I ask for help with shipping tires to Italy

[Gocart]

Hi guys how are you doing?
I need to replace the tires on my 1979 Airstream 245 Excella.
In Italy there are no inch tires.
Can someone help me and send them to me from America.
It measures 8.75 r16.5 LT (now fits Power King Highway, but any brand is fine).
Thanks Hello from Cesare from Italy.
Grazie

[jeffmc306]

Gocart, hello from the USA! I travelled to Italy for work several times before I retired. Beautify country!

You might want to contact TireRack.com about purchasing and shipping your tires. They have a huge inventory and are great to work with. You can call or even chat with them via their website.

Good luck with your search.
Caio!

[richard5933]

Would it be possible for you to just get new rims over in Italy which can take European size tires?

While having tires shipped might work for now, what will you do if you have a flat or blowout while traveling? It would be difficult to find another tire in a hurry so you'll be stuck somewhere. With Euro size rims you could just get another tire locally.

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by Gocart

Hi guys how are you doing?
I need to replace the tires on my 1979 Airstream 245 Excella.
In Italy there are no inch tires.
Can someone help me and send them to me from America.
It measures 8.75 r16.5 LT (now fits Power King Highway, but any brand is fine).
Thanks Hello from Cesare from Italy.
Grazie

Cesare,

Yes, try Tire Rack. They have an 8.75R16.5LT LR E. Use the search by size function - and leave the aspect ratio blank (as in "None") I'm not sure, but they may ask you for a zip code, which is a US Mail system. Just substitute a fake one. It a 5 digit, all numbers system.

Then, use the "Live Chat" function in the upper right hand corner.

Please note that this size is very obsolete and likely to disappear altogether. In the long run, you'd be better off transitioning to 16" and using LT225/75R16 LR E.

I go into detail here: Barry's Tire Tech:
16.5" Tires

And just so everyone else understands, Cesare is asking about an obsolete sizing system - 16.5" rims. Not only are these rare in Europe, they are rare EVERYWHERE.

[jeffmc306]

Originally Posted by CapriRacer

Cesare,

Yes, try Tire Rack. They have an 8.75R16.5LT LR E. Use the search by size function - and leave the aspect ratio blank (as in "None") I'm not sure, but they may ask you for a zip code, which is a US Mail system. Just substitute a fake one. It a 5 digit, all numbers system.

Then, use the "Live Chat" function in the upper right hand corner.

Please note that this size is very obsolete and likely to disappear altogether. In the long run, you'd be better off transitioning to 16" and using LT225/75R16 LR E.

I go into detail here: Barry's Tire Tech:
16.5" Tires

And just so everyone else understands, Cesare is asking about an obsolete sizing system - 16.5" rims. Not only are these rare in Europe, they are rare EVERYWHERE.

CapriRacer, would it be possible for Cesare to order new wheels with the tires mounted from TireRack so he’d have the upgrade done in one shot?

Not sure what the lug spacing is on his Airstream 245 Excella but it’s likely a truck standard correct? Does that 245 have dual rear wheels?

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by jeffmc306

CapriRacer, would it be possible for Cesare to order new wheels with the tires mounted from TireRack so he’d have the upgrade done in one shot?

Not sure what the lug spacing is on his Airstream 245 Excella but it’s likely a truck standard correct? Does that 245 have dual rear wheels?

I don't know. He should ask.

[richard5933]

It would be immensely less expensive to get the wheels/tires locally if they're available. I'd suggest finding the nearest quality tire shop that caters to commercial vehicles and see what they can do to find the necessary wheels.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The obvious gotcha about going metric is that the spacing on the lugs probably is not going to match up with any standard wheel. I suspect there is somebody who does custom wheels that can "fix" that problem. Just how expensive it will be ... I won't even guess.

Shipping something as heavy (and large) as tires to Europe from the US is going to be a bit insane cost wise. What the duty / customs costs might be ... again I won't guess. It might well be cheaper to do those custom wheels ....

Bob

[jeffmc306]

The 245 Excella is built on the Chevrolet P30 motorhome chassis which it shares with the delivery van (like a bread truck). The standard wheel spacing is 8 x 6.5” from what I could find.

Cesare, why don’t you visit a local truck tire company and see if they have a wheel that fits this bolt pattern so you can convert to a standard tire size as CapriRacer explained? You may get lucky and be able to purchase some used wheels to save money.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The other risk here is that these tires likely have been out of production at most companies for quite a while. If you find tires they might be pretty old or from some pretty odd source. Either way, that would be a concern.

Bob

[SeeMore]

@Gocart - try contacting either of these suppliers who can source from all the major manufacturers and deliver locally:

https://www.fintyre.it/en/tires/
or, alternately
https://www.overgom.com/en/prodotti.html

[Gocart]

Originally Posted by richard5933

Would it be possible for you to just get new rims over in Italy which can take European size tires?

While having tires shipped might work for now, what will you do if you have a flat or blowout while traveling? It would be difficult to find another tire in a hurry so you'll be stuck somewhere. With Euro size rims you could just get another tire locally.

My Airstream is registered in Italy as a historic vehicle and I can only fit the original tires written in the registration document.
It is also difficult to find 16" rims with the same holes as the original ones.
...it is difficult to be an American in Italy

[Gocart]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

The obvious gotcha about going metric is that the spacing on the lugs probably is not going to match up with any standard wheel. I suspect there is somebody who does custom wheels that can "fix" that problem. Just how expensive it will be ... I won't even guess.

Shipping something as heavy (and large) as tires to Europe from the US is going to be a bit insane cost wise. What the duty / customs costs might be ... again I won't guess. It might well be cheaper to do those custom wheels ....

Bob

Hi Uncle Bob
It was a crazy project of mine to import an Airstream motorhome from America to Italy 13 years ago, but I am immensely proud to travel all over Europe with a US icon.
Ciao da Cesare

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by Gocart

My Airstream is registered in Italy as a historic vehicle and I can only fit the original tires written in the registration document.
It is also difficult to find 16" rims with the same holes as the original ones.
...it is difficult to be an American in Italy

Does the law allow for you to have two sets of rims/tires?

I know of US car collectors that travel to shows on their modern road tires/wheels and then switch back to the historic ones when they arrive at the show.

What does the law say you are supposed to do when the original size tires are no longer available? This is not the first time a tire size has been deprecated or even totally removed from the market.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Gocart

Hi Uncle Bob
It was a crazy project of mine to import an Airstream motorhome from America to Italy 13 years ago, but I am immensely proud to travel all over Europe with a US icon.
Ciao da Cesare

Hi

Ok, I spent enough time in Italy to understand that there are different rules there.

So really the question is not in any way related to cost. You simply need to *find* the tires somewhere. Even that is going to be a chore.

Bob

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Edit timed out ....

As noted above, they do appear to be in stock at Tire Rack. Delivery in the US, not a major problem. Delivery in Europe ... not at all clear. Looks like a chat with their customer service would indeed be a good idea.

They may well have a way of doing international shipping. A lot of outfits don't put stuff like that up on their web site. All of the details in getting it done are simply to complicated.

Bob

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Edit timed out ....

As noted above, they do appear to be in stock at Tire Rack. Delivery in the US, not a major problem. Delivery in Europe ... not at all clear. Looks like a chat with their customer service would indeed be a good idea.

They may well have a way of doing international shipping. A lot of outfits don't put stuff like that up on their web site. All of the details in getting it done are simply to complicated.

Bob

If they won't ship to Italy just contact a freight forwarding company - they'll receive the tires and then process the international shipment from there.

[tominphx]

You may want to check with Coker Tire Co. in the U.S. They cater to the vintage market and by their website they offer 16.5" tires and wheels. 16.5 wheels came in normal steel
wheels, split rims and rim only (hub attached to the axle like on some utility trailers).

Hope this helps, Cheers

[tominphx]

Also, U.S. Wheel will build many style of wheels in 16.5' diam. and you specify rim width, bolt pattern and finish (color) through drop down menus.

Good luck, Tom

[Phill K]

Here is an Italian website:https://www.ubuy.co.it/en/product/FH...-CujnHerWk2Byz. I don't know where in Italy it's at but much closer to you.