Visionary Fabrication (Billet Works) 2.2 Aluminum "Assassin" Bead Lock Wheels Review

[STANG KILLA SS]

first thing i noticed was fast shipping, he sent them yesterday, i recieved them today

got them in on my lunch break, and snaped a few pics, full review to come.

first impression: damn these things are beefy! no need for wheel weights here, id kill for an ounce scale.

nice packaging, includes button head screws which are great to keep from snaging on the rocks.


The Front, nice finish, Chamfered corners on the spokes and wheel nut hole. again nice to keep from snagging, but also nice to keep from cutting your damn hand open while your assembling them


The Back, lots of beef around the hex, and a good look at the bead grooves, measure about .125"(1/8") wide and .125" deep as well. also a small chamfer on the screw holes to make getting them started a snap.



heres where the wheel gets its weight, the outer rim is a solid .375(3/8") thick mmmm beefy (engineer scale, with tenths)



The front and back rings, again nice machineing. outer rings have a chamfer on not just the outer edge, but the inner as well. and if i read right, (i could be wrong here) the bolt pattern is the same as a stock axial beadlock wheels. so customizing with different rings would be easy



as soon as i get my 2.2 Rock Stompers ill be able to finish up the review im anxious to try them.

Cory

[aggressivellc]

Man you got those quick. They look sweet cant wait to see them mounted up.

[quads4_life]

Those are nice now i want a set.

[2JSC]

GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! They look sick!

BTW - whats the width of the outer lip?

[Offroader5]

Have you had a chance to mount them up yet? I am wondering if without the backside of the rings being counterbored, if they will hold the bead tight enough.

[STANG KILLA SS]

lol see the last sentence of my post ;) lol i just got them 3 hours ago, and im still at work.
your thinking of the erickson style clamping system, this is different, its like RC4wd, axial, etc. a groove that the bead goes in, and a flat-backed ring that keeps it there.
with this one having a groove thats permenant(both sides)instead of the wheel being half of the grove, and the ring completing the other half, seems like it would help elimanate some of the squishing out of the bead while trying to mount losi claws to ericksons that several of the TXRCRCA guys have struggled with.
however i have not personally tryed either, so i cant conferm any of it.

[SACCO]

You will not be dissapointed in Don's wheels. The bead is not coming out.

The rc4wd tires on the other hand................

[SteepJeep]

I just got a new set of the "Stalker" beadlocks from Visionary Fab. They are amazing! Pretty much the same thing you have there but w/ much more negative backspacing. They work great for my 2.2 clod. These things will not dissapoint!

[2JSC]

What size hardware are they using? M3 or M2?

[SACCO]

Originally Posted by 2JSC

What size hardware are they using? M3 or M2?

I believe mine are standard sized. Not 100% sure though. I do know it isnt a M3

[mongoose]

Cory....
How much did those run you?

[STANG KILLA SS]

correct, i won them. im not sure what they cost.

[SPECIAL ED]

They have them on TCS site for 139.99.

[Harley]

I have never seen billet wheels nicer then these!

These were pre-production version, thats why the rings look a little different.

[2JSC]

Originally Posted by SPECIAL ED

They have them on TCS site for 139.99.

TCS has the Stalkers not the new Assassins.

[billet works]

TCS should have the Assassins in stock soon. In fact, a few sets will be arriving at Kevin's place today or tomorrow!

The pre production versions used 4-40 hardware. Now every wheel is setup with M3 hardware!

Must see more pics!

Don
VF

[STANG KILLA SS]

Originally Posted by billet works

TCS should have the Assassins in stock soon. In fact, a few sets will be arriving at Kevin's place today or tomorrow!

The pre production versions used 4-40 hardware. Now every wheel is setup with M3 hardware!

Must see more pics!

Don
VF

awesome! sounds like the masses will have them very soon!
ive PMed here AND emailed threw the RC4WD site about the rock stompers, no responce. :( as soon as i get them i can mount them up!

[Mac10]

I recently got my stalkers mounted up and they are incredible!

I absolutely love them.

[STANG KILLA SS]

ok on with the testing.

got my rock stompers in today. got started on puting them together. first i put the wheel inside the tire, then i just snaped the ring into the lip on the tire, this made the bead just drop PERFECTLY into the wheels bead groove, no hassle, no moving it all around, no little screw driver to push the bead in the groove, once the ring was in the lip of the tire, the bead just fell in, that was really nice. then i started on the screws, with the HUGE bead lip on these stompers( .28" wide ) , on the first screw i had a bit of trouble getting the screw started, but once i got the method down it was actually quiet easy. from puting the main wheel inside the tire, to tightening the last screw, only took me about 2 minutes for the one wheel much better than my axial 40 series. those took like 20 minutes a wheel :(
i didnt even clamp the rings down all the way, i left a good 1/16 gap, a quick tug confirmed it didnt need anymore, that tire was locked in. i like having the extra before bottoming out. especially if youve got a tire with a tiny or damaged bead lip. means you can still clamp it down without bottoming out before the bead is clamped good.
first thing i noticed was the air tight seal. even with only 2 screws in the back ring the wheel holds air, i even tryed squeezing the entire tire for like a minute, it still wouldnt leak with the added "psi", tire poped right back. then the tuging. i spend 3-4 days a week at the gym and no matter how hard i pulled or what direction i could not so much as even get it to slip a tad, let alone come out. i was VERY impressed with the hold on the tire.

Overall: 9.7
Bead holding: 10 period
Fitment: 10 (how the rings/wheel/screws/tire line up/fall into place and hex fitment)
Machine work: 10 i like how no short cuts were taken to reduce machine time.
Packageing/parts: 10 well packaged, individual bags, all the screws there.
Finish: 9 id like to see slightly less/smoother machine marks on the rings, but the wheels themselves are flawless, no machine marks. These were one of the first sets, this may already be fixed. my car show background makes me over critical on stuff like this.
Design: 9 very unique, i love the way the rings go around the screw heads, all the beveled edges are very nice, definatly not a copy of anything out there. only complaint (because of my hot rodder nature) i like 5 spoke wheels with a lip. now this is personal opinion/preference so its slightly immaterial. some may think recessed screws would be nice, but its completely unneccessary, even on the super narrow stompers, the face of the screw is completely inside the surface of the sidewall even at the seat.
Customer Service: 10 usually same or next day responces, and got my wheels in 1 day
Weight: 10 no need for stick ons here ;)
Cost: 9 only because anything over 100 bucks is serious cash to me but if this was rated as "value" it would be a 10 easy.
Durability: Untested tonight, but these wheels dont lack beef ANYwhere


here you can see the gap i left between the ring and wheel, a little less than a 1/16", and (hard to see here) that the screw heads are below the surface of the sidewall.



its not coming out....ever..... :thumbup:
(thats tire stretch note the letters, the bead did not move) when i let go (didnt take a pic ) it snaped right back, lip tight against the ring still.


again thats tire stretch.

[Rockcrawler]

Very nice review.

Now go test them!