Ship a transmission without getting raped?
 

I'm having a problem. There's a transmission in Middleboro, MA that i'm wanting to purchase, will need to be shipped to Indianapolis.

I thought the cheapest way to ship would have been on a pallet. Got the measurements and weight yesterday, Fedex spit out a number of $392.42. That's outrageous.


Anyone have any solutions? I don't have a business address, but i'm perfectly willing to pick up at a hub/terminal/whatever. Seller can drop the transmission anywhere in Brockton or Boston.

Never shipped anything this big/heavy before.

Greyhound?

Dunno why i didn't think of that. That looks to be $100, much more reasonable.

I shipped a Torsen in a very sturdy cardboard box (bought it at a corrugated cardboard place for $2), and they threw in a flat sheet of corrugated that I wrapped the torsen in. Cost me like $62 to ship it via Fedex. Just throwing that out there, never had to ship a transmission.

Fedex ground will be a LOT less than the freight charge. The limit with ground is 150#, and you are way under that. Have it boxed up well, and I bet it'll be around $100.

We ship trannys all over CONUS this way.

I think I read on here a good while back about someone buying a rubbermaid container that fit the transmission. They then put the trans in, then taped the shit out of it so the top would not come off. Then shipped it Fedex that way.

Yeah, i know... we're a little leary of that. This ain't no Miata transmission and i've had too much shit shipped to me damaged recently due to shitty packing jobs. I don't have time for a "do over" at this point.

I'd rather trust him to just put it on a pallet and use an entire roll of industrial shrink wrap.

I've also read of people wrapping it in bubble wrap or brown paper, putting it in tupperware or a nice box, and filling the rest of the free space with spray insulation, to basically make a mold to hold it stationary in the box.

I will say this though, I've had MUCH better experiences with my packages being taken care of in transit with FedEx than with UPS or USPS.

Contact a different freight company directly for a better rate, FedEx freight is horribly expensive comparatively. We usually use R&L. You can request liftgate service at both ends to make moving it easier, too.

If you do the Rubbermaid container packer with spray foam, you have to be sure the trans is completely wrapped...that stuff is a bitch to remove from metal once it's cured.

What kind of trans is it?

It's a.... 89-92 Vulcan Probe 5spd transmission.


I think we're going the Greyhound route. Just need to figure out 1) If they'll take a half pallet and 2) If i have to be there right when it arrives or if i have 24 hours or whatever. There's no way shipping it in an enclosed package via ground is going to be cheaper through anyone else.

Those H type transmissions are getting hard to find I bet? I never understood why Mazda went away from the H Type and used the G type throughout the 90's. The H was way more durable.

I dunno. I have 2-3 spares. I don't really have a problem finding them, it just involves finding another car to strip and crush. :rofl:

What IS hard to find is the Vulcan Probe H-type specifically, which is what i need/want to make a weird hybrid trans. I want that 3.85 final drive, and might look at brewing up a fun mix of 2-3-4 gears. I wanna go 180mph. :rofl:


The only reason the H-Type existed was because the F2T was munching on G-series transmissions during development. Nothing else came after the F2T that made the sort of power/grunt to munch a G-series driven halfway sanely inside of 100k miles. You could say the MSP, but that was a coin flip as to whether or not the trans or the motor was going to go first, so i don't count that. :giggle:

Having 2 MSP's I always said that car would have been way more popular is they put an fe3 with h type trans in it, I would even settle for a BP. I think the H type Would have been been a better option mated to a KL too. I destroyed 3 G series NA with Bolt-ons when I had my Probe Gt.

They would have had to re-design the entire block of the KL to get an H-Type on it. Because enormous bolt pattern. :giggle:

They had to fit that larger clutch in there somehow.

Yeah.... actually uses Turbo II clutchs. o_O

I have shipped two transmissions via Fedex or UPS, and both times it was around $100 or less.

Then again, both were 4 speed 79' RX7 transmissions.

Grey Hound seems like such a hassle. Especially if you or the buyer doesn't have a depot near by.

Luckily he works in Boston, and i live in Indianapolis. Not much hassle, unless they require you to be there right when it arrives.

Oh yeah, just a little FYI since the TII relationship was brought up here.

That series of trasmission was shared around quite a bit in the 80's. Due to this, old Mazda B2600 bell housings can be coupled with the TII transmission and bolted to a wide block 4G63, a G63B I believe.

This allows for some creative swap options.

What's the final cost via Grey Hound? Also, do you know the shipping weight and dimensions?

Yep. I have a complete B2600 trans (Also an R-box) and a TII trans laying around. The TII trans doesn't work for my purposes, so i'll be putting the B2600 bell on an FD trans.

There's actually two different B2600 transmissions. The early B2600 had a 2.6 Mitsubishi motor, and that's the bell you put on a TII box to do mitsubishi things. Later B2600 had the Mazda G6, and you use that trans to attach to F-series Mazda motors.


$100.55.

I'm saying 80lbs, dimensions are 40" x 20" x 26".

This is the correct answer.

Also, double wrap the transmission in garbage bags and put expanding foam to fill up the volume around the transmission for more protection.

Yes, always double-bag a tranny. For protection. :dealwithit:

Hmm I don't know how the junkyard shipped it, but I got that B2600 rear axle and transmission shipped from Columbus for $82. It was shipped to a business address though. You can use mine if you want to.

*rimshot*

Well fuck me, i had no idea you had a business address. I bet business to business is way cheaper though.

We can just roll with Greyhound at this point i think. I just need this fucker here so i can see what it's like to hit 75mph in 2nd gear. :fael:

Send him a link to Mista Bone's tranny package how to so they dont fuck it up.

When I bought a mostly OK 6 speed from TSE and had to get it to Denver, I went here:

uShip - The Online Shipping Marketplace - Ship Freight, Furniture, Cars or Moves

They then got me setup with R&L Carriers for a lot cheaper than if I had gone to R&L myself.

I picked up from a terminal here in Denver which saved a ton too. I think I would up paying like 175 bucks though. Not really cheap. If you have someone with the time/willingness to go to Greyhound with it, that helps.

Update: We got quotes and set up everything through Greyhound, only to find that the trans + pallet was 120lbs, and over their limit.

Ended up shipping through Fedex, improbably.

$102 for hub to residential. Not bad. It arrives on Thursday.

Guy I got my 6 speed from never saw this thread... shipped in a cardboard box full of packing peanuts, with the transmission wrapped in a thick layer of bubble wrap. Box looked like it had been run over buy the delivery truck, but the transmission itself looked OK when I got it out of the box.

Keith

That's typical. Glad it arrived relatively unscathed. Packing peanuts and heavy objects don't mix well, I really find it hard to believe that people can't figure that out.

Turns out I was wrong, broken off mount for the slave cylinder means I need a new front half of the case. It looks like a full teardown is required to do the repair. Broken mount was so small I didn't notice it on initial inspection or I wouldn't have accepted the package.

Keith

Well that sucks.

Is it 100% insane to just Tig that if the whole unit is drained of oil?

That sucks. At least when I got mine I knew it needed a rebuild and I got it priced/planned accordingly. As much a learning experience as a part I wanted.

The mounting point was smashed up before it broke off, the bolt hole is now oval shaped with cracks through the threads on both sides. If a good welder says he can do it, I can have him cut off the mount from the new front case I purchased from BBundy and weld it onto my current case.

Anyone know how well cast aluminum will accept a welded on donor mounting point?

Keith

I wouldnt cutup a good tranny to try to fix yours a piece of 3003AL should be easy enough to drill and tap and shape close enough to what broke off and weld on than screwing up a good case.

I already purchased the new front case section, and it wasn't doing anybody any good sitting in Bob's shop collecting dust. Either I get the 6 speed rebuilt replacing the entire front case, or if cheaper (and it will be strong enough to last without problems) I will have a welder do the mounting point transplant. So, since the case section is getting used either way, do you think it would be strong enough to stand up to the riggers a normal 6 speed gearset can handle? I don't think all that much stress is placed on the slave cylinder unless you have a really massive pressure clutch.

Keith

If this was my car I would pull it apart enough to fit that section in an oven. Drill and tap and shape a piece of 3003AL (same as what you get from home depot, easiest to weld to cast) to replace the broken piece, bolt it to a scrap slave. Bolt the slave to the bell housing, put all that in the oven at, as high as it goes, take it out, and then weld the tap back to the casing while its still really fucking hot. Then put it back in the oven and turn the oven off and let it come down to be cool enough to touch over a long time. and it should be fine. If the shit doesnt want to bolt back together because you warped it then I would use a new front half. If you have already paid for bob's front half I wouldnt even bother, I'd just use his front half.

Since I know less about welding than I do rebuilding things I will have to go with option 2. :)

Keith