Over a year ago I managed to procure a hyper-rare Jeep Grand Cherokee spare tire carrier, and then — through some divine miracle — I stumbled upon another one at a junkyard shortly thereafter. As I was unable to allow that hyper-rare piece to be junked, and because I knew someone who might want it, I spent an hour unbolting the second tire carrier from the Jeep. Now I’m finally getting around to shipping the heavy part, and it has been difficult. And weird.
I have to be completely honest with you: I’m not even entirely sure this is worthy of a blog, but like I mentioned earlier today in my piece about the non-sale of my 1954 Willys Jeep, we need blogs and we need them now! So allow me to tell you about my struggle shipping the hyper-rare Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ spare tire carrier, and how it got seriously weird.
Before I moved away from Detroit, I sold my borderline mint-condition Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ five-speed to a gentleman in Texas who then spent the following month making it literally the most perfect ZJ on earth. It’s got the rare center console-delete that was only available on base-model ZJs, it’s got the Euro-only amber turn signals, and I could go on and on. The thing looks amazing. For a ZJ enthusiast like him, the spare tire carrier is considered the Holy Grail of accessories, so naturally when I found the one in the junkyard I reached out to this guy, who told me he’d pay for shipping.
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I split the hitch-receiver part from the actual tire-carrying part to yield two, roughly 50-pound, reasonably (ish) sized pieces that I could pack into boxes. I started by wrapping the hitch receiver in a moving blanket:
Then I made possibly the worst box in human history out of a bunch of little boxes:
I then drove this C-shaped box to a UPS store, where it was immediately and firmly rejected:
I wasn’t out of luck, though, because the UPS clerk offered to “telescope” two large boxes to create an even larger box that could fit my hitch. “Great!” I replied before setting the hitch on the scale, which read 56 pounds. “Nice, that’s actually not so heavy,” I thought to myself. I figured it’d cost $100, maybe $200 to ship the hitch receiver.
I figured wrong.
The quote came out to $458 plus packaging, which would bring the total to over $500! And that’s only half of the spare tire carrier! I messaged the gentleman in Texas to tell him the bad news that it’d cost over $1000 to get him the rare Jeep part; he told me to try FedEx, though I don’t think that’s going to be much cheaper.
So I took to Twitter to see if anyone had any better ideas on how to mail this freight. Quite a few people suggested Greyhound, though that company’s freight shipping option is no longer available.
Someone named Tom S suggested Pigeon. I figured he was referring to some kind of freight company, so I googled it and — though I later realized he meant Pigeon Freight Services — what I initially found in my search is that link above: Pigeons.biz.
This took me to something I could not possibly have fathomed exists — a 56,000 member-strong pigeon message board/forum “dedicated to pigeon owners and enthusiasts”:
Right away, I want to make clear: Nobody in my position can make fun of anyone for being enthusiastic about anything. I do not shame hobbies; I mean, just look at me a few years ago:
But now that I’ve self-deprecated a bit, can we at least look at a few of the posts on this forum? I’m just curious.
The “Dark green sticky poop” post is about someone concerned about the color of a pigeon they just found. Actually giving a damn about the wellbeing of a pigeon is something I can get behind; respect! The “Pigeon bully” post you see above is about someone having trouble keeping one of their pigeons from pecking at the others. I also found a thread titled “Pigeon Bath” in which the poster asks for ways to remove mites with a fluid that is safe for the birds to drink should they decide to do so.
Honestly, a lot of this forum — which, again, I’m a little baffled even exists — is pretty wholesome. Pigeons are, in many folks’ eyes, at the very bottom of the foodchain. They are cigarette butt-eating, shoulder-pooping, french fry-stealing pests. But to these folks, they are worthy of love, as all living thing should be (aside from, perhaps, mosquitos). Here’s a reply talking about using tobacco to keep bugs away:
You can also buy some tobacco stems for their nest boxes and this helps to repel bugs and they carry the stem around the loft so proud looking for the females to add to the nest. Pigeon supply places usually have them and they can be shipped to you a nice size box…I use them from Foys Pigeon Supply out of PA..
What the hell, there’s a Pigeon Supply store? Here’s another reply in the “Pigeon Bath” thread:
I would use a good pigeon cleanser and one I suggest would be Racing Pigeon Cleanser. It gently removes all feather mites and lice.
What the heck? There’s a thing called a Pigeon Cleanser? And what’s this “racing” word here?
I looked at my Twitter again and saw Tom S’s reply:
I then followed the link to “Strombergschickens.com,” and what I found blew me away:
There’s an Amazon Marketplace equivalent for racing pigeons! You can buy these things just like you’d buy a pair of socks or reading glasses! If you’re curious about the “Product Details” of “Blue Bar Saddle Janssen Racing Homer Pigeons,” here it is:
Fast, quick maturing, & reliable racing homer of a light bluish gray color w/2 black bars across the back part of the top surface of the wing. (blue bar) Well conditioned birds. Can fly 400-500 miles. Jansen’s originated in Europe, Germany/Belgium.
- Availability: Pair, Male, or Female
400 to 500 miles of range! These things are the Lucid Airs of the bird world!
Unfortunately, though pigeons are technical vehicles often used to transport messages (which is how I can sorta justify writing about them on a car website), their payload capacity is simply too low to transport my Jeep Grand Cherokee spare tire carrier. It seems a carrier pigeon can cary 2.5 ounces, so I’d need roughly six to carry a single pound. With the hitch alone weighing 56 pounds, and the tire carrier side probably bringing the total weight to 100 pounds, I’d need at least 600 birds. And at $135 a pair (for the cheap pigeons), that’s over $40,000 in pigeons to transport a trailer hitch. That’s not even accounting for the fact that the 1,400 mile journey from LA to Austin would require multiple stops for rest/food/water.
Anyway, pigeons ain’t the answer. But neither is UPS. So if you have any other ideas, please do let me know. Maybe the business named Pigeon could work? Surely it’ll be cheaper and involve a lot less poop.
I know that Fastenal used to ship LTL personal freight with their trucks. Might be an option.
eTrailer and others ship trailer hitches all the time at reasonable cost. How do they do it? Is it just the advantage of a corporate account?
I have bought hitch receivers online a couple of times now, at least once through eTrailer. Maybe the difference – at least in part – is that they don’t use packaging? There was a shipping label stuck to it and it was wrapped in plastic wrap to protect the finish and keep handlers from cutting themselves on corners and such, but no effort to encapsulate it in cardboard.
I plugged in that address, dimensions, and weights on PirateShip. UPS Ground came out to $149, and that’s from South Carolina! The UPS Store is going to charge you full fare. PIrateShip claim it’s a 64% discount. $71 for shipping, $78 for large package fee.
I also was going to recommend PirateShip. Huge savings.
Another rec for PirateShip. It works and the pricing is stellar. Anyone who walks into a UPS or FedEx Store or even a Post Office and pays retail is a chump. (no offense to anyone who has walked into a UPS or FedEx Store or even a Post Office and paid retail). 🙂
So this is why I stopped selling on ebay yrs ago, shipping was getting ridiculous. It’s a game of size & weight. So outside of the big 3, there was Greyhound (that got out of it 12-15 yrs ago) Fastenal (may be still doing it) then the freight houses. First, find a freight company that has terminals reasonably close to both of you. To get that cost down, get your parts on a pallet, minimize weight & size but protect it well, because if it can’t be stacked upon, it costs more. Physically take it to the terminal and picking it up at the terminal also takes a lot out of the cost. I shipped a wood kit plane & a full built engine this way. My last sizable shipping job I made my car trailer into a big box ( another kit plane), strapped, screwed & bolted the parts inside, & drove it 2000 miles to its new home…..a bit extreme….but it worked well….good luck !!
Have you considered boxing it up with a normal shaped box, filling the empty spaces with helium balloons to lessen the weight? Now normal shaped and light weight lower shipping
My Dad used to breed and race Pigeons, I believe it is still fairly popular here in the UK, They had no problem beating the car over 30 miles or so either.
Yeah, I think the UK connection is worth noting. I think I first heard about Pigeon racing from something on the BBC some years back. Something tells me that if Coldplay is the height of music for David, he isn’t watching the BBC, though.
Don’t knock the dedication of pigeons to get a delivery through:
Cher Ami (French for “dear friend”, in the masculine) was a male homing pigeon known for his military service during World War I, especially the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October 1918. He is famous for delivering a message alerting American forces to the location of the Lost Battalion, despite sustaining severe injuries. To American school children of the 1920s and 1930s, Cher Ami was as well known as any human World War I hero.
On October 4, 1918, Major Charles White Whittlesey and more than 550 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill behind enemy lines without food or ammunition. They were also beginning to receive friendly fire from allied troops who did not know their location. Surrounded by the Germans, many were killed and wounded and only 194 men were still alive and not captured or wounded by the end of the engagement. Because his runners were consistently intercepted or killed by the Germans, Whittlesey began dispatching messages by pigeon.The pigeon carrying the first message, “Many wounded. We cannot evacuate.” was shot down. A second bird was sent with the message, “Men are suffering. Can support be sent?” That pigeon also was shot down. The artillery batteries supporting Whittlesey’s men attempted to provide a “barrage of protection” for Whittlesey’s men on the northern slope of the Charlevaux Ravine, but believed Whittlesey was on the southern slope of the ravine, resulting in a barrage inadvertently targeting the battalion.[8] “Cher Ami” was dispatched with a note, written on onion paper, in a canister on his right leg,
We are along the road paralell [sic] to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heavens sake stop it.
As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire. After several seconds, he was shot down but managed to take flight again. He arrived back at his loft at division headquarters 25 miles (40 km) to the rear in just 25 minutes, about 5 minutes after the shelling had ceased.[He had been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and had a leg hanging only by a tendon.
Cher Ami became the hero of the 77th Infantry Division. Army medics worked to save his life. When he recovered enough to travel, the now one-legged bird was put on a boat to the United States, with General John J. Pershing seeing him off.
Cher Ami died at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, on June 13, 1919, from the wounds he received in battle.
The pigeon was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal with a palm Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages in Verdun and was later inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame in 1931. He also received a gold medal from the Organized Bodies of American Racing Pigeon Fanciers in recognition of his service during World War I.
In November 2019, he became the second recipient of the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery, bestowed posthumously at a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cher_Ami
Great story, thanks for posting. I had heard a short version of this before, but not the aftermath. Animals are frickin’ awesome. Got some dust or something in my eye now.
Always glad to share an awesome story. I agree, animals are awesome!
If only they weren’t so darn tasty…
I always use Pirate Ship for all my shipping needs.
Can I ask the obvious question that nobody has asked? I get that the carrier is rare, but a trailer hitch is not. I got one for my xj for 25 bucks at a u pick yard. Just ship the carrier
I meant hitch reciever
Not all are common, and some salvage yards are price fixing.
I paid more for a light receiver on my Toyota than I paid for a class 5 for my truck.
Got it new from a reseller.
Found a used Toyota receiver on cl but they weren’t helpful shipping it.
I wonder if the spare tire carrier is designed to mate with that specific hitch receiver?
I used to hate pigeons. One day I read a pigeon racing magazine and started going down a rabbit hole of reading blogs and watching videos. Afterwards I started daydreaming about building a loft and raising them. I have much respect for those incredible birds now; if only they would quit pooping on my cars.
Did you even post on the Pigeon board to see if anyone is renting pigeons for package delivery? That’s the obvious solution
Try shipnerd or pirateship. They resell FedEx/ups/dhl/etc but you get their bulk rates. The savings can be enormous.
Blueline by Fastenall. You attach it to a pallet and deliver it to the store, they ship it on one of their trucks. That way you can send the whole thing at once.
Since the pigeon didn’t quite work out, perhaps try a swallow. Not a European swallow, but an African swallow. It could grip it by the bolt holes.
Of course the distance might be an issue, as they’re non-migratory.
DT, please tell me you’re catching the reference here, though if not that would fit your particular idiom.
Ha! Was waiting for the African swallow comment and there it was, right on top. I can stop reading now
Whoa, Patsy
What kind of air speed are we walking about here though?
Before you ask, it’s Nineveh.
Given your proclivity for searching for holy grails, I was sure you were going to get this one.
Now it’s my turn – I had to Google Nineveh, and I still don’t understand your response.
What???
Is there a ‘Murican swallow?
Her name is Nancy Reagan!
Well now we know who’s on your fantasy five.
Sounds like the perfect excuse for a road trip.
100% You could meet somewhere in the middle to split the journey.
Mike Tyson started boxing because of pigeons. He’s still into them, but had them as a kid and an older kid grabbed it and killed it, so he started training.
I came here to say this. Mike Tyson is HUGE into pigeons.
Pirate ship may be cheaper (www.pirateship.com). Maybe not, but you can check on the internet pretty quickly
Its not a question of where it grips it, its a question of weight ratios. A five ounce bird could not carry a 50 pound spare tire carrier.
Buy a car where the good guy receiving the rack lives. Drive there to pick up the car. Take rack along. Return home with stories and new car.
Can it fit in a bike box? If it can, you could try BikeFlights. It won’t be cheap, probably around 200 bucks. They aren’t going to check if it’s actually a bike. And you can get a bike box for free from literally any bike shop in America.
This is the kind of content that lead me to follow you years ago on that other now crap website. I just signed up for long overdue membership. Al (the 18+ Jeep owning guy who years ago offered his consulting job Hilton points so you would stop sleeping in your car in dangerous places for that other crap website)
Truck freight, ltl or not.
A lot of businesses partner in shipping and some accept shipping for a fee, both directions.
Dock only freight, there was one in a commercial area, would accept stuff, then you came and grabbed it.
I like the idea of a co-op.
Some smaller folks act like freight ships and keep going in the popular directions.
What are the dimensions and weight?
From where to where?
That quote is really high.
Fed Ex 4 foot cube 1000 pounds for about $400 in their pallet packaging when I sent some books from California to NYC
Oh, and carriers really prefer rectangular boxes if you are shipping small numbers of items. They want to have stuff piled up in neat piles, not a tangle of pointy things that break other packages.
Silly me, I didn’t look at the receipt picture.
I use a freight reseller, easyship.com , and they quote 167.81 for UPS ground with an estimate of 3 day delivery
Thank you Hugh!
David, in the off chance you see this-
Get some plastic wrap. Ive had good luck shipping oddly shaped things through UPS when i box them, then wrap them in that. Usually they reject because there are so many exposed edges and parts that can get caught. Wrap it like its a gift to somebody you want to torture.
Also, Ive had good luck using pirateship for shipping. The rates have been cheaper than going in person- I recently shipped an eaton supercharger, and it saved me over 100 bucks compared to what I got in person.
Try FedEx Ground or UPS Freight, as opposed to their courier services.
if all else fails, try Uship.com
This is the way to go. I have had good luck with uship.com. Another option is to search for moving companies that specialize in California to Texas moves.