At Long Last... New Tires and Rims

[vt_maverick]

So I've been looking for a very specific set of rims for at least six months now to no avail. I'd find traces of ones for sale on Craigslist, but then they'd be gone by the time I called. A very nice guy in LA had a set for sale, but they weren't complete so I passed. Finally in doing some searching on this site I found a for-sale thread that a former member posted 7 or 8 months ago, but no one had ever responded to. So I give the guy a call, and it turns out he's still got them in his parent's shed in Pittsburgh! Apparently he and his wife moved to the Carribean to become charter boat captains two years ago, and although they sold everything else (including his VX) they were never able to find a buyer for the rims.

So with my bonus / tax refund in-hand the wife and I drove 14 hours round trip to Pittsburgh this weekend to pick these up. The tires are Yokohama AVS/T's in 265-60-18, and barely have 3K on them (even the little nibs are still there). I was up trimming the cladding until the wee hours of the morning to make them fit (T4B and I discovered I have especially tight front wheel wells when doing the nerf bar install last year) but they look great! It's a max performance summer tire so it's not for crawling, but they should work great in the sand (where cross section is more important than block spacing).

The rims... well I think you'll recognize them.

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V

18" Borbet CW3's!!!







Sorry for the crappy pics, the morning sunlight was playing tricks with my cheap digital camera. I'll post better ones tonight or tomorrow, hopefully with the Thule 696 rack mounted.

[Ldub]

N - I - C - E...

Gets two of these....

And one of these...

[tomdietrying]

I agree with Ldub 100%.
Peace.
Tom

[Mile High VX]

I agree with Ldub 100%.
Peace.
Tom

X 3...here you go



And

[nfpgasmask]

There's nothing like new rubber!

Looks good.

Bart

[tom4bren]

Looks great VT. Now get some lift on it so we can see the Kilby's.

[VX KAT]

Wow, that's looks great Ashley! No wonder you've been so stealth about it . With the aluminum 696 rack on and those wheels, WOW that will look awesome!!


p.s....what's the license plate mean?? Just curious...

[vt_maverick]

Thanks Sue. I'm a Virginia Tech alum and after the shootings in 2007 the university held a memorial convocation during which distinuguished poet/author/professor Nikki Giovanni read her poem "We Are Virginia Tech" as a tribute. Afterwards the university used the phrase in its advertising to demonstrate the "one-ness" of our student, faculty, and alumni community, collectively referred to as "Hokie Nation." Take a look...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cSuidxE8os

The idea is that the plate and plate holder together read "We are Virginia Tech"

[RamAirZ]

That's an awesome story on the plate! Wheels look good on there!

[VX KAT]

That's an awesome story on the plate! Wheels look good on there!

x2! Very cool and uber respectful!!

[RallyDude]

Wow wished I had picked up on that one. They look great. So why didn't you have greyhound send them? 14 hour trip plus gas sounds fun...

[Y33TREKker]

Well obviously I think you made a wise wheel choice. Looks great! I'm actually getting ready to take mine off and put the summer shoes back on.

IIRC, Steve sold the set he had in CA without the centercaps or else I would have asked if you wanted to go halvsies so we could both grab a spare...you know....just in case.

[technocoy]

Man, I love a nice shiny foxfire. Looks great with the Borbets!

Now just do some refinish restorer and put on your thule and it's gonna be mean and clean!

[VX KAT]

Man, I love a nice shiny foxfire. Looks great with the Borbets!

Now just do some refinish restorer and put on your thule and it's gonna be mean and clean!

What?!! I think his cladding looks phenomenal! It's so nice & dark. I just did mine with Refinish/Restorer 2 days ago and it's a bit too shiny satin, and my cladding is several shades lighter than his as is, so I'm really admiring his cladding!

[vt_maverick]

Wow wished I had picked up on that one. They look great. So why didn't you have greyhound send them? 14 hour trip plus gas sounds fun...

Greyhound quoted shipping for the four tires and rims from LA at something like $300+, and although these were much closer in Pittsburgh, they had much larger (and therefore heavier) tires, which I can only assume would have negated much of the price difference. I think we probably broke even on driving up there vs. shipping it Greyhound, plus it gave the wife and I a chance to get a break from our 14 month old for two days. We drove through Virginia horse and wine country and then through the mountains in western Maryland and West Virginia on our way, which were all beautiful in the amazing weather we had over the weekend. On the way back we stayed in a nice hotel in Winchester, VA for only $60 , and ate at one of the best southern BBQ places I've been in a long time.

So we end up paying about the same as shipping and got a nice weekend away instead.