driveitlikeyoustoleit

i am a newbie to shipping wheels and tires. i am trying to send them from chicago to indianapolis about 200 miles. i don't even know where to start. any thoughts on easiest and most economical would be appreciated.

IamSMC

Go to a local box seller, get the closest box size for each wheel & tire.
Then go to Home Depot, buy shrink wrap and bubble wrap.
Bubble wrap then shrink/stretch wrap each wheel & tire, place in box (x4), seal.
Go to UPS, choose ground ship, done.
BTW, if you weigh the boxes (over guesstimate 80-100 lbs per boxed wheel & tire) and print your labels, its costs less then going to UPS weighing it there and having them print the labels for you.

Onami

Also check with the shipper on the details of their insurance coverage. I just has an $1,100 top for my Corvette smashed to pieces by UPS and it took me 2 months of arguing with them to get them to pay up!

owen meany

Check out the possibility of shipping with Greyhound. I received just tires and it was the cheapest. You just need to be near a depot (station). Maybe even Amtrak though I don't know about that one.

Turbodan

wheel and tire doesn't weight 80 lbs each.

Nurburger

No need for boxes... Just cut 8 discs of cardboard slightly larger than the wheel lip (you can usually find large pieces from home depot / lowes - just ask an employee). Place a sheet of fine bubble wrap over the face of the wheel & tape a disc over it. Tape a disc to the rear side also & wrap the wheels well in plastic shipping wrap (be generous) Tape around each one a few times to ensure the wrap is secure. Take the dimensions / weight of each & tape the shipping label to the face of each.

The wheel / tire combo will usually weigh 50-60lbs....

IamSMC

I know...but adding in box & shrink/bubble wrap...and UPS ground rates from 60-80 lbs don't appear to increase a huge amount...plus I tend to side with "overkill" and better safe then sorry...

But for inquiring minds...

Potenza S-02 (OE tire)
225/40ZR18
SL N2(Porsche) 22 lbs.
285/30ZR18
SL N2(Porsche) 30 lbs.
Source: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....&autoModel=911 Turbo Coupe&autoModClar=


8x18 19.95 lbs. 52mm
993.362.136.00, Front Turbo (hollow spoke)

10x18 23.36 lbs. 65mm
993.362.140.01, Rear Turbo (hollow spoke)

10x18 25.13 lbs. 40mm
993.362.140.00, Rear Turbo (hollow spoke)

Source:http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars/wheelwts.html

Kein_Ersatz

I just received 4 wheels and tires via FedEx Ground freight. All four of them were vinyl strapped to a pallet and then stretch-wrap (moving saran wrap at Home Depot) wrapped with cardboard in-between each wheel.

Getting access to a pallet and tie down strapping will require someone who ships freight from their business, but I suspect that would be the cheapest. Or finding someone going to Putnam for a DE that is trailering and can sneaker net them for you. Indy to Putnam is a short drive.

IamSMC

I think a few RLister on here said despite Greyhound being the "cheapest", YMMV because there's no tracking, there's no guarantee delivery, there's no insurance and you have to go to the depot/terminal and pickup yourself.

One RLister said it took "months" to locate wheels...

Another said lost with no insurance coverage...

Onami

When I bought my RUF wheels and tires, the fellow took them to UPS and they boxed them up perfectly. It cost about $250 for all 4 wheels including packaging and insurance to go from NY to Toronto. They arrived as new without even a dent in the box! Trust me, I ship almost 200,000 packages a year and packaging makes a huge difference in how well a product survives the trip.

IamSMC

The "tire rack" method is fine when coming from a vendor who has shipping relationship and insurance in place, but on private sales, wrapped like you stated above AND then boxing is best, saving shipping costs on a couple of ounces for the weigh of the boxes is just not worth it to risk

driveitlikeyoustoleit: another suggestion, document by photos before and after you ship prep and/or box the wheelset, send to your buyer so that both parties are aware of condition prior to receiving by buyer