A little bling is never a bad thing and custom wheels, perhaps more than any other modification to a vehicle, can provide dramatic improvements in in both performance and style – the best of both worlds if you will. Our Jeep CJ5 now has more bling than I ever imagined I would put on it, but these new Walker Evan beadlock wheels also have the cajones to back up the hype.
With 30 years of racing experience, and more than 140 off-road racing victories, you can bet that Walker Evans has seen his share of mangled wheels. If he is going to put his name on them, they had better be more than just a pretty face, they had better be tough as nails.
Walker Evans Racing poured all their years of racing and engineering experience into building the toughest beadlock wheel available. Each wheel starts life as a single aluminum casting with the beadlock surface cast directly into the wheel, rather than being welded on later as many other beadlock wheels are. This one step casting process creates a stronger wheel and eliminates the possibility for leaks at the mounting surface. Since Walker Evans Racing was designing off-road wheels from the ground up they decided to move the valve stem as far as possible into the wheel, to protect it from rocks and obstacles that would normally damage it. Each wheel is rated for a 3800 pound load – a weight that would crush most other wheels on the market.
These beefy wheels can be ordered in standard satin or fully polished aluminum finish. They are currently available in 17″x8″ and 15″x8″ sizes with numerous backspacing options available and just about any bolt pattern possible.
Walker Evans Racing’s one-piece beadlock rings are made of 6061 T-6 aluminum and are specifically designed and precision manufactured for rock crawling and general off-road abuse. The use of 24 grade-8 bolts on the bead lock ring, which assures an evenly distributed and reliable clamp onto the tire.
The first thing you see when you look at a beadlock wheel is the beadlock ring and Walker Evans Racing offers many choices here. You can order a standard width or extra wide aluminum ring and you can choose a finish that is polished or anodized in one of 6 colors. We ordered our wheels with the satin aluminum finish and the wide, fully polished rings. Bling, Bling!
Walker Evans Racing’s Beadlock Wheels | ||||||||
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Our Findings
The fully polished, wide rings look so great, that I actually tried not to damage them on the first off-road test we did. We had our first boo-boo within 10 minutes, and like every new car owner, once we got over the first scratch it has been bang, grind and drag ever since.
We put the wheels to the real torture test in Moab, UT during the 2006 Easter Jeep Safari. Airing the 37″ Goodyear’s down to 7 PSI, we spent a week bashing and side walling them on the toughest trails Moab had to offer. A full week of rock crawling and off-roading and not a single leak, slip or any other issue. Since then, I have abused the wheels for two months on the sharp granite rocks of Arizona with out a single problem.
Walker ‘The Legend’ Evans has proudly put his name on some of the toughest, best-looking beadlock wheels on the market, and we’re proud to put his toughest, best-looking beadlocks on our rig – bling and all.
Walker Evans Racing |
2304 Fleetwood Drive Riverside CA 92509 Phone: (888) WEE-RACE Fax: (951)788-1738 Email: walker@walkerevansent.com Website: www.walkerevansracing.com |