Anyone here in the Raleigh or Clayton, NC area?

[SRath]

I'm working on a purchase of some used wheels & tires, and between their cost and the freight cost it is a substantial sum of money to send to someone I don't know and I was hoping maybe someone here might know or know of the guy who is selling them.



He's in the biodiesel business and drove a cummins dodge until it got wrecked (which is why he's selling the wheels & tires since he bought a Ford replacement truck and they won't fit it). He seems legit, and his company has a website that jives with what he tells me about himself, but due diligence never hurts in these days of clever online scam artists.



It's a thousand miles away, literally, so I can't even come close to doing the deal in person for the same or less money than what shipping costs, and shipping alone is $400.

 

[ejmesser]

I am in the area and would be glad to check them out for you. Course, last time we interacted you were convinced I was a government troll or something like that.

 

[fest3er]

Meh. Probably still are. Can't trust them flatlanders.

 

[SRath]

That could be a good thing in this case, ej, you might have "investigative resources" available to you . But I thought we straightened that all out anyway. I'll pm you the information if you really don't mind doing me this favor. Thanks!

 

[ejmesser]

Tried to pm you back and your box is full. The place seems to be very local to me. I would be glad to go put a visual on the rims for you. Just let me know if he is ok with that and when he is available.

 

[ejmesser]

Meh. Probably still are. Can't trust them flatlanders.

Very true!

 

[SRath]

I took care of the pm inbox, EJ; sorry about that. He's supposed to be sending me some additional photos today, but there's no substitute for eyes-on if you'd like to look them over and it isn't a lot of trouble or out of your way. He says one tire is "iffy" due to some cuts in the sidewall that either happened in the accident that wrecked the truck, or when the towtruck pulled it out. I wanted a closer look at that since a replacement would be expensive.



If I was there, I would also like to check the offset by measuring from the wheel rim edge to the wheel mounting surface from both sides and subtracting for the difference. They came in both 0. 25" and 1. 41" offset depending on the year truck they were intended for. Even if the measurements were not exact, it should be easy to tell the two apart.



I don't think it matters since there's no difference I know of between a 2000 Ram 2500 and a 96 Ram 2500 as far as axle width, frame, body and wheel well depth, etc. , but it would be good to know which offset the wheels are. I think Dodge just changed the factory offset in 2000 to address the wheel/tire stickout a bit and moved them an inch or so deeper into the wheelwell.



Thanks for your help with this, EJ !! I'll contact the guy and tell him you might stop by to look them over and find out if they are at his place of business, his home, or someplace else. I think they are at his business since he said it would be Monday (today) before he could get the additional photos for me.



--Scott