How do you ship seats and heads?

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340 Dart

340 Dart

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I have some "A" body bucket seats I will be selling soon and some heads and was curious, how do you guys ship bulky items like that?

I have no idea how to even get a quote for that stuff. What are YOU doing?
 
mine were shipped in wardrobe boxes from uhaul thru fed ex....
 
My youngest son gave me some high $$$ VW seats which I sold on eBay. We needed some new patio furniture so those boxes came in handy. Shipped them via FedEx - much less expensive than UPS.
 
I agree with FedEx being less expensive than UPS. Take the seats apart so they're in 4 pieces and can lay flat. Maybe use 2 boxes, 1 for tops and 1 for bottoms.

For shipping heads, I would suggest building a wood crate or lining a box w/ wood to strengthen the cardboard. I'm sure others will have a better idea......
 
I sent a set of buckets fold over on each other, like laying two J shaped pieces so they make one lg rectangle. Cheaper to send in one big box than two smaller.

Fedex was OK, greyhound with a coupon was less.

Heads, it depends. Iron heads, you can ship via fedex together but it's mad expensive. Put them in one box, wrapped up well.

Anything that can be picked up at a greyhound terminal is usually a bit less than fedex and UPS is more than FE on most.
 
I live close to Indy Cylinder Head. So If I am shipping heads I'll go buy some of their boxes. Double thick card board with a single thickness insert.

Seats, I have either taken them apart, or shipped them in one huge box
 
Hey, I am looking for buckets for my Swinger, what codition & color are they =, and how much are you looking for/
 
FedEx is the best/cheapest, but just like UPS they have a 130" maximum shipping size (length + girth) and 54" long max or it goes over sized.

Most of the time you can ship bucket seats in two boxes cheaper that if they go in one larger box due to the UPS and FedEx shipping size and weight requirements. Take the seats apart and you can go to your local bicycle shop and get a bike box for free to ship seats, just check the size first or it will go over sized and cost 4 times as much. 54 x 8 x 30 is maximum size. Bike boxes are also good to ship heads since they are pretty strong and most are around 8" wide, just cut it down to the correct size.
 
I agree that 1 box is cheaper and through Fedex. I have shipped seats twice and both times took them apart. Try to find an old dishwasher box or refidgerator box and cut it down to size as you go. They are knid of a pain in the butt but worth it if you make some good coin.
 
Haven't shipped seat but I have shipped 2 sets of heads by getting a big sheet of good heavy wall corrugated cardboard (Got a buddy that gets it for me free from the local box board factory) and lay the head on it and wrap it Christmas present style overlapping it so it's double thick all the way around and make sure it's wrapped tight and taped real good. Only takes me about 10 minutes per head and both times it's worked great. The guys receiving them said they were unharmed.
 
blu340dart said:
I agree that 1 box is cheaper and through Fedex.
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Not always, it is cheaper as long as the box stays under their size limit, (130") but that is hard to do with seats and other large items. You can ship two boxes under 130" for less than half that of one box that is over 130"

I ship a lot of large items, Bikes and car parts and you need to do your homework on fedex.com and enter different sizes and weights to know for sure which is cheaper, it's not set in stone, just a 1/2" difference in box size can make the difference of it costing $30 to ship or costing $100 to ship the same item depending on the box or boxes you use. The same goes for UPS and USPS which is the most expensive if it can't go priority flat rate.

130" is maximum shipping size for FedEx and UPS and as far as weight I believe 75 pounds is maximum weight. Also anything over 54" long goes over sized even 1/4" over.

To give you and idea,
A box 54 x 8 x 30 is 130" I use this to ship bikes and I have shipped seats in them but they had to be taken apart and go in two separate boxes.

A box 25 x 25 x 30 is also 130" you can "sometimes" fit two lowback bucket seats in one this size but they need to be completely taken apart and it will still be tight, but they will be over weight and cost you more for the weight.

I occasionally ship bike parts and frames to a friend in Australia which has a 79" size limit and an 1980 Mongoose frame barely makes it under the 79" limit, I have to custom make a box for it. If I go over the 79" by even 1/2 it will go from costing $75 to ship it to costing $300.

Size and weight makes the difference, so do your homework before you box anything up and you'll be fine.

If you have a FedEx or UPS account and the person at the counter lets something slide, your account will get billed later after it is caught at one of the hubs.
 
Thank you all for the great information!!

The bike boxes will work really well for me. I used to race them and I can just swing by my old sponsors store and snag some. Thanks for the great idea!!

I don't know what to do about the heads for sure yet. I have 3 or 4 sets to get rid of.

RedSwinger you have a PM.
 
See if you have a greyhound station close by you and the buyer.

I hear they are the cheapest way to ship large items.
 
on those maximum dimensions for Fedex, keep in mind that they are the OUTSIDE dimensions. So if the box bulges a little in the middle, it could put you into oversize if you are not VERY careful with your measurements. Fedex and UPS both use laser scanners that measure the largest outside dimension of of the boxes. Also make sure you dont have any extra cardboard or labels or anything hanging off the box, been burned by that one before!
-Tim
 
I just shipped a set of heads. Wrapped them each in 3 layers of cardboard and taped them real tight. Then put each head in a seperate cardboard box and padded it really well with more cardboard. Must make sure the heads don't move in the box. They got to their destination without any damage. fully insure them just to be safe. Do not use styrofoam or popcorn!
 
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