MTFCA Forum

I am looking at getting a set of rims from Australia. Does anyone have experience doing this? What was the import / duty process like?

Reno Speedster wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 06, 2025 11:35 am

I am looking at getting a set of rims from Australia. Does anyone have experience doing this? What was the import / duty process like?

There is no tariff on auto parts shipped from Australia if the parts are 51% or more American made. If the rims in question were made by Ford, there should be no tariff. If they are not, then you have some research to do.

These are new rims and spokes from Vintage Rims Australia for a set of 48 spoke Dayton wire wheels. The price is good, but I don’t know what the import Tariff issues are. There is a US-Australia import agreement but looking at the website gets confusing really fast.

It would be on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule which sets out all Tariff rates by category. Here is a link. (Warning: The list is long!)

https://hts.usitc.gov/

Man you are not kidding! What a pain.

The 30 x 3.5 inch clincher rims I ordered over a year ago did not properly fit my Ford or Hayes rims....to the point that I am unable to use them. After one unsuccessful attempt by the firm to "make it right" I've been ghosted by them. If you want to know more, email me.

My advice, find a nice set of original rims.

Sadly, there are very few nice sets of original rims for Dayton wire wheels. I have 5 original wheels and a set of hubs, but the nipples are stuck on the spokes, and some of the rims are in poor condition. I have rebuilt the front hubs and am making new rear ones. I want to put new rims and spokes on the wheels, but there do not appear to be a lot of folks who make them. I have talked with a number of people about doing them.

Have you spoken with Kevin Pharis ??? He's the wire wheel go to guy !

I did talk with Kevin and he was very helpful. As I recall, this is not a rim he normally makes. I got caught up some other tasks and let this slip for a while, I should talk with him again.

Just my 2 cents worth from my experiece with spokes for Canadian made original Kelsey wheels on my 27 Touring. Although these were wood spoke spoke wheels the same cautions may apply when dealing with any components made for/by Ford in countries other than the US. Canada made, or had made,many of the components for their cars that were different from US made parts. Parts that I ran into problems with have been, Kelsey wheels, radiators, fan shafts, rear seat riser and lower cushion, top fasteners, etc. Canadian made cars were exported to most of the British Colonies but Australia was an exception having their own Ford plant(s). Although I have no information on the differences betwen US made cars and those made in Australian plants, I'm sure some of our "down under" members can help with this. In general, always make sure when buying parts made for cars made/assembled in "foreign" plants that the parts will be compatible with your US car. The same holds true for the reverse situations like I have run into, buying US spec parts and trying to make them work on my Canadoian built car.

A few years ago, I had a set of 21" Dayton lock ring rims made for some Dayton #10 wheels. They did a fantastic Job. The firm was Vintage Rims in New Zealand. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?i ... 4621934360

I can't recall any longer what the customs charges were, but I don't recall them being extreme, at least back then.

Maybe I should pay attention better. If you're going for spoked wheels, you may be OK with rims from Australia. They are a totally different animal. In my case, the quality was top notch - the fit was the issue (wouldn't slide on far enough to contact the back flange of the felloe.) Allan can give you better info than I can.

Allan wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 06, 2025 5:43 pm

You may need to get in fast before Chump punishes another good ally with tarrifs.

Allan from down under.

I wish there was a "like" button.

I wish there was an erase button.

Unfortunately, Vintage Rims NZ is no longer around. Gary retired and sent the tooling to the UK. The tooling is up and running again, but the exchange rate is not in our favor.

Steve ships the new rims via AU post, they will contact you with any customs charges prior to delivery. Should be less than $100. The state may send you a bill for use tax eventually, this is equivalent to your local sales tax

Kevin Pharis wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 07, 2025 8:26 pm

Unfortunately, Vintage Rims NZ is no longer around. Gary retired and sent the tooling to the UK. The tooling is up and running again, but the exchange rate is not in our favor.

Thanks for the update on Vintage Rims!