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[poindexter]

new update regarding the beadlocks.
DOT approved rims are allowed in Australia.
Guess who makes DOT approved beadlocks? Hutchinson wheel in the US, Marathon tires handle them down under, and they do supply them to the Surf Life Saving clubs on the GC.
Toyota fit of course.
I have talked to the local guys, not really interested in doing non Toyota, even though there is a wheel that would fit (ie 6 stud), I had better response direct from the US.