H1 beadlocks leaking?

[greenjeep]

So with the latest round of throwing ungodly amounts of money at the CJ, one of my recent aquisitions was a set of 12 bolt H1 beadlocks. When we first mounted them on my 38.5 SX bias plys at 110 ft/lbs, they weren't holding air, it was coming out from between the two halves. We tried tightening them down with the impact wrench and still no seal. I remembered reading on Pirate that with bias ply tire that you sometimes need to trim down the insert to get the two halves to fully seat.

So we did that and they aired up to 20 psi and seemed to hold it.

What we started with

Cutting off 1/4"

Putting the 'lip' back on

Well, Safari was my first time running them, and during the week I probably had to refill them on the trail upwards of 20 times. Everything would be fine, then all of a sudden a tire is flat and I'd have to air it back up. Granted I was only running 6psi so it didn't take long, but it got very old in a hurry.

So, why and how am I losing pressure? 3 of the o-rings looked great so we reused them, 1 was ripped so it was replaced. I tried putting soapy water on them to find a leak and I couldn't find any bubbles, so I'm stumped. With the internal beadlocks it seems to me impossible to lose air out the bead, but with the o-ring and the bolts being tighten heavily down I don't see how air could be escaping out there either.

Any suggestion?

 

[mbryson]

From what I've read, this is a somewhat common problem whether you reuse O-rings or not. I packed the O-ring area with axle grease. Seemed to work pretty well.

From what I read about other solutions, silicone was the only other thing that really worked. I'm not a fan.

 

[spaggyroe]

First off, ensure that the o-ring "areas" of the wheels are perfectly clean.

Secondly, did you lube your o-rings when installing them?

I'd suggest Dow 55 o-ring lubricant, but you could probably get away with a lot of other methods (possibly even vaseline).

 

[greenjeep]

From what I've read, this is a somewhat common problem whether you reuse O-rings or not. I packed the O-ring area with axle grease. Seemed to work pretty well.

From what I read about other solutions, silicone was the only other thing that really worked. I'm not a fan.

First off, ensure that the o-ring "areas" of the wheels are perfectly clean.

Secondly, did you lube your o-rings when installing them?

I'd suggest Dow 55 o-ring lubricant, but you could probably get away with a lot of other methods (possibly even vaseline).

I scrubbed the o-ring notch with a wire brush and we did use an o-ring lubricant, I'm not sure what kind. The old o-rings were triangular from being pressed in for who knows how long, but they were still very pliable and in good shape. Should I get 3 more new o-rings and try that?

 

[mbryson]

I scrubbed the o-ring notch with a wire brush and we did use an o-ring lubricant, I'm not sure what kind. The old o-rings were triangular from being pressed in for who knows how long, but they were still very pliable and in good shape. Should I get 3 more new o-rings and try that?

I'd go with the axle grease. It worked quite well for me. I just laid it on pretty thick around the o-ring before assembling the wheel.

 

[spaggyroe]

The old o-rings were triangular from being pressed in for who knows how long, but they were still very pliable and in good shape. Should I get 3 more new o-rings and try that?

Personally, I'd get new o-rings.

 

[greenjeep]

I'd go with the axle grease. It worked quite well for me. I just laid it on pretty thick around the o-ring before assembling the wheel.

Cheaper, so I'll try this first

Personally, I'd get new o-rings.

More involved so I'll try it if I need to.

 

[spaggyroe]

Post up and let us know what works for you.

FYI, o-rings are rediculously cheap. They can be purchased from McMaster Carr for $6.78 per pack (a pack consists of 2 o-rings).
Part number is 9452K451.
http://www.mcmaster.com/

 

[greenjeep]

Thanks, I'll let you guys know.

 

[greenjeep]

I'd go with the axle grease. It worked quite well for me. I just laid it on pretty thick around the o-ring before assembling the wheel.

You're talking hub grease in the can, right? I'm going to try this tonight and see how it does on the trail tomorrow.

Do you just coat the o-ring or fill the notch or what exactly?

Thanks.

 

[mbryson]

You're talking hub grease in the can, right? I'm going to try this tonight and see how it does on the trail tomorrow.

Do you just coat the o-ring or fill the notch or what exactly?

Thanks.

Exactly that stuff. I laid the grease on pretty thick. Maybe a 1/4-1/2" bead all the way around, laid the o-ring in there and assembled the tire/wheel combo.

 

[greenjeep]

Thanks, hopefully that fixes the problem.

 

[greenjeep]

p.s.

This is what the 12 bolt wheel looks like apart, is the 8 bolt the same?

 

[mbryson]

Pretty similar. Here's a 'how-to' thread that you probably don't need?
http://www.rockymountainextreme.com/showthread.php?t=41503&highlight=hummer+tech

 

[greenjeep]

Very useful tech, thanks. Are your 'old' tires in there my 'new' tires?

 

[mbryson]

Very useful tech, thanks. Are your 'old' tires in there my 'new' tires?

Nope, my "new" tires are your "new" tires. I only put a couple trips on those.

 

[greenjeep]

Then they were Chad's 'new' tires, now mine?

 

[greenjeep]

Update

We pulled apart the most troublesome wheel friday night. Put on the new o-ring, liberally applied hub grease, tighten the crap out of the bolts, aired the tire up a little, let air out, did this a few times to try to help make sure the o-ring is seated, finally aired all the way up.

Ran the trail on Saturday and no different. Still lost all the air twice. We even had to jack up the CJ to get pressure off the tire as it wouldn't take air with the vehicle's weight on it. Seemed to be losing air out the bead, how can that be?

Back to square one.

 

[waynehartwig]

Update

We pulled apart the most troublesome wheel friday night. Put on the new o-ring, liberally applied hub grease, tighten the crap out of the bolts, aired the tire up a little, let air out, did this a few times to try to help make sure the o-ring is seated, finally aired all the way up.

Ran the trail on Saturday and no different. Still lost all the air twice. We even had to jack up the CJ to get pressure off the tire as it wouldn't take air with the vehicle's weight on it. Seemed to be losing air out the bead, how can that be?

Back to square one.

Will the tire hold air if it's at 30 psi? Maybe there is something wrong with the tire, and not the wheel - bad bead, etc? Maybe swap the tire on another wheel?

 

[mbryson]

Update

We pulled apart the most troublesome wheel friday night. Put on the new o-ring, liberally applied hub grease, tighten the crap out of the bolts, aired the tire up a little, let air out, did this a few times to try to help make sure the o-ring is seated, finally aired all the way up.

Ran the trail on Saturday and no different. Still lost all the air twice. We even had to jack up the CJ to get pressure off the tire as it wouldn't take air with the vehicle's weight on it. Seemed to be losing air out the bead, how can that be?

Back to square one.

How tight does that mag beadlock fit? I'm not familiar with those. I used the PVC beadlocks (I don't know the width or anything--Meat could tell you?) and it was fairly hard to tighten the last few threads as you were assembling the wheels. I only had one with air problems and that was one I didn't use axle grease on. I did use new O-rings.