cheapest way to ship a transmission

[chrisesteschiro]

Hello, I have a civic tranny that I thought about putting on ebay, who would you use to ship something this big/heavy? Would you be able to box the bitch or would a small crate be a must? Thanks

[Jand3rson]

Go to Wal-Mart or wherever and get a big Rubbermaid tub with a lid. Make sure it's the right demensions. Then stuff the tub completely full with crumpled up newspaper, and I mean FULL. The weight of the transmission will squash it all down, and having that much will keep it from shifting around. After that, put the lid on, and drill holes all the way around the lid and down through the rim of the tub itself, like every 3-4 inches. Then zip tie the lid to the tub, getting them down good and tight, and then cut the ends off. Coccoon the lid to the tub in clear tape, and you should be good to go. I've shipped 3 E30 transmissions, 2 cylinder heads and 2 differentials that way.

[george graves]

Yep - good stuff. Haven't tried newspaper. What I do is wrap it in a plastic bad, then make my own Styrofoam peanuts by breaking up a large piece to fill the voids. Makes a huge mess...

[matt]

IMHO, don't cut the ends of the zip ties off. They get sharp and you don't want to piss off the people handling your expensive transmission unsupervised.

I don't use newspaper to fill the tub, either, I use cardboard.

[rede30]

for a diff i have doubled up nice boxes and used a lot of tape. tubs will work great though.

[doucy2]

greyhound it, you can usually get a pretty good deal going that route if oyu can find a semi-direct one.

dont ship anything that heavy in cardboard, i recently got a diff in and one whole side of the cardboard box had ripped out.

[george graves]

oh BTW, UPS and FedEx have a surcharge that if it is not wrapped in cardboard they charge you like $9 - They tend to overlook this at some places, other are much more strict about it. Like "mailboxes ect" seem to always follow the "rules"...

[Jand3rson]

IMHO, don't cut the ends of the zip ties off. They get sharp and you don't want to piss off the people handling your expensive transmission unsupervised.

:roll: That's why you use a utility knife and cut the end off right at the slider.

[Jscotty]

:roll: That's why you use a utility knife and cut the end off right at the slider.

Or use a pair of dikes with the flat side toward the slider so you get a perfectly smooth flush cut.

[george graves]

Or zip tie so the slider is UNDER the lid