A bead lock is a ring bolted through a race wheel that clamps the tire's bead against the rim so it cannot unseat, which is what lets a dirt racer run low air pressure. Rules vary by class.
A bead lock is an outer ring — sometimes an inner one too — bolted through the rim to trap the bead. AERO’s 33 and 53 Series beadlocks use inner and outer rings held by “16 zinc plated flange bolts,” and every one of those is a torque spec: Keizer publishes 18 ft-lbs for 5/16-18 ring bolts and 10 ft-lbs for 1/4-20. Check them in the shop, not at the track. Whether you can run one is a class question, and rulebooks get specific — IMCA’s 2026 Modified rules allow an “IMCA approved bead lock, on right rear only,” external steel only, on a wheel “no wider than 8.75 inches,” while 2026 Hobby Stock requires “D.O.T.-stamped steel wheels with standard bead bump.”
A bead lock is the hardware that lets a low-pressure dirt tire stay on the rim, but only if every bolt is torqued and the ring is legal for your class.
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