Builds 2008 LX Live Camera Car and Overlanding Build.

[lx200inAR]

I hope that catalog isn't complete. As those offerings only have a 5/150 +30mm. That would probably be low extreme for offset many guys wanted. I would think if you were "stocking" 17x8 for LC200/100s you'd probably want maybe a +50 (33s) / +42.5 (34s) / +35 (35s), drop the 42.5 if that's too complicated. As @grinchy said, the Tundra guys may start at the +35 and only go smaller.

But yeah, if you can tap into the 6/139.7 market, there are literally 50 fold probably more customers.

 

[SharpeCat]

I hope that catalog isn't complete. As those offerings only have a 5/150 +30mm. That would probably be low extreme for offset many guys wanted. I would think if you were "stocking" 17x8 for LC200/100s you'd probably want maybe a +50 (33s) / +42.5 (34s) / +35 (35s), drop the 42.5 if that's too complicated. As @grinchy said, the Tundra guys may start at the +35 and only go smaller.

But yeah, if you can tap into the 6/139.7 market, there are literally 50 fold probably more customers.

That is a reseller, so they picked the offset they thought would cater best to their customers. We are having ours produced as a part of a custom batch, so we get the entire range of offsets from something like -50 to +50 (thats the ballpark anyways).

Complete catalog will come later, but even the catalog from manufacturers will not show the full range as they make custom batches specific to your needs. The King's selection is just for reference to give you guys an idea of the range available.

If mudders need 6/139.7 i will gladly squeeze them in, but i chose these sizes for the main reason that it is not a size that the US market has covered. If it was, i'd be looking into a GB for US Wheels/supporting a US manufacturer, or just grab myself a set and call it a day. When i looked for those specs i was not able to find anything in the US, given that i was looking in a price range that is reflective of my budget.

The problem is ordering just 1 set from other countries, you'll pay more than twice the wheels in shipping and thus making it not nearly as cost-effective. Even when you are okay with that, you have to wait months after paying before getting your product; anxiety ensues, i'm sure. I'm far from the first person on mud who has ran into this issue, and far from the last. I figured i may as well do my little part here, since there is something i could do about it.

I'm not looking for more "customers" or to disrupt the market; nor do i want to take anyone's rent or college tuition monies (especially in the time like this as i am sure they 100% need it more than i do). I'm not even here to make money myself (i just don't have a need for it), but rather to fill in a gap that i found: 17" steelies are virtually nonexistent in the US, and i think they would be popular here on mud. I, for one, would love a set and never look back on this rims subject again. It's only 100 sets so i don't think i need to look outside of mud to find enough interest.

The way i look at it is i could earn my set for free by helping you guys get and save money on yours, and might even have some extra sets to spare at the end to give back to the community. I see myself breaking even at the end of all of this and earning my set of steelies in my own way, and then looking back after it is all said and done and realize that it was a much better way to use the $30k to my name, rather than just let it sit in the bank.

It's basically what i did with ICECO (dropshipped from ICECO to mud members), and i am quite proud of the little story behind my VL45 as well another member's TR. For having spent none of my own money, and with mud's involvement/help, i was able to earn 2 fridges for organizing the group buys. 1 I needed for myself, and 1 i had the pleasure of giving back to the community with.

Let's just say it's going to be a neat story for the kids; the one about how i built my Land Cruiser on a budget with a little help from my friends .

 

[SharpeCat]

Catalog for reference only, cross posted to the Steelies Thread in the Tires and Wheels Classifieds.

Each model is seperated by a different sheet, which you can tab through at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

JAL-4X4 and Tralier Catalogue.xlsx

1drv.ms

 

[CharlieS]

I applaud your effort, but I don’t see the economics when you can buy high quality used Toyota alloys that are made for the platform for ~$100 each all day long. I’ll be shocked if you can move 100 sets, even on ‘mud where you’re going to find more offroad oriented owners. Not trying to rain on your parade, but if I were you I’d sharpen my pencil and review the plan before pulling the trigger.

 

[SharpeCat]

I applaud your effort, but I don’t see the economics when you can buy high quality used Toyota alloys that are made for the platform for ~$100 each all day long. I’ll be shocked if you can move 100 sets, even on ‘mud where you’re going to find more offroad oriented owners. Not trying to rain on your parade, but if I were you I’d sharpen my pencil and review the plan before pulling the trigger.

Noted, and I do appreciate you looking over me, like always! I am reviewing the plan by expanding the offer to other sections on mud, since there are many sizes available that will accommodate everyone’s needs; Meaning I am going to soon reach out to the 6 lug folks as well.

For people who want alloys, there are alloys. For people who want steelies, alloys just won’t cut it, especially when a new set of steelies is cheaper than a used Toyota alloy set. I think the steelies look better too but I’d rather not get into the steelies vs alloy debates again.

I think that by the time it’s all said and done (2 months), I will have enough time to round up all the Taco, Tundra, 200s, 100s, 80s, 70s, 60s, 40s and etc. If there isn’t enough interest on all of mud for 100 sets, I have tundra, 4Runner and GX forums, as well as overlanding and 4WD forums. I don’t see me needing to go past mud, but I’m sure the Jeep folks would love a good deal on some new steelies as well. All it takes is 1 post in each.

And then there’s social media pages like Facebook where all it takes is a simple post in the right places.

I have backup plans, but I don’t see how I can’t find 100 people (some will get multiple sets so even less) on all of mud with a whole 2 months; I can annoy quite a few people… I mean alert them to a great opportunity in that time.

It will be a nice learning experience in online marketing as well, which is where I am headed anyways. Also a nice learning experience for learning how international trade works, which is also nice in case I want to set myself up for playing the global market.

 

[SharpeCat]

WAIT A MINUTE, ARE YOU ACTUALLY TELLING ME I SHOULD OFFER THE ALLOY CATALOG TO MUD AS WELL?

That’s… actually a great idea. It’s a big catalog though. I suppose I could ask for it today.

 

[SharpeCat]

@CharlieS this one is for you bud.

So I cross referenced tires manufacturers and rim manufacturers, and found 2 close enough that are willing to work together for a package deal for me.

I only looked at tire manufacturers that have big contracts with big companies (like GM), and there are a few in China. You might be driving on a Chinese tire actually and not even realize it.

So instead of 100 sets of rims, I could maybe do 30-40 sets total of rim and tire combo.

Should be much easier to get rid of!

 

[CharlieS]

That volume seems like it’d be easier to manage. And if they pre-sell like wildfire for some reason, you can just bump up the order size.

Just hope they aren’t shipping out of Guandong Province: 150 COVID cases caused a global shipping disruption that’s ‘worse’ than the Suez Canal blockage - https://www.google.com/amp/s/fortune.com/2021/06/18/guangzhou-covid-cases-shipping-delays-suez-canal/amp/

Funny side note: the factory Toyota rims on my 200 are from a 2017 Tundra TRD pro; much to my surprise when I looked at the castings, they were made in China.

 

[lx200inAR]

Sounds like you have already moved to shrinking the order, just thought id point out, since the Tacoma/4Runner markets are so much larger, there is already a plethora of cheap steel wheels readily available to them. Looks like it’s not hard to find sets of 4 shipped to US addresses for $100/wheel, without even trying hard.

 

[SharpeCat]

Sounds like you have already moved to shrinking the order, just thought id point out, since the Tacoma/4Runner markets are so much larger, there is already a plethora of cheap steel wheels readily available to them. Looks like it’s not hard to find sets of 4 shipped to US addresses for $100/wheel, without even trying hard.

If you are ok with long lead times even the 17x8s can be easily ordered, the problem was the long lead times after payment.

Other than 17 inches and bigger, everything else should be much easier to find as 17s are a niche market mainly for off roaders with bigger trucks.

Triangle tire is what I am considering at the moment.

Triangletireus.com

 

[SharpeCat]

What tire specs am I looking for? 34 in for myself but mud varies from 33-35, and for price quoting purposes I just need 1 size and style.

https://triangletireus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Triangle_OTR_pocket-guide.pdf

If you guys could help me find one that will work that’d be great. I’m gonna go eat breakfast then dig into this some more.

Update: am now waiting for their off road guy to call me back to help me narrow it down to tires that will work for my application. I can’t read their sizing system/don’t know what I’m looking at.

Thanks everyone!

 

[SharpeCat]

Triangletires is a no go, but their off road specialist gave me some great leads. Turns out they are more catered to off road tires for construction vehicles.

Turns out a lot of tire manufacturing has moved to Vietnam because they aren’t affected by the ridiculous “dumping tax”. That explains why so many tires are produced in Vietnam now.

It’s a good thing I am fluent in Vietnamese and have family there. My parents already do a lot of business there for furniture so everything is already setup for shipping and etc. This should be a breeze compared to trying to learn broken English through Chinese reps.

 

[SharpeCat]

Am now looking at manufacturing plants that went up in Vietnam in response to The US’s anti Chinese taxes on tires.

Here we go:

Chinese tire firms eye U.S. revival with Thailand, Vietnam plants

LAS VEGAS — 2020 is shaping up as a year of resurgence by leading Chinese tire makers in the U.S. marketplace — albeit with tires sourced from Thailand, Vietnam and/or Malaysia.

www.tirebusiness.com

Qingdao NAMA - Chinese with production in Vietnam

Cooper + Sailun joint venture - Based in vietnam.

 

[grinchy]

Just my opinion, but with wheels and tires being individual choices with many many options, I think hitting on even 30 sets will be a challenge. In addition, the cost just went from $100/wheel to $250/wheel. At that amount of money, people are going to be pretty particular and want very specific items, which drives up the SKUs a lot.

I looked into shipping a set of mounted tire/wheels within the US a few months ago. A 500lb pallet cross country was $$$$.

 

[SharpeCat]

Just my opinion, but with wheels and tires being individual choices with many many options, I think hitting on even 30 sets will be a challenge. In addition, the cost just went from $100/wheel to $250/wheel. At that amount of money, people are going to be pretty particular and want very specific items, which drives up the SKUs a lot.

I looked into shipping a set of mounted tire/wheels within the US a few months ago. A 500lb pallet cross country was $$$$.

I’m not here to cater to the folks who have very specific preferences and bigger budgets, but rather to cater to the folks who simply want best bang for their bucks. If they want Toyo Open Countries, they need to get Toyo Open countries. What I mean is I don’t imagine that there will be a lot of options for tires.

If they’re like me and just looking for something that isn’t crap, but also not cost twice as much without delivering twice the capability, then I’ll grab some extra sets for those folks. Likely I will do a portion steelie and tire combo and a portion just steelies, for those who want to shop their own tires. I will poll around to get a better idea before deciding on how many of each.

We won’t have an idea until I settle on some options. Right now I am just trying to find a manufacturer that is in the position to be able to merge the rims and tires into the same container, without charging me additional shipping. It’s looking like there may be a couple options.

Sailun is a brand that is sold in the US, and they are contracted to make Cooper/Maxxas tires. I will be researching them along with the Qingdao NAMA manufacturer today.

Light research so far, but I found a steelie manufacturer in Vietnam who supplies this shop (recent order was June 14, just a week ago). They have locations in multiple Us states. Maybe a mudder can go do a quality inspection on their steelies?

Home - Tredit Tire & Wheel

Tredit Tire and Wheel - Innovating tires and wheels to the towable goods industry for over 50 years.

www.tredittire.com

As far as shipping, here is a guide for reference. Remember my parents are in the wholesale business, so they can teach me what’s needed. I do have access to everything in that guide like daily scheduled pickups and loading docks/business address to ship from. I know how to work the UPS software and get everything ready for pickup (labels packaging and etc). It’s a little too early to tell whether or not the total price in the end will kill the deal. If it will I just wouldn’t pursue it.

Sticky: How To Ship Wheels/Tires Cheaply!!! (as in...

Hey All, So I've been buying/selling wheels for a bit now, and always scoffed at the enormous shipping costs. -eek- :eek: So I did a little research, and I just wanted to share it with the rest of the Lotus community, because we are burning ourselves using the standard shipping methods to ship...

www.lotustalk.com

 

[lx200inAR]

It's hard to imagine you are going to be able to undercut the tire market/distribution that is already in place. A quick check of eBay and I can easily have a set of LT285/70R17 shipped to my door for under $600 (Kenda Klever ATs, so not even a very cut rate brand). I checked my local FB marketplace and found a shop selling Cosmic Tires El Tigre ATs in LT285/70R17 installed for $540 (that's essentially $440). So if you aren't beating those kinds of prices, not sure where your market is and if it would be worth all the trouble. I guess if it's just an exercise to see if you can do it, then more power to you.

 

[SharpeCat]

It's hard to imagine you are going to be able to undercut the tire market/distribution that is already in place. A quick check of eBay and I can easily have a set of LT285/70R17 shipped to my door for under $600 (Kenda Klever ATs, so not even a very cut rate brand). I checked my local FB marketplace and found a shop selling Cosmic Tires El Tigre ATs in LT285/70R17 installed for $540 (that's essentially $440). So if you aren't beating those kinds of prices, not sure where your market is and if it would be worth all the trouble. I guess if it's just an exercise to see if you can do it, then more power to you.

You are thinking too big. I’m not here to undercut the market on tires, I even mentioned earlier there will not be very many options. Maybe it might help you to understand it if you assume I won’t offer tires.

Now, I will get at least a full set of rims and tires for myself, and I promise you guys it will be a great deal. For those who trust me and won’t make me explain every detail, let me know and I’ll get an extra set for you. Just letting you know that it’s possible to add tires as an option, as I’m sure the guys down the street from them won’t mind selling some sets for next to no effort.

Everyone else, it’s as simple as whether or not you want steelies that will fit your LC or not - for a reasonable price and without having to wait more than 5 days after payment (before it’s at your door). If not then you need not worry.

Anyways, this will be what I will be inquiring about today. To see if they can throw some into my steelies container to fill in the extra space. I’d be happy with the Sailun version and not the Cooper stamped version. As long as from the same manufacturing plant and same model, then it could come with no brand name for all I care (as long as price is reflective of that).

Now, I will say that I don’t even know which plant manufactures these models yet, but my plan is to call the plant in Vietnam later (during Vietnam hours) and ask for the Sailun catalog instead of the Cooper/ask them about similar models to these, and from there ask if I can send the steelies folks over to pick up a few sets. It’s a small world over there.

Oh and I can’t forget to ask about 295/75r17 size (33.8”).

 

[lx200inAR]

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting you were trying to beat the market for a profit, but to clear inventory. I'm just saying that cheap tires (any size) and 17" steel wheels for Tacomas are like toilet paper. Anyone can get them anywhere for dirt cheap, so It probably isn't worth the effort to have a container of them shipped to NC and then distributed from there.

Now 17" steelies for 200 Series / Tundras are a different story. You can't get those just anywhere, so it makes sense to get them shipped over. Maybe I've missed the point that adding the tires and 17" six lug wheels is just an attempt to fill up a container so you don't have to order so many wheels. But you still have to get rid of the tires/wheels once they get here. I should probably just butt out since I'm just here as a spectator. I'm not interested in cheap tires or steel wheels. Maybe after I thrash my aluminum ones.

 

[SharpeCat]

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting you were trying to beat the market for a profit, but to clear inventory. I'm just saying that cheap tires (any size) and 17" steel wheels for Tacomas are like toilet paper. Anyone can get them anywhere for dirt cheap, so It probably isn't worth the effort to have a container of them shipped to NC and then distributed from there.

Now 17" steelies for 200 Series / Tundras are a different story. You can't get those just anywhere, so it makes sense to get them shipped over. Maybe I've missed the point that adding the tires and 17" six lug wheels is just an attempt to fill up a container so you don't have to order so many wheels. But you still have to get rid of the tires/wheels once they get here. I should probably just butt out since I'm just here as a spectator. I'm not interested in cheap tires or steel wheels. Maybe after I thrash my aluminum ones.

No need to be sorry, I just don’t want anyone worried about me because they are confused. Only worry about me if you think I’m making bad impulse decisions, which is what you are trying to help make sure isn’t the case. If anything I appreciate you looking out.

I see where the confusion lies; only reason I brought up the tacos was to support the point that they do have other sizes available (for preorders if non standard LC/Tundra size). I won’t ever need to look for buyers for taco steelies because those are prepaid (also slightly cheaper because smaller). The tacos were also to support another point that if I can’t fill up demand for 100 through LC owners, then I can offer the other sizes to other sections, including the taco section. It was like a plan D after A-C fails (as in all the LCs and tundra demand isn’t enough), but seems you think that it’s a plan I heavily relied on. It’s not and just forget about Tacos lol.

I did say multiple times that I tried looking for steelies in the US and went this route because LC 17s are virtually nonexistent, at least I found none at the ideal specs. It just so happens they are very close to tundra specs so may as well offer them the deal. There are many more tundra owners so I will be glad to recruit their help so we can all save some money on steelies.

 

[SharpeCat]

Freight shipping to the US is absolutely insane right now, and looking like it will be the biggest challenge by far. Container shipping cost to the US has went up over 300% in past year alone, and ships are being held offshore at ports for sometimes weeks; which explains why ICECO has been having a lot of issues keeping enough stocked (as we found out in our last GB). It's only going to get worse with all the upcoming lockdowns unfortunately.

At this rate, in just a few months it may cost $15k instead of 10, and that's just for shipping to a Port (before customs and land freight). Don't be surprised if prices go up for many things.