[bushwesl]

Are HiPer wheels really that much better compared to conventional aluminum wheels (Douglas)? Are there really any weight savings? I'm looking at wheels and was wondering if the HiPers were all that they were cracked up to be, or if they are just the the new fad. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? Any insight here would be appreciated.

 

[no-luck]

I'm pretty sure hipers are heavier than the aluminum wheels. I've never had a problem with my Douglas yellow labled beadlocks in an mx application.

 

[Michael88R]

My uncle was looking for light weight wheels and he checked into the hipers. They are not as light as they say.

If you want beadlocks, the douglas clover ones are sick!

 

[elbine69]

They are heavier than the aluminum beadlocks. Suprised me when I got mine that they were heavier. But the carbon fiber is stronger than the aluminum.

 

[86Rman]

The Hiper's have four very good things going for them. 1. they won't bend, when you would usually bend an aluminum wheel on a jump the carbon fiber wheel will take that blow and then go back to the original shape. 2. They have a life time warrnty. 3. If you would break them then there are three parts to them so you wouldn't have to buy a whole new wheel if you didn't want to. 4. They look Badass. I have had mine for about 4 months and have over shot about three different 65 footers and they are fine.

Although on the downside. Make sure you get the CF1s to start. The first ones they made with the full aluminum hub insert, are know to break of hubs. But even if you did break it, they will give you a new wheel.

 

[rook]

hipers have been available for YEARS so i don't think they're "the new fad". they're not carbon fiber either they're composite, like plastic. i've had old and new and never any problems.

 

[gandgracing]

I did some research before I bought a set and have heard that you want the Tech 3 and not the CF1's. The CF1's are really only for the dunes.

 

[bushwesl]

I actually picked up a complete set of Douglas shamrock billet beadlocks front and rear. They were brand new in the box for about the cost of 2 used HiPers. Thanks for all the info though. Maybe someday I'll have a set of HiPers, but until then I think that these will do just fine.

 

[Dano250R]

I do not like HiPers. They always seem to leak after dirt gets under the beadlock
ring. Also, I have been racing... got bumped hard from the side and had the inside
ring "pop" over one of the bolts and lost all the air in the tire instantly. The ring
is useless after that.

They are heavier too. I can't stand anything the unnecessarily makes my MX quad
heavier: especially steel swingarms(aka boat anchors). LOL

AND... my friend had the integrated hub style which he broke, HiPer told him too
bad soo sad no freebies for you(WE discontinued them). He runs Douglas now. To
be fair, HiPer did send me new rings at no charge on three separate occasions.

I really do like the look of them though Just on other peoples quads now!


This is just my opinion, please read all comments and make up your own minds. I am
not trying to hate on anyone.

 

[fastR of puppets]

ive had both douglas shamrocks and hipers, and i only use hipers now, they are only a bit heavier, but they are just so much stronger, and my douglases always leaked, not to mention hipers look sick as hell

 

[NormalZ]

I've had HiPers for about 4 years now, and wouldn't get rid of them for anything. Front beadlocks - never, ever a problem. Rears - the integrated hubs were discontinued, and HiPer had a good reason - people wouldn't maintain them, axle nuts get loose, hubs strip. HiPer has to send new ones to you for free. In addition to that, it's all about tooling and machining money - to many axle dimensions out there, in diameter and spline count. Doesn't make sense when they can make one bolt-on hub center with dual bolt pattern, and it fits everything. Smart money.

The old (original) style dual pattern centers were discontinued and recalled. I had a set of those, so I called HiPer (I think this was '04 or '05) and they sent me the new centers free. Hell no I didn't put them in - my old ones were fine! Yeah, a month later, I had my right rear wheel pass me after landing a jump... New centers went in that night.

If they leak air, they;re not torques right. It's something like 9~11lbs for the rings, and 10~12lbs for the centers, or vice versa. I just keep them all torques to 10lb/ft and forget 'em. For the dual beadlock rears, that 36 bolts each wheel (12 in each ring, and 12 center bolts), and they're 12-point 7/16" bolts. PITA. Worth it, though, once a month? Yep.

Weight. I've weighed out a set of 9" HiPer dual beadlock rears against a set of 8" Douglas Yellow Label single beadlock rears, both mounted with 18" Klaws, and both wheel combos weigh exactly the same. Benefit of the HiPers in that situation? Dual beadlocks and not singles.

I've never flat-spotted a HiPer, and had to beat it out with a deadblow hammer just to keep going. I've never unbeaded a tire with them. After I changed out the centers, I've never had a problem with breaking out a center.

I'll toss up some pics tomorrow of the differences in the old centers and the new centers. It's easy to see how the old ones could break under the right circumstances, and why the new ones are stronger and better. That stuff was fixed at least 3 or 4 years ago, too.

I'd stay away from the ones with the CF centers, though.

 

[NormalZ]

Here's my HiPer carnage - this first pic if the inner portion of the old-stlye centers. It stayed with the quad:

This is the wheel that was secured to the flying vehicle, prior to landing...

Old (recalled) style hub center on the right, compared to the new style hub center on the left - easy to see where they added more reinforcement in the new design:

Here's where the old one broke:

Easy to see how little overlap there was with the billet, between the two mounting surfaces of the old ones:

Looks like it was July 2nd, 2005 when I busted it up. I already had the new rings for a month or so by then, but hadn't put them in. I certainly had a good reason after this stuff. In a nutshell, all the wheels they've sold after mid-year 2005 already have the new-style rings in them. The differences in the rings are easy to tell, if you're looking at used wheels.