Weld's new Dirt Late Model beadlock wheel uses an innovative design that maximizes clearance for brake systems.
The folks at Weld were kind enough to send us a set of new racing wheels for evaluation on our project Dirt Late Model. After popping open the boxes, we found the right sides to be of the high quality you'd expect from Weld. But when we opened up the boxes for the left sides, we found something a bit different. Weld wheels recently introduced a new design for their left-side racing wheels, and they were staring us in the face.
Weld's Motorsports Sales Manager Jeff Jordan tells us that the company originated wheel designs that incorporate a dzus-on mud cover without having to run a beadlock. Pretty cool. And, like all our wheels, the LR wheel (p/n 559-5465) incorporates this mud-cover feature, but also has an inside beadlock. While that in itself is not unique, the engineers at Weld reworked the inner rim half in order to maximize clearance using the very largest brake packages available in today's racing market as their guide. The result is a wheel that will clear any brake caliper out there. Jordan says that Weld is the first and only wheel company to accomplish this. "The wide five market is perceived as being technologically stale and we're trying to turn it back into an innovative features market."
As you can see in the picture, our calipers easily clear the new wheel design. This is important because if the calipers are touching the wheel in any way, not only are you creating a friction point that will slow you down, you're also obviously damaging the caliper. The design is available on both their XL- and HS-series wheels. Other than the weight difference, the lighter XL Series has 15 lug holes while the HS series has 10.
