So I have seen quite a few DIY weld on beadlock kits online (AtoZ fab, some other places too) and was considering ordering one when I remembered I have access to a plasma cam in my welding class and thought why not make my own. So does it seem like this would work, I know how to make accurate cut shapes (such as the spacing in between the holes) so it seems to me that I could come up with some beadlocks just as good as the ones you can order. Another question I had was, do welded on beadlocks work for daily driving or is there a certain speed they wobble too much at?

 

I made a set on my cnc mill and they worked great. Just lay out the holes evenly and you are good to go. You need an even weld or they will wobble a lil on the road. Oh and technically they aren't dot legal but I never got stopped.

 

well with the wobble if you dont get them even you can add bbs or something equal to that to help self balance while driving.

 

If you come up with a working pattern for them I will pay for the patterns so I can have my guy here do em on his plasma table.

 

All u have to do is send me a pic of what you want and i can write a dxf file program that my cnc mill would read. That may work work your plaz table, do you know what software it has on it? For my pattern I just made it kind of wavy but made every thing evenly spaced off a center point. Then u cut holes for 3/8 fastener. But any evenly laid out Patten should work, just put enough bolts....I think I put 32. And make sure the clamp ring is thick enough so it wont distort when you tighten it down.

 

Cool, I will get back to you sometime really soon! Would you be interested in doin the work on the CNC? Just realized that the plasma table really doesn't like aluminum I will try to find some pics and shoot them your way in a PM or on an e-mail. PM sent

 

once I get them done ill post the design for free in both plasma cam and autocad format, hoping to have the rings all cut out in the next 2 weeks. Any reccomendation on the type of metal I should use? I saw on one of the premade diy beadlocks that they use 1/4" mild steel I think.

 

Ya I could do some cnc work.I did mine out of steel, I can machine alum. But I would assume you would have to use quite a bit thicker material. Or maybe something real stiff like jig plate.

 

Moved to Advanced Tech.

 

I would be interested in some pics and a dxf file for the beadlocks...