Shipping a set of wheels to Washington? Need advice or help?

[octechgeek]

I'm acustom to shipping stuff with UPS or FEDex, but they are in much smaller packages. I need to send a set of wheels 18/19 with tires mounted on them to Washington and have no clue what is the best way to proceed with this. Has anyone shipped out wheels before and how did you do with enough protection where the shipping company won't jack it up? If any of you guys around the OC, Inland Empire, or San Barndino area have a company does does alot of large package shipping and can assist me in this...please do tell.

I have a friend i will be contacting to assist, but unsure if he can help or not so the more advice the better...

thanks in advance.

 

[awsomr1]

Hac, call me. I know what you can do.

 

[angus]

hey hac,it's nice to see you're looking for input from others on this, - makes me feel better about the whole thing anyways:smile: let me know what you come up with.
many thanks
Wil

 

[Alan C.]

I have shipped sets in the past by doing the following:

1. Get a 4x8 sheet of the blue insulation foam product and a sheet of 1/4" masonite (might need 1 1/2 sheets). Cut circles out of this stuff to about 1" less in diameter than your tires. If the foam can contact the wheel face put an old cotton towel on the wheel face first. Then a circle of the insulation foam followed by a circle of the masonite. On the back side just use one circle of masonite. Use a good fiberglass strapping tape and apply at 60 degrees in a spoke type fashion around the wheel. When you are done you should have 6 bands of tape around the package. I ran a few wraps of good quality duck tape around the tread to lock the strapping tape down. You can do this an hour with no problem.

I've shipped wheels like this to Washington state and NJ from Cincinnati via UPS with no problems. Don't forget to insure the wheels and get an adult proof of signature on delivery. I almost didn't do that once and I am glad I did. Saved me a bunch in the end.

 

[octechgeek]

thanks for the advice alan..

 

[nsxtasy]

I've done what Alan suggested, but just used a couple of layers of cardboard rather than masonite and foam.

One more suggestion: You may want to consider insuring the wheels for more than they're worth as a set. For example, let's say you're selling a set of wheels and tires for $2000. Suppose you insure them for $500 per wheel/tire and they lose one. A set of three wheels and tires is NOT worth 3/4 of the value of a set of four, because the cost of replacing one wheel/tire is going to be a whole lot more than buying them as a set (and you may not even be able to get a replacement at all). So insure them for enough that you're going to be satisfied if one gets lost and you have to collect on only one.

 

[rjp]

You'll soon find out that shipping is pretty darn high via UPS. I paid about $220 for a set of 18/19s with tires recently. I could have shipped them on a pallet thru Yellow Freight for about $175 for that previous shipment. If you have access to a pallet, this might be something to consider.

Good luck with it.

-RJ

 

[scorp965]

You're looking at approx $50/ea for a wheel/tire using FedEx ground; I have shipped several sets using about two pieces of cardboard per side, fiberglass reinforced packing tape to hold everything together, then a liberal amount of regular packing tape on top.

fwiw, this is the process tirerack uses to ship rims and tires, cardboard circles (2x side) with plastic packing straps holding everything together, and the tire tread exposed. When I ship I just cut cardboard squares (its easier to cut them), and bend the corners over the tread.

 

[Hugh]

You're looking at approx $50/ea for a wheel/tire using FedEx ground;

You took the words right out of my mouth. FedEx ground blows UPS ground away. They are ridiculously cheaper.

 

[CarCrazed4Life]

I order my boxes from Staples. I cut them down to the size of the wheel and tire combo. I then flood them with peanuts and bubble wrap so they won't move. Seal the box, and then double up on boxes.

If its just wheels, I usually double box anyways. Just tires, I ship as is. Fedex Ground was about $150 from East coast to West for big 305/40/20 on 20x10s for an ML430 we had a while back. Fedex ground is usually the best way. And as long as all 4 packages are shipped together, if one does need to be claimed, they will consider the 4 of them as a packaged.

Fedex blows UPS away in terms of their support and service on the claim process.

 

[scorp965]

I order my boxes from Staples. I cut them down to the size of the wheel and tire combo. I then flood them with peanuts and bubble wrap so they won't move. Seal the box, and then double up on boxes.

If its just wheels, I usually double box anyways. Just tires, I ship as is. Fedex Ground was about $150 from East coast to West for big 305/40/20 on 20x10s for an ML430 we had a while back. Fedex ground is usually the best way. And as long as all 4 packages are shipped together, if one does need to be claimed, they will consider the 4 of them as a packaged.

Fedex blows UPS away in terms of their support and service on the claim process.

I have received a set of wheels that were packaged in this way, in boxes full of bubbles - the shipper paid a horrendous amount of cash to have them professionally packaged, spent a huge amount of money to ship these massive heavy boxes to me, and when they arrived one of the wheels had busted out of the box, the other box had a huge dent in it - luckily the wheels were fine, but it was a scary few minutes as I cut off these boxes, then I had to spend 15 minutes cleaning packing peanuts off my front step.

Stick to the cardboard squares/circles, imo. If its good enough for tirerack its good enough for private party shipping.

 

[NSXDreamer2]

You took the words right out of my mouth. FedEx ground blows UPS ground away. They are ridiculously cheaper.

everyone gave good information already.

I just wanted to add that I will stay away from UPS businesses whenever it's possible.

FEDEX usually offers faster service,
They don't treat your shipment like a football, do you noticed shipping boxes thru ups usually very dirty, if not broken or mangled???
Their web site tracking is a lot more accurate.
Don't know about anyone, I and the company used to work for, had a much bigger shipping damage rate thru UPS than Fedex.

and it's cheaper??? No brainer.

Carefull when you dealing with Yellow truck or other freight company, some of them weren't used to deal with fragile stuff, thus some rough handling is involved. Some companies actually won't ship your stuff, if they knew that it involves a $2-3k wheels.

anyway.... UPS Sucks!:biggrin:

 

[angus]

everyone gave good information already.

I just wanted to add that I will stay away from UPS businesses whenever it's possible.

FEDEX usually offers faster service,
They don't treat your shipment like a football, do you noticed shipping boxes thru ups usually very dirty, if not broken or mangled???
Their web site tracking is a lot more accurate.
Don't know about anyone, I and the company used to work for, had a much bigger shipping damage rate thru UPS than Fedex.

and it's cheaper??? No brainer.

Carefull when you dealing with Yellow truck or other freight company, some of them weren't used to deal with fragile stuff, thus some rough handling is involved. Some companies actually won't ship your stuff, if they knew that it involves a $2-3k wheels.

anyway.... UPS Sucks!:biggrin:

yes, come to think of it i havent had the best luck with ups,fedex is never a problem,thanks

 

[angus]

I have received a set of wheels that were packaged in this way, in boxes full of bubbles - the shipper paid a horrendous amount of cash to have them professionally packaged, spent a huge amount of money to ship these massive heavy boxes to me, and when they arrived one of the wheels had busted out of the box, the other box had a huge dent in it - luckily the wheels were fine, but it was a scary few minutes as I cut off these boxes, then I had to spend 15 minutes cleaning packing peanuts off my front step.

Stick to the cardboard squares/circles, imo. If its good enough for tirerack its good enough for private party shipping.

yes i've had the same experience with items that are heavy (busting)through the box,PLEASE don't do it like that!!!:smile:

 

[angus]

You're looking at approx $50/ea for a wheel/tire using FedEx ground; I have shipped several sets using about two pieces of cardboard per side, fiberglass reinforced packing tape to hold everything together, then a liberal amount of regular packing tape on top.

fwiw, this is the process tirerack uses to ship rims and tires, cardboard circles (2x side) with plastic packing straps holding everything together, and the tire tread exposed. When I ship I just cut cardboard squares (its easier to cut them), and bend the corners over the tread.

Yes,YES,this is the way i would like my wheels shipped!
thanks guys!

 

[nsxtasy]

Yes, within the 48 states, FedEx Ground (or FedEx Home Delivery, which is the same thing when shipping to residential addresses) is usually the least expensive. Shipping overseas and/or to other countries can vary; for example, the least expensive way to ship on a timely basis to Hawaii and Guam is through the post office, using either Priority Mail or Express Mail.

 

[silverNEEK]

Hello,

To dig up an old thread I have a quick question. I have sent rims/tires with success doing the circle cardboard on each side and sending in four separate packages past but I have gone in to a shipping location to send. I need to send some wheels now and this time signed up for a Fedex online account because the prices are even better. My question is since the tires are round does this affect the price in any way for online? Meaning, when I put the dimensions in I put in for example 24x24x10 and then the weight but I see no box to click to indicate this is not a square box but rather circular. I just want to make sure when I print out the label on my own that I am not missing anything.

Any info, thanks.

Nik

 

[Zishan]

Hello,

To dig up an old thread I have a quick question. I have sent rims/tires with success doing the circle cardboard on each side and sending in four separate packages past but I have gone in to a shipping location to send. I need to send some wheels now and this time signed up for a Fedex online account because the prices are even better. My question is since the tires are round does this affect the price in any way for online? Meaning, when I put the dimensions in I put in for example 24x24x10 and then the weight but I see no box to click to indicate this is not a square box but rather circular. I just want to make sure when I print out the label on my own that I am not missing anything.

Any info, thanks.

Nik

Nik, I've sold/shipped a few sets of wheels via FedEx with my account. I typically pay less than $100 bucks for all 4.

What I do, is go to Office Depot and buy correct sized boxes(approx size is ok, as the boxes give a little. With the front wheels, since they are thinner, I've put those 2 in one box with some cardboard and bubble wrap to protect. Then I wrap them up nicely with some strong tape.

I've never had problems, expect once FedEx lost the wheels and then another NSX gained from my loss basically. But I'll let karma get him. :wink:

Good luck,

 

[Hapa88]

I just shipped some wheels a few weeks ago.

I went down to one of those rim shops like "House of DUBS" and picked up a few empty rim boxes from their trash for a set of 22"s or 24"s they give enough room to send the wheels with the tires mounted. Most of the boxes have the circular cardboard pieces with them.

Anyway shipping my wheels from Los Angeles to Quebec via UPS was $287
Package 1 & 2:
Front 18" wheels (no tires)
$50.17 x 2 wheels = $100

Package 3 & 4:
Rear 19" wheels with tires
$93.50 x 2 wheels = $187