I saw a big pickup (oddly without any logo or indication of make) the wheels of which had bolts (heads at least) (around 50) around the edge of the rim, as though they held the tires (‘RidgeGrapplers’) on. This would make no sense. I can imagine them holding down a clamp that holds the tire to the rim. Could they be decorative? They looked like plain bolts, no fancy chrome or other ornament.
I knew nothing about such wheels until ten minutes ago, but this appears to be pertinent:
It looks like they can be functional or just decorative.
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Thanks! This makes sense. I also remembered that you can’t just pump up a tubeless tire from 0 pressure with a hand pump because it doesn’t seal. I heard about a llantero in rural Mexico who put an ounce of gas in the tire then lit it to inflate it from 0; a bead lock would make this unnecessary, if less fun.
The other reason why off-roaders like them - they can change the tire (on off rim) without any special equipment.
Dragsters use beadlocks to keep their tires on.
I doubt you will see real bead locks on the street, those are just bolt on rings to protect the wheel from rock damage that may deflate the tire.
Not sure if this is the same, but one purpose I heard was so off roaders could lower tire presure for greater traction with less worry about the tire popping off the rim.
Centerline mags have always had that look.
If the tire is on a clean rim and there is enough lubrication on be bead to help seal, it can sometimes be done with a hand pump. I have changed my own tubeless tires on my motorcycle and pumped them up by hand successfully.
Also flat boat trailer tires provided the bead didn’t break away from the rim.
I have used starting fluid and acetylene, actually it’s kind of fun. But you better be ready to start inflating as soon as it pops, as the air cools, the pressure rapidly goes away.