When you get into hot rodding and customizing cars you likely are using an engine configuration that isn’t stock and you’ll need to make custom intake or coolant hoses and you may need a way to put a bead on the end of tubing to keep your hoses from pulling off. For many years dedicated tubing beading tools were extremely easy and we started to look at our other tools we already have that could perform that same procedure with no real modifications. We then realized our motorized bead roller was easily up the job with its power full motor and progressive speed foot pedal you could do small jobs like beading the ends of tubing.
The Eastwood Tube Beading Dies for our Motorized bead roller lets you roll any tubing up to 18 gauge steel and 16 gauge aluminum with ease. These will also fit any bead rollers with a 3/4″ shaft. The dies are made to except tubing as small as a 1.25″ ID and you can go up as large as you want in OD. Simply slide the tubing into the dies and tighten them down until you can feel the dies are deforming the metal. You then push the pedal and slowly rotate the tubing as it goes around to put a bead in the end of the tubing. We suggest doing multiple passes to raise the bead to the desired height to avoid slipping or errors when rolling the bead. After you’re done you can now slip a rubber or silicone boost hose or radiator hose over and tighten down your desired tubing clamp. By doing this you can buy straight tubing in your desired size in bulk and make parts as needed without having to buy specialized tubing just for the little bead on the end!
We offer a full line of bead rollers and dies to outfit any shop from beginner to professional. Find out bead rolling products HERE.