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RC4WD 2.2 CNC Beadlock Wheels

by Cheapjeep2

12/30/05 update 5/17/06

I recently completed building a 2.2 comp rig. . The new rig performed quite well and I was running the new 2.2 Proline Moab's on a set of 2.2 Stampede wheels. In my testing I realized that the new Moab's had so much traction that I spun an axle hex in the Stampede wheel. I had also noticed several other folks having spun the hex in various other brands of nylon wheels. I didn't want to keep having this problem especially in comps and it also sucks to have a fairly new tire glued to a crappy rim that was now damaged.

This set me off looking for a set of aluminum wheels. The first thing I did was order up a set of INETRC's alloy hexes. These hexes are only $10 plus shipping. I wanted to ensure that if I found a set of alloy rims that I didn't round off the hexes on the axle and have the opposite problem.

	ENTER www.RC4WD.com ..... RC4WD has long been known for quality CNC machined RC truck parts. They have made quality aluminum wheels for quite some time. However, until recently the wheels have been too wide for use in crawling.
	Anyone who pays attention to RC crawling knows that narrow is better as the narrowed wheel reduces the contact patch off the tire, putting more pressure on that contact patch for added traction. Additionally, the narrow wheels also pulls the side lugs over creating more side bite.
	RC4WD is one of the few manufactures that have listened to the RCCrawler community and have begun producing narrow beadlock wheels. Once I saw these, I knew I had to have a set. I ordered them up and they shipped a few days later...
	All I can say is WOW.... These wheels are impressive!
	High quality machine work and the fit and finish is fantastic. Furthermore the wheels are a perfect width.
	When you open the package, you get 4 nicely machine wheels, 8 beadlocks, and all hardware.
	These wheels are a work of art. And they are surprisingly light.
	The wheels have a nice groove to hold the bead of the tire and each ring has a small lip to press the tire into the groove on the wheel.

	I personally prefer my wheels to have three small air holes for the tires to breath. The amount of air is easily controlled later by adding a small piece of electrical tape over the holes. Here you can see that I took each wheel to the drill press, drilling three small holes equally spaced around the wheel.
	I like running a little weight on the front wheels, however, I am not a fan of BBs or lead shot, here I wrapped each wheel in some lead weight. The total is 3.25 ozs of additional weight per front wheel.
	The weight is stuck pretty well, however, I wrapped them with electrical tape to ensure they stay put when rotating.
	Mounting the tires to the wheels was farily straight forward. First I narrowed my foams to the same width as the wheels and cut them in the traditional star pattern.
	Bolting the beadlocks to the wheels is straight foward, you just have to work in a cross patern and tighten each bolt just a little each time so you don't over tighten anything. My overall impression is very possitive.
	These wheels are very nice and worth the money, I like the fact that I can simply remove a few bolts and modify the foams or replace the tires as I want. Please visit RC4WD for more information: -Cheapjeep2
	Update: 5/17/06 Leave to RC4WD.COM to take an already fantastic product and improve it even more!!!
	This spring RC4WD has released an updated bead lock ring for their popular 2.2 bead lock wheels. The new WIDE ring gives the wheels a completely different look and the simulated dip in the ring for the air valve is a very nice touch. These rings work on their narrow or standard width wheel.
	Here you can see the new rings in bare aluminum compared to the original rings in red.
	The choice is yours, either way you go, wide or narrow you can't go wrong. -Cheapjeep2

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