SHIPPING TIRES And/Or WHEELS
There's been a lot of discussion recently about shipping tires and or wheels on the forums recently, so I'd like to share my $.02 of experience.
There are a couple of simple ways to package these round things for shipment:
If you're sending wheels alone, it's best to get boxes slightly larger than a single wheel, wrap the perimeter of the wheel with cardboard slightly wider than the wheel, wrap that combo a few times with stretch-wrap (16 - 18 inches, available at Home Depot etc.) then secure in box for shipment. One wheel per box. These are heavy with hard edges and they're going to be thrown around and stepped on, so keep that in mind when packaging. This technique will protect them yet keep packaging light to save on shipping.
Stretch-wrap comes in all shapes and sizes, is inexpensive and great stuff to have around. And it never goes bad!
If sending wheels with tires mounted then find some square peices of cardboard larger than the wheel diameter and tape over both sides of the wheel making certain no metal is exposed. Double-layer if you'd like. Then take the handy stretch-wrap roll and start wrapping the tire front-to-back with about 30 - 50% overlap on each pass. This will enclose the wheel and tire plus keep the carboard in place. Make sure to pull the wrap with some stretch while you wrap! Stretch-wrap doesn't work properly unless under tension. Affix your label and put some clear packing tape over it with enough extra to ensure it's stuck to the stretch-wrap. Do each tire this way and you won't have to pay oversize charges because of weight.
If sending just tires you can use the above procedure omitting the cardboard and you can also stretch-wrap two tires side-by-side since they're lighter. "Oversize" charges through most carriers are based on a size and weight formula, so even though the package seems big it'll cost less as it's lighter.
The two most economical shippers for these have been FedEx Ground and UPS. As of this posting I did a comparison for one wheel with mounted tire from Florida to California and FedEx Ground was about $32 and UPS about $46. Don't go to a shipping store! You'll need to take your shipment directly to a FedEx Ground or UPS shipping hub to get these rates! I have heard from some friends in the race business that you can call for a pickup and get the same rates if you prepare your shipment online, but you'll have to create an account to do that or have access to an account.
If you figure the shipment online, remeber to indicate the package size as the diameter of the tire for width and length which will be the same. Width of the tire will be height. For example, an 18" wheel with stock Duelers that have about a 30' outside diameter and almost 10" width would make for a package 31"X31"X10", plus the actual weight. Don't worry that it's round, shipping corners is free.
Hope this helps! For those that ship tires and/or wheels please post what you were charges and the originating/destination locations to put some real-world data with this info.
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Originally Posted by kpaske
