Posted by Patrick Norton on 9/3/2026 to
Old Tech & Build Posts
The OG of the OG for our popular TrailReady Beadlock rings ... before we made them ... I made some back in April 2011.
------------------------------------------------------------
PARTS & SUPPLIES NEEDED
"Trail Ready" beadlocks with rings
92 2x6-10mm screws
Rotary Tool with cutoff wheels
When I purchased my SCX10 I had my mind made up on 1 thing .... I wanted some beadlocks that look just like the popular 1:1 TrailReady wheels.
So back in 9/09 I picked up a few oversize steel washers and came up with these rings:
It was a PITA to drill all the holes properly and they were certainly not perfect. It was also a lot of work to get all the screws in and it ate up the wheel to drill extra holes in it. The last issue I had was that they were some sort of galvanized steel and they rusted. Since TR rings are Aluminum I had to do something.
So I contacted a local machine shop back in 12/09 and sent him over some detailed drawings. My basic design was that I'd reuse the 6 hole pattern from the Axial wheel/ring to mount the ring to the wheel. 6 holes are drilled through so you can secure them like a normal Axial ring. The other 16 screws are threaded so they can hold screws that you cut off flush with the back. He produced these rings based off my measurements:
They were a massive improvement. Only having to mess with 6 screws again was fantastic and they looked pretty good IMO. BUT ...I still wanted the rings to be better. I wanted slots in them just like the real thing and a valve stem cut out that was a hair wider. I was working with the machinist on that when he, unfortunately, had some family medical issues and he all but disappeared. That's when I noticed that the plastic wheels were getting stripped in the hex area because of the tons of power and amount of weight I run. So I decided I wanted new aluminum wheels AND better rings ... and that's when I contacted another local machine shop and sent them drawings & measurements .... and this is what I got back:
The wheels/rings will work with a standard Axial 1.9 stuff as they have the same 6 hole pattern. The extra threaded holes are just for the dummy screws.
ASSEMBLY
1. To assemble the wheels/rings you need to first decide what color screws you want to use.
2. Once you decide on that, simply thread all your screws into the 16 holes per ring that are threaded.
3. Next, use your dremel to cut the screws flush with the back of the ring. It's not hard, just take your time.
4. Then you can mount the tire like normal.
Note that the latest version of the rings use the valve stem cut out as the key for one of the screws that actually holds the ring/wheel together. So if you ever need to loosen them, start with that screw then skip 2, etc...
Here are a bunch of pictures I took, with both black and silver screws and rings using black plastic wheels & the aluminum wheels that are based on the TR HD wheels. The wheels look just like the TRs. I couldn't be happier!
So finally, I have a set of rings and wheels that look and function exactly like I want!
Thanks for reading!
-Patrick "Locked Up" Norton
------------------------------------------------------------
PARTS & SUPPLIES NEEDED
"Trail Ready" beadlocks with rings
92 2x6-10mm screws
Rotary Tool with cutoff wheels
When I purchased my SCX10 I had my mind made up on 1 thing .... I wanted some beadlocks that look just like the popular 1:1 TrailReady wheels.
So back in 9/09 I picked up a few oversize steel washers and came up with these rings:
It was a PITA to drill all the holes properly and they were certainly not perfect. It was also a lot of work to get all the screws in and it ate up the wheel to drill extra holes in it. The last issue I had was that they were some sort of galvanized steel and they rusted. Since TR rings are Aluminum I had to do something.
So I contacted a local machine shop back in 12/09 and sent him over some detailed drawings. My basic design was that I'd reuse the 6 hole pattern from the Axial wheel/ring to mount the ring to the wheel. 6 holes are drilled through so you can secure them like a normal Axial ring. The other 16 screws are threaded so they can hold screws that you cut off flush with the back. He produced these rings based off my measurements:
They were a massive improvement. Only having to mess with 6 screws again was fantastic and they looked pretty good IMO. BUT ...I still wanted the rings to be better. I wanted slots in them just like the real thing and a valve stem cut out that was a hair wider. I was working with the machinist on that when he, unfortunately, had some family medical issues and he all but disappeared. That's when I noticed that the plastic wheels were getting stripped in the hex area because of the tons of power and amount of weight I run. So I decided I wanted new aluminum wheels AND better rings ... and that's when I contacted another local machine shop and sent them drawings & measurements .... and this is what I got back:
The wheels/rings will work with a standard Axial 1.9 stuff as they have the same 6 hole pattern. The extra threaded holes are just for the dummy screws.
ASSEMBLY
1. To assemble the wheels/rings you need to first decide what color screws you want to use.
2. Once you decide on that, simply thread all your screws into the 16 holes per ring that are threaded.
3. Next, use your dremel to cut the screws flush with the back of the ring. It's not hard, just take your time.
4. Then you can mount the tire like normal.
Note that the latest version of the rings use the valve stem cut out as the key for one of the screws that actually holds the ring/wheel together. So if you ever need to loosen them, start with that screw then skip 2, etc...
Here are a bunch of pictures I took, with both black and silver screws and rings using black plastic wheels & the aluminum wheels that are based on the TR HD wheels. The wheels look just like the TRs. I couldn't be happier!
So finally, I have a set of rings and wheels that look and function exactly like I want!
Thanks for reading!
-Patrick "Locked Up" Norton
