Despite what a few beadlock manufacturer marketing departments are claiming, there is no such thing as a "DOT approved" beadlock wheel. The DOT does not approve any wheels, bead lock or not. They might meet DOT guidelines but that is it.
The DOT could care less if you run bead locks, there are no laws against their use so far as the DOT is concerned.
Here is a letter from the DOT to an individual who wrote them for their position on beadlock wheels...
"Dear Mr. C,
I received this message from NHTSA this morning:
There are no performance or design requirements for rims covered under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 120. However, there are rim marking requirements in S5.2 and rim selection requirements in S5.3.2. Note that in S5.2, a reference is made to rims of multi-piece construction, and this implies that these multi-piece rims are allowed. The bead lock rim appears to be a multi-piece rim and there is nothing that I’m aware of that would prohibit them from being used for on-road vehicles. I have attached a copy of the standard. It may be that some State DOTs are regulating them.
Hope this helps some
Sincerely,
Reference Services
National Transportation Library
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation"
I wish people would stop spreading false rumors on the street use of bead lock wheels without knowing the real facts. Not to mention that so far, to the best of my knowledge, no one has actually come up with any actual state law, NJ included, that specifically bans bead lock wheels.