Pay how much for wheel weights?

S

steve1147

New member
Hello! I'm running real short on casting lead, the only local dealer I can find who will sell has a lot and wants 60cents/pound. Is this a good price or should I continue shopping around?
My previous casting has been done with pure lead adding antimony and tin, which are expensive. I've read the wheel weights already have these ingredients?
Thanks, Steve W.
 
WW's are fantastic alloy for casting. But I'd first call a recycling center or two to find out what they're paying for them--then renegotiate the price based on that. 60 cents a pound is a bit steep for a bucket of unsorted crud. average price for smelted ingots of ww alloy is only $1 per pound--and that has all the messy work already done.
 
I'm a low-volume caster and I'm going to be smelting about 20#'s of WW's for a buddy, another low-volume caster. I figure if he buys my lunch we'll be even. If I buy lunch, we're still good. He casts for another buddy, maybe he'll buy! ;)
 
Last summer my son who has contacts to a lot of automotive supply etc. types due to his job bought me 300lbs of wheel weights for $70 american. Haven't melted any down yet but sorting thru one of the buckets revealed lotsa tire stems a smattering of ferrous weights and so far no obvious zinc. Oh yeah, and about 10% stick ons that I consider a bonus. Bought some tires last week and asked the dealer if he had any wheel weights and was told that most of his were steel. Good wheel weights are going fast, I recommend buying all you can before the recyclers end up with them and the price skyrockets.......more.
 
Most automotive shops have buckets of them and every one I've worked in was more than willing to give them away. The one I'm at now is still using lead and I know there's at least 2 5 gallon buckets full next to the balancer. Any locals care to make a bid??? Lol.
 
Any locals care to make a bid??? Lol.
Click to expand...

Local to where???¿ Since your profile is not filled out, you could be in mexico for all we know.

Wheel weights ARE becoming scarce. They will be non-existent within 5 years.

Open your mouths when speaking to friends. Tell them you're looking for lead. Also, go to flea markets, garage sales, and antiques shops looking for pewter pots and or dishes. They're a great source of tin.

A buddy at work knew I was into bullet casting. One day he comes up to me saying, they just scrapped a machine that had a huge counterweight made of stacked lead. Each weight was 90 pounds! It was nearly pure lead, so it needed tin and antimony to make it usable.

P2130004.JPG


I ended up with 1300 pounds of this!

Then there was the clean-out of the indoor range I belong to. Scrap bullets are a good source of lead. It'll take some work and expense to re-claim it.

P4110005.JPG


P4110002.JPG


We got a ton, yes that means 2,000 pounds, out of that backstop. Transportation costs, gas for the trucks and cars, propane for the smelter pot, and a couple dollars for sifter spoons at the dollar store meant the lead was maybe $150.00 for the entire job. That makes it around 13 cents/pound. That's a gross over estimate of the cost involved. Our time was considered free, as myself and the others helping don't get paid for our leisure time.
 
i paid .70 cents a pound a couple weeks ago at the salvage yard. i did get to pick out the ones i wanted though. i have been working on a couple of tire shops lately . well see how that goes.
 
$0.65/lb here for wheelweights at the scrap yard. Some (deleted) is going around scarfing up all the weights from the tire stores, melting them down and selling the ingots to the yard. Really aggravating. All the local tire stores keep telling me, "we got a guy" or "we send them back to a recycler because they're hazmat".:mad:
 
I have a small shop here that I can still get a handful or two per week...but...I have set up a backstop behind our pistol target at our range...and can pick out the cast bullets that we shoot..and remelt them down again and again...that helps out alot in itself.:cool:
 
I apolagize, I forgot that I hadn't filled out my profile yet. Northern Arkansas is where I reside. If Anyone is local I have 2 5 gallon buckets I'd give away if anyone is interested. Im also confused as to how lead wheel weights will be gone in 5 years. We recieved a fresh shipment just a week or so ago, all lead, with no warning of a shortage. Do you mean their going to start using a different material or are we just going to stop balancing tires?
 
From what I've read, the EPA has mandated fazing out lead based wheel weights. Shouldn't you be servicing dog sleds where you live?
 
$.90 per pound here from the scrap dealer. I have a couple of places where I typically pay about $.30 per pound. Have a good stock already, but still buying it up. I'll be able to sell it to other casters later.
 
Wheel weights are going for $25 a bucket here in western NC. When lead was scarce some wanted $50 or more but cost is back down now.
 
So I guess 20 for a bucket isn't bad then, I just picked up a bucket full to the top for that, and the local scrap yard said 50 cents a pound for theirs and they are all sorted so I guess that is a good deal to judging from what some of you are paying for yours. And they said the have them plus soft lead on a regular basis.
 
mrgoodwrench76 said:
Do you mean their going to start using a different material or are we just going to stop balancing tires?
Click to expand...
Yep to the former, we gotta have our tires balanced.

Lead wheel weights are already illegal to install in California and steel weights are common. So, lead will be gone in Calif. within one tire generation. Just as some cars are built nationally to meet the stricter Calif. emissions standards, I suspect the rest of the nation will follow the Calif. lead-free wheel weight program.
 
Most tire stores I've been hitting have been stiff arming me with the haz-mat thing or the "we already got a guy" excuse.....but my regular shop that I use for repairs still takes care of me, they don't charge me but I give 'em a box of donuts or a bag of sausage McMuffins....the personal relationship seems to ensure a more steady supply.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top