Shipping Steelies, Best way to package/transport? Options

[kmwvmarip]

Car: 71 1.7

Here is the deal. Two years ago my dad gave me his 914. It has always been garaged and is quite unmolested and has been well taken care of. It has been used but treated like a garage queen. Always garaged, never driven in the rain, etc... but yes, there is some hell hole damage under the battery tray.

My dad drove the car on a flatbed trailer with the car and as many parts as he could haul out from the east to the west coast.

The question (s): In his barn he has the original steel wheels. They are likely in pristine condition. They are the type with the dog dish hub caps, which are also original w/o a scratch.

1. Is it worth shipping them from West Virginia to California? (I know that this answer will vary depending on prices of good condition original steelies and the value of having the original parts on the car and what I want the end product to be.)

2. What methods have people used to ship wheels? Boxed individually? Together in bulk? How do you handle this awkward shipment?

3. How much does does this sort of shipment typically cost and with what shipper, UPS, etc?

4. What tire sizes are accommodated with steelies?

Thanks in advance. I prefer the looks of 2.0 Fuchs but getting the scratch together would tough to justify.

[flippa]

I sold a set of fake fuch rims a few years ago. Iwent to a local tire shop and got a few empty from them. They had a pile of them from the new rims they sell.

I was able to package two rims per box & shipped them FedEX for around $45 per box to CA.

I personally like the look of the steeliness on a stock car. My frost car was a 1970 with those rims.

[Cap'n Krusty]

Good advice. Get a couple of boxes for wide wheels and put 2 steelies, with the hubcaps installed, into each box with a few layers of cardboard between and around them. Use a buncha good quality packing tape to join the 2 boxes, then put 'em on the bus. Pretty fast, pretty cheap.

The Cap'n

[bdstone914]

Check the weight of one wheel. Some shippers limit weight to residential to $75 pounds. I would put two wheels to a box. I have sent four in individual wheel boxes taped together and they have managed to break them apart and loose a wheel (twice). Check Greyhound Freight Express. They used to be cheap. Figure about $1 a pound as a good rate coast to coast.

Bruce

[mepstein]

My steelies are similar with the semi circle hub caps. On a bathroom scale they weigh 20lbs each. If yours are in good condition, they are keepers. I ship a lot of stuff USPS but when I took wheels to my old shop with a fed ex commercial account, the shipping was 2/3 the price to send out 6 wheels. So if you know someone with an account, box them up and ship them out.

[Pat Garvey]

If they are as pristine as you think, it's worth the cost. Great steelies with great caps are not easy to come by. Yep, foot the bill.

[mrgreenjeans]

If they are as pristine as you think, it's worth the cost. Great steelies with great caps are not easy to come by. Yep, foot the bill.

I totally agree. And they will be original to that car too.

Important some day to keep them all together. And the less there are surviving of these great little cars, the more important it is to do the right thing.

[rhodyguy]

agreed on the wheel boxes from a tire center local to you. boxes for 17" (boxes for wheels 15" can be harder to find) will make for a good fit. 2 wheels per box and ship them separately. taping the boxes together will make for a hard to handle item. it should run $35 to 40ish per via the USPS. shipping via greyhound is not the bargain it used to be. if the wheels are in as good of shape as you believe them to be they're worth more than the cost of shipping.