YFZR build tip #2

Beadlocks

Tires wear. Changing out your meats is common practice for any ATV racer. Unfortunately, some times a brand new tire can be punctured, as was the case during our test with ATVonDemand.com of the TPR project YFZ450R.

The quad features Maxxis soft-compound Razr MX tires. The tires are two-ply to increase their flexibility and decrease weight for racing applications. Unfortunately, the two-play rating makes them susceptible to punctures. During the test session, test rider Aaron Meyer caught a rock on the MX track at Crow Canyon and sliced a rear sidewall.

So we were left with the task of removing the tire from our DWT beadlock and re-installing a new Maxxis Razr MX 18-inch rear. Here's a hint, don't go the redneck route and use a truck and a 2-by-4 to break the inside bead. If you don't have a beadbreaker, ask a tire shop to do it for you. Odds are good they'll do it for free. 

This tip is about installing the beadlock ring and its mounting bolts. With the tire removed, clean the rim and the ring itself with a good degreaser. Use brake cleaner to clean the bolts themselves, but not the ring or rim! Brake cleaner is highly corrosive and will eat through paint.

Use a little WD-40 or dry lube and press the rim, beadlock side first, through the new tire. Line up the tire bead evenly around the ring bolt mounting holes, and then place the ring with the mounting holes lining up with the nut-plate mounts on the rim.

The next step is to take your clean mounting bolts and give them each a light coating of Loctite. Using Loctite will ensure none of the bolts works their way loose. A loose bolt on the ring can create vibration and cause the rest to work their way free, and losing your beadlock ring during a race is a catastrophic failure you don't want to experience. I typically coat each bolt one at-a-time so I can start to thread each coated bolt into the rim. Be careful here not to cross thread the bolts as you start them.

Once the bolts are all started by hand, it's time to start tightening the ring down onto the rim. It's important to pay attention to the tire here. The goal is to sandwich the tire between the rim and beadlock ring evenly.

At the track, a lot of people will use a cordless ratchet drill or other high-speed, high-impact tool to install their rings. You too may need to resort to this if you're rushing to get back to the gate. But I wasn't in a rush, so I took my time and used a small ratchet to install my ring.

I used a small ratchet so I could feel how much pressure was being applied and because it gives me a more delicate sense of when each bolt is tight. Overtightening a beadlock bolt can strip the backing nut, and that can in some cases ruin a very expensive rim. In actuality, it didn't take much more than 5 to 10 minutes to install the ring by hand. During the initial TPR project YFZ450R build, I also installed the tires by hand, and all four took less than an hour. Again, it's not a bad task if you're not in a rush during race weekend, and as long as you've got some good tunes playing in the garage the payoff outweights the tedium!

 Once you've reached this point, the last thing to do is seat the inner bead. A ratchet strap wrapped around the circumference of the tire, a little lube and a good air compressor should do the trick.