Oem beadlock vs beauty ring vs method 706

Fifty

Nothing for Fifty
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'18 Colorado ZR2 Long Travel
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TL;DR- the beadlock conversion stretches the tire 3/4”. Method 706 stretches the tire 1/2” over the beauty ring set up.
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Ok. So I have just “beadlocked” my oem beadlocks.

I also have a set of method 706 18x9 +19mm wheels running oem tires.


When I pulled my stock wheels off and ran the methods, the truck felt tighter, lighter around corner turn in. I thought it was weight but the wheel set is only 3# lighter per corner I believe.

When I did the beadlocks. I noticed the tire combo got a lot wider. With the beauty ring 4 wheel/tires could stand side by side between the “humps” in the bed. After breaking the bead and installing the headlock rings; the 4th wheel had to be perched on the hump. And there was significant width increase.

Soooo. Unfortunately I did not get measurements of the oem wheel when the bead was off…

So I filled the tires to 35 psi and measured the sidewall width of the three wheel set options unloaded.

Oem with beauty ring:12.75” and 13.25”
Oem with bead lock ring: 13.5” and 14”
Method 706 with oem tires: 13.25 and 13.5”

So I measured a couple different ways. 1) laid flat on the garage and used a level, staying away from the sidewall lugs
2) standing up with two 4x6 pieces of wood

The measurement variance came out the same but the widths were different. So take that with a grain of salt.

I did notice two things: the beadlock wheel didn’t have the center bulge of the tire like the method and beauty ring do.
And when driving, on road, the beadlock wheels feel the tightest, initial turn in.
Basically these 325 aka 13.5” wide tires need and benefit from a wider wheel.

(I want to say I tried to measure the bead mounting surface when I was building the wheel sets and the bead lock surface was 3/4” wider. But I can’t remember and I didn’t write it down)

Pics below
 

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Last edited:
Left right: Beadlock- Beauty ring- method
 

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It makes me wonder if the the beadlock mounting surface are actually the 18x9 or really 9.5….

Since the method is a 9” wide wheel and already stretches the oem tire 1/2” and reduces the crown on the tire. Enough where there is a noticeable feel in driving.

I’m also hyper sensitive to things AND I was looking for any changes…
 
Great write-up, thanks for sharing your experience.

Where did you get the beadlock ring kit from?
 
Bam Mopar parts had the best pricing when I was looking. No idea if they have the best pricing now or not
 
Thanks. I was reading another thread that referenced P5160250aa. Is that the kit you purchased?
 
That part number appears to be the correct # for the kit. BAM has them listed for $255
 

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