My experience looking for wheel weights

[konsole]

Over the last month or so I've stopped at about probably around 100 car maintenence shops asking for wheel weights, and I figured I would share some tips for everyone.

First to find places to check out... I went to Google Maps https://www.google.com/maps/preview?hl=en did a search for "auto repair", saved an image of the result, and then marked off the places I had looked at in a few ways. Places that where definately no good I marked white so they kind of disappeared into the background, places that are pretty good but want money is another somewhat easy to see color, and finally places that are very good and gave me weights for free was a third very easy to see color. This allowed me to plan out routes where I could check 20-30 places along a relatively short route. Google maps has a street view function where you can get down to street view level and actually see whats on that road based on pictures that Google takes every few years or so. Since the pictures are taken every few years there may be places that have opened or close since last the pictures where taken, so keep an eye open for new places.

Scrapper/Caster... Don't forget to mention that you make bullets with the lead because I have found that if they think your a scrapper they either prefer not to give you the wheel weights, or expect money for it. If you tell them you make bullets then they are much more willing to give you WW's for free. Most places seem to have this opinion that if your going to make money on it then they should make money on it also.

Chain tire shops... Most people think these are the best places to check out. I have found that they are probably the worst places (other then maybe their parking lots). These places either already have a dedicated person that takes the metal away to recycle for money, a customer that already buys the WW's, or they have a chain wide recycling program. You can probably convince them to sell you WW's for a certain amount but they don't seem to give any weights away. However something I noticed with 1 tire shop in particular is that they don't clean their parking lots that often and you can find 5-10 pounds of weights just lying around. I found a couple handfuls of weights in 1 places parking lot, and then at the same tire shop chain in a different town I found about the same amount.

Auto dealerships... These are definately worth checking out because even though they can be a big miss, they can also be a big hit. Most of the places that said I could take whatever I wanted whenever I wanted where auto dealerships. Some of them have recycling programs in place and you can't convince them to give or sell you anyway, but some understand that $20 for 100 pounds of metal is peanuts for the amount of money they deal with, and the guys working in the shop could care less what happens to that bucket of scrap metal sitting next to the tire machine. Don't bother with higher end luxury dealerships like Mercedes, Porsche etc. because they usually have a strict recycling program in place or deal with mostly zinc/steel weights.

Gas station service bays... Can be a small hit or a small miss. Obviously they don't deal with alot of wheel weights, but 50% of the time I find that they will give you a few pounds if you ask nicely while the other 50% will have a plan and expect $25-40 for the bucket. Since they are everywhere and you can get a few pounds free they are worth checking out.

Auto Body shops... I didn't think these would have much wheel weights but a couple of them did and gave me some. Take a peak inside, if its too clean with what looks to be all painting bays, then either skip it or help yourself not look like an idiot by telling the guys you know they most likely dont have a tire machine but you figured you would ask just in case.

Small/medium size general repair shops... Worth checking out all of them (except very small ones). Half the time you can get weights for free or cheap but they tend to take a long time to fill a bucket. I found that they had the nicest guys to talk to and easily fell into a conversation about casting lead. However I found that the single garage repair shop that a guy will have next to his house is worth avoiding, not only because these guys deal with little or no wheel weights, but they also seem to have a bit of an attitude about why your asking about wheel weights. Walk up to one of the repair bays and ask a guy in the shop about the weights instead of going to the front desk. I found that asking in the shop itself yielded better results.

If they expect money... Lead is around $1 per pound current market value, but I've found that scrap yards would only give me .46 cents a pound for bars of basically pure lead. I found that the shops that wanted money it was anywhere between $20 and $50. If they had to carry it off to the scrap yard they will get around .20 cents a pound as scrap metal. If the bucket is 150 pounds (probably less), then thats $30 the scrap yard will give them, but no more then 2/3 of the bucket is lead with the rest being zinc and steel and trash. If there not willing to sell you a full bucket for $25 after they consider the time and gas to take it to the scrap yard and also that 1/3 of the bucket is cheap steel, then I think they are being unrealistic and its up to you if you feel like trying another place. Maybe paying a little more is better to you then risking driving around and not finding anything better. Some people have said that bringing the shop in some drinks or food will get you some free or cheaper weights.

Bring a bunch of smaller buckets... Not fun trying to carry 150 pound buckets out to your car, plus try getting 150 pound buckets back out of your car without damaging your car. A 2 gallon bucket full with weights should weigh roughly 50 pounds.

Care for your hands... Sounds obvious but I didnt think about this when I first went out. Used wheel weights are covered in brake dust and oil/grease and most of these shops use the old ww's bucket as a trash barrel. 1 spray bottle with soap, 1 spray bottle with water to rinse, and then an old dirty rag to dry. Gloves can be a good idea because I have found rusty razor blades in some buckets, but gloves can make it hard to get your fingers around the weights in the bucket.

Always remember to speak to someone working in the shop first (instead of the service desk) because they seem to be more open to you taking some weights. Just walk up to a bay door and wait until someone notices you.

Oh and also try not to go around lunch time because the guys will probably be gone to eat.

well thats it for now :-)

[wordsmith]

Thanks for the great post! I've considered doing this very thing, and really appreciate knowing what I'm up against.

[nagantguy]

Now a days those ww must be gone through and checked fer zinc and steel but mostly zinc as it is not conductive to good bullet casting although a lead hardener it prevents good fill out and give wrinkles in anything but modest amounts in your melt. Has a higher melt tell and is usually marked. Just my unsolicited 2 and a half cents gents others milage may vary.

[RogerDat]

If they expect money... Lead is around $1 per pound current market value, but I've found that scrap yards would only give me .46 cents a pound for bars of basically pure lead. I found that the shops that wanted money it was anywhere between $20 and $50. If they had to carry it off to the scrap yard they will get around .20 cents a pound as scrap metal. If the bucket is 150 pounds (probably less), then thats $30 the scrap yard will give them, but no more then 2/3 of the bucket is lead with the rest being zinc and steel and trash. If there not willing to sell you a full bucket for $25 after they consider the time and gas to take it to the scrap yard and also that 1/3 of the bucket is cheap steel, then I think they are being unrealistic and its up to you if you feel like trying another place. Maybe paying a little more is better to you then risking driving around and not finding anything better. Some people have said that bringing the shop in some drinks or food will get you some free or cheaper weights.

Bring a bunch of smaller buckets... Not fun trying to carry 150 pound buckets out to your car, plus try getting 150 pound buckets back out of your car without damaging your car. A 2 gallon bucket full with weights should weigh roughly 50 pounds......

Always remember to speak to someone working in the shop first (instead of the service desk) because they seem to be more open to you taking some weights. Just walk up to a bay door and wait until someone notices you.

Oh and also try not to go around lunch time.....


Pretty good write up.

I know from some of your other posts you have somewhat more interest in zinc than lead but if you are taking the WW lead as ingots to a scrap yard for 46 cents a lb. as mentioned in your post (where I highlighted) please consider selling it to members here instead.

Worth noting that calling the local scrap yard is the only way to know the local price they pay for scrap WW's It's between 23 and 28 cents a pound here. If you want the tire shop to sell them to you the easiest way is to offer a bit more money. 5 "extra" cents on 150 lbs. is only an extra $7.50 but it makes them happy. Heck at two shops I just pay 30 cents a pound, sometimes it's 2 extra cents above scrap yard sometimes it would be 7 cents. Bring a bathroom scale. Can't pay by the pound if you can't weigh it. If they question it's accuracy have them weigh themselves, most people know what they weigh well enough to say the scale is not crooked.

You won't know how much scrap a shop tends to have in a bucket until you go through the buckets a few times. I don't think it's past 10% at most of the shops I hit, often less. There was one that was more like 1/3 junk so I don't go there. Have to pay to find out it seems to depend a lot on the region of the country and the individual shop.

Don't fill your 5 gallon buckets up all the way when you have to transport them. Makes them lighter. If you find a shop with 3 full buckets you don't want to be standing there without the buckets to take that many away. There is also storage, a 5 gallon "homer" pail with 80 lbs. of sorted WW's is 3/4 full and stack nicely 4 high for storage. If you can move 80 lbs. that works if not take it down to 50 or up to 100. Whatever works for you. Having a collection of 5 gallon buckets is probably more efficient than little buckets if you use them for storage too.

Interrupting lunch or normal business are not going to make you welcome. If you can see the shop is busy tell them why your there (if they don't already know) but that you can come back later. That is just courtesy which also helps keep you from being an annoyance.

The food, courtesy and little extra cash are about developing a good business relationship with your lead supplier so you can get a steady supply. I find that dealing with the boss works better than the guys in the bays but then I'm not looking for them to give me "some" I want them to provide me a supply. The employee is not going to give me those full buckets without the bosses ok. Or shouldn't if they are honest.

Bottom line if you can find 2 to 4 shops that will sell you what they have on a regular basis it will allow you to build up a stash over time. And save you a butt load of money over most other sources of lead.

[Patrick L]

Excellent tips. I would add that a dozen donuts or a six pack of liquid refreshment can often determine whether you become either the person they look forward to seeing the most or that pain in the butt that keeps asking for wheelweights!

[knobster]

Excellent tips. I would add that a dozen donuts or a six pack of liquid refreshment can often determine whether you become either the person they look forward to seeing the most or that pain in the butt that keeps asking for wheelweights!

+1 on the doughnuts

These guys bust their rears all day and appreciate the little things.

[WILCO]

Most places seem to have this opinion that if your going to make money on it then they should make money on it also.

:groner: Capitalism? Basic economics 101? :groner:

[WILCO]

Chain tire shops... However something I noticed with 1 tire shop in particular is that they don't clean their parking lots that often and you can find 5-10 pounds of weights just lying around. I found a couple handfuls of weights in 1 places parking lot, and then at the same tire shop chain in a different town I found about the same amount.

Trespass and stealing are two words that come to mind.

If you're not there to do business and you don't have permission to scrounge around the lot, I'd skip this idea.

When searching for wheel weights, you don't want to be a pain in the backside.

The biggest reason I don't scrounge around for lead is that I've come to understand it's easier, cheaper and less stressful to simply purchase a known alloy from one of the many vendors currently open for business.

[6mm win lee]

Roger that, Wilco. Even though I am in Afghanistan I don't need the stress following behind all the guys who already lined up the local sources in my area when I do get on the west side of the Atlantic. So I have started to pick up a hundred or so bucks worth of linotype from Roto every other month. The goal is to pick up a ton of pure when the fun is done with over here, too.

[CastingFool]

Certainly a lot of good ideas.

[konsole]

Trespass and stealing are two words that come to mind.

Walking into their shop and taking it off the ground or out of their bucket without permission yes, trespassing and stealing. The couple pounds of used weights scattered around the parking lot that will eventually find their way into the trash, no. When one of the places said I couldnt have their wheel weights in their bucket, but then asked if I could scrounge the parking lot (because I noticed a bunch lying around) they said "got for it". The other place has seen me there 3 or 4 times when I stop there on my way home from work and I've gotten nothing but "plenty of those lying around" comments. 5-10 pounds of weights doesnt build up in the parking in an afternoon and if they arent willing to pick it up after a few weeks, then they arent going to consider it stealing if someone else picks it up. I understand the remark about some people will not really think its worth it scrounging the parking lots for 5-10 pounds but commenting that its trespassing or stealing is a little rediculous. It may not have been worth replying to your post here if those comments where buried in the middle of your post, but since these are the first few words you said you seem to be trying to start an argument with them. So please elaborate on how you feel that occasionally picking up what is considered "trash" in the parking lot of a business would be "trespassing" and "stealing". Your not trespassing because the parking lot is not off limits, and your not stealing because they don't want the weights or care if you take them. Even if it was possible to make a case for how its technically trespassing and stealing, what business is going to care about someone occasionally doing this? Ya I know maybe you didnt mean much by this comment but sorry it doesnt look that way to me. How do I know they dont want the weights scattered around the parking lot? They don't pick them up, they don't say anything when you do, and an employee being paid to pick up 10 pounds would basically cost the store money, thats why. If someone comes onto the edge of your property to take the scrap metal you put out on the curb for recycling, do you consider them trespassing and stealing?

Also in reply to your post before this about places expecting money if they think you are going to get money from the wheel weights being economics 101. I think you missed my point. My point isnt that they simply want to get some money if they can, but that they only seem to expect the money if they think that your going to get money. In other words "oh these weights arent worth any money to you, then ok take what you want". While on the other hand "oh these weights are worth some money to you, then we expect money for it then too". As long as they know you arent getting ahead financially then they dont make as big of deal about getting ahead financially themselves. As if what you do with the weights somehow makes the weights more or less important to them. Its just a subtle form of hating how they can't get a piece of someone elses financial pie. Not all places are like that, of course not, and alot of places expect money without even asking what you do with the weights, I just noticed it happened quite a bit when I was searching for weights. This is kind of like going to a shop one day and saying "I'll take all your trash and bring it to the town dump for you" Barring any liability issues they would most likely be happy to let you take it. However the second day you go to the shop and say "I'll take all your trash and somehow get $50 for it". On this second day they are then more likely to expect $20 out of it themselves, even though the trash is still viewed by them as the same pile of junk, they suddenly expect money for it when they find out you would get some money for it.

[WILCO]

Roger that, Wilco. Even though I am in Afghanistan.....

Welcome aboard 6mm Win Lee!

I like your plan for lead supplies.

Stay safe and keep us posted while you're over there.

[badbob454]

also radiator shops , for solder, and used wheels stores may have lead ...

[Beesdad]

Find out who the major tire chain stores use as their recycler. I was able to make contact with the local national recycling firm and they offered to sell me WW's at a very competitive price.

[DeanWinchester]

You mentioned not going around lunch time. Well, here's something to try. AFTER you have got some wheel weights from a particular place and have learned who the 'good ole boys' are there, stop by Little Ceasars and grab a couple of their $5 pizzas.

You can't get squat for $10 cash but a couple of pizzas right before lunch will yield a surprising amount. I suggest doing this on a Wednesday or Thursday. Those are the days working men tend to be the most broke. Right before payday.
Trust me, it's AMAZING what a working man will do for some grub while he's at work. And really, what's a couple $5 pizzas a jug of tea in the price of a couple buckets of wheel weights?



I used to work for a guy who, every Friday, would bring in a flat of country ham & biscuits from the local dive. We started work at 6 and he'd show up at 8:30-9:00. We'd break out balls working before he show'd up and he'd always say, "shut the machines down boys, let's eat for a minute." Only took 30-45 minutes but man we were all working our butts off the rest of the day. It's really silly, cause it's just a couple dollars worth but it's the idea of it. Beleive me, if the boys get greasy for a living, they'll go for it.

[cdngunner]

I have picked up a few fishing weight molds....drop a pound or two of weights off when ever you go.

Good way to get rid of your crappy or spoiled lead

[too many things]

here is something that works most places. Fed law says they cannot use lead or a used WW on a new tire. Offer to clean the old ones that are steel and zinc. and bring back. I have had good luck doing it . take the lead and clean the NON DAMAGE steel and zinc take them back. I have 5 places that will do it and give me the lead free.

[DeanWinchester]

What federal law says you can't use a used wheel weight? That's a new one on me.

[RogerDat]

Trespass and stealing are two words that come to mind.

If you're not there to do business and you don't have permission to scrounge around the lot, I'd skip this idea.

When searching for wheel weights, you don't want to be a pain in the backside.

The biggest reason I don't scrounge around for lead is that I've come to understand it's easier, cheaper and less stressful to simply purchase a known alloy from one of the many vendors currently open for business.


Seems like a pretty short post, hard to miss the qualifier about being there to do business or have permission to scrounge. I read that to mean IF you ask and get permission it's not trespass or stealing.

On economics 101 who thinks these shops do not already know the WW's have scrap value? Most have been selling them to scrap pick up service or taking them to the local scrap yard for years. Or maybe selling them to casters? Many shops already have a "friend" that cast that they hold their WW's for. Sometimes I go to a shop and they will tell me they have nothing for me because another guy was here just a few days ago and bought what they had.

Seems to me any "expectation" by the shop of being paid for the WW's might be based on the fact that they get paid for them already and might have nothing to do with ones intended use. Now if I show up with a coffee can and ask for a "few" they might be nice enough to give me a can or small bucket worth without charge. I'm more than willing to tell the shop what I want them for, I don't like doing business with people that lie to me so I won't lie to them. I think most already know but if knowing encourages them fine, if they have a problem with the idea (never happened) it's their right to make an informed decision.

I do personally have a problem with going around to the bays and asking the "guys" for the weights. Unless the guy I'm talking to owns them he has no business giving them to me. Jobs are hard to come by and I have no desire to get someone fired or chewed out for trying to do me a favor, especially one that I know is wrong. I ask at the front desk and if I'm not talking to the owner or manager the person behind the counter always goes to get them. So based on my experience the owner or manager is the person that has the right to sell or give me those WW's and no one else.

Want to screw it up for yourself or anyone else asking for lead? Piss off the manager or owner by going behind his back.

I like the suggestion of finding out the recycler the chains use and seeing if you can buy from them. That was some good thinking there beesdad. Probably good supply and if the price is decent.... damn why didn't I think of that!

I don't know if it is federal law but here in Mich. tire shops can't re-use WW's I think because once the clip has been set in one position from being on a tire then popped off the clip might be too stretched out and come off if put on another tire that had a thinner grip surface for the clip. There was a fellow awhile back who posted on having worked out a deal with a shop. He would go through the weights using a drill bit as a gauge and only keep the ones that had clips spread over a certain amount. The rest went back to the shop and the shop knew that these were tight enough to work without digging through the bucket trying them. Win for both parties. He may have done some sorting by size of weight too, don't recall for sure. Do know everything from that shop went through him. Might be an option for someone else to try if the shop says they re-use them.

[DeanWinchester]

Stretched out clip?
Well, ive been balancing tires for over a decade and that's why I have a hammer. All you gotta do is give it whack or two and bend the clips back in tight. You can FEEL if the weigh is stay or not when you out it on.

[RogerDat]

Stretched out clip?
Well, ive been balancing tires for over a decade and that's why I have a hammer. All you gotta do is give it whack or two and bend the clips back in tight. You can FEEL if the weigh is stay or not when you out it on.

Which is why some shops re-use them. I think the law may exist because not every tire tech is competent or going to do it with care. I can see where over tweaking a piece of spring steel could weaken it or hitting it could weaken the bond of the lead to the clip. But you know how it is, if even a small percentage do something badly and someone gets hurt some politician has to do something about the "problem" so a law gets passed.

We had one state legislator try to ban certain breeds of dogs from the state because of a dog attack in his district. Imagine someone or a few people got hurt or had near misses from flying WW's and there you go. Or the lead manufactures lobbied for it and no one was paying attention. Be a good deal for them, when they are removed from the car the old ones get recycled into the new ones getting installed.

[Beesdad]

Common practice in NC for second tier tire shops to reuse WW's... IMO if I am purchasing a new set of tires I would expect new WW's. The vast majority of my WW's come from two independent first class tire shops and they have told me they would never reuse WW's. I would have to assume that kind of attitude has kept them in business for more than 35 years..

[ridenclimb]

konsole,

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with trying to get wheel weights. I had to ask at quite a few places before I found one that was willing to part with a few buckets for a reasonable price. Currently have a fair deal worked out with one of the shops. $30 for a five gallon bucket which is around 120#. If its filled all the way it is too heavy to move around. Anyway, between smelting wheel weights and also some range scrap which I get for free I come up with an alloy that works well for my purposes.

Anyway, good luck to all who would like to find some lead. It is out there.

[DrBill33]

Wheel weights? All that you want around here ... Oh yes! No-lead, but the now required non-lead (usually magnesium. I lucked ot with a fellow stock finisher that has a large quantity of lead wheel weights. With the EPA requirements, I am afraid that the days of lead wheel weights is long gone...DANG IT!

[konsole]

I've noticed the same thing about some shops saying they reuse the wheel weights. The suggestion to offer to clean the good condition steel and zinc weights sounds really good. If they take you up on that offer I have a hard time seeing they wont let you take the lead weights for free or extremely cheap, considering how much usable weights your bringing back to them. I've had decent luck with scrappers taking the steel weights off the street, but this most recent time the box of steel weights has been sitting there more then a week. So cleaning the steel and zinc would save me that trip to the scrap yard to get the $5 or $10 for them. I find that the steel and zinc weights combined amount to about 1/3 of a bucket so if half of those are reusable then thats about 20 pounds or so of weights they can reuse.

Does anyone do anything else with the steel WW's then bring them to the scrap yard?

I guess if you have a good size property you could throw them in a pile way out back and simply let them rust away.

[RogerDat]

I don't get much for steel weights at the scrap yard but since I am there anyway.... I get what I can for them.

[konsole]

I don't get much for steel weights at the scrap yard but since I am there anyway.... I get what I can for them.

What is it somewhere around .05 a pound for the steel weights? I'm tempted to just dig a hole and bury them in the back yard and let them rust away, if the idea of cleaning them and returning them to the shop doesnt work.

Have you tried selling zinc weights to the scrap yard? What do they give you?

[konsole]

I don't get much for steel weights at the scrap yard but since I am there anyway.... I get what I can for them.

What about the steel clips? Have you tried selling the steel clips to the scrap yard?

[RogerDat]

Never tried steel clips but yes they buy any scrap steel. They paid me scrap metal price for the old metal shelves from the garage.
I sold them some zinc ingots and they paid 46 cents a lb. took in some zinc WW's and I forget what they paid. Was only about 15 lbs. think it was less than I paid for them as WW's in the bucket :-(

I checked with shadygrady and he was offering a little more in credit for goods from his gunbroker auction. But not enough more to make up for the shipping since I could purchase lead from the scrap yard with the money as soon as I got it.

[konsole]

So what did they give you per # for the scrap steel?

I'm not going to take 100# down there if I only get $5 for it. A couple hundred pounds would be pushing the limit for my car, and even that would only get $10 after I pay for gas, if they pay .05 cents a pound. Luckily it looks like the steel weights I put out on the street was finally taken by someone. As of now I've just been throwing the steel clips in a pile on our yard.

I wonder if the scrap yard would take the steel clips when they have a small amount of lead stuck to them?

[mold maker]

I have always taken the clips (yes a small amount of lead attached) to the scrap yard, with any other scrap steel, jackets, aluminum, copper, and brass. I always trade for lead instead of taking cash. It's like getting paid in lead, to carry out the trash. Ya gotta get rid if it eventually so might as well profit from it.

[konsole]

I have always taken the clips (yes a small amount of lead attached) to the scrap yard, with any other scrap steel, jackets, aluminum, copper, and brass. I always trade for lead instead of taking cash. It's like getting paid in lead, to carry out the trash. Ya gotta get rid if it eventually so might as well profit from it.

Trading your scrap steel for lead aint a bad idea, unless they really low ball your steel and our really high ball their lead.

[RogerDat]

Trading your scrap steel for lead aint a bad idea, unless they really low ball your steel and our really high ball their lead.

You just defined the scrap metal business. Buy low & sell high.

I think steels might be 7 or 10 cents a lb. but it varies depending on the market and region. All it takes is a phone call to find out what that 100 lb. bucket will fetch.

However since the steel clips are trash and one is going to the scrap yard anyway to see what they have for lead..... Might as well haul along the steel clips. $7.50 would have covered the 7.5 lbs. of body shop solder I picked up there.

[konsole]

I have a few more things to add after looking for wheel weights for a couple months.

Whatever the shop says about how quickly they fill a bucket, its pretty much a guarantee that they underestimate it. If they say it takes them about 1 month to fill the bucket then it will probably take 2+ months. Obviously it can vary quite a bit and they will probably fill the bucket in 2 months sometimes and maybe 3-4 months other times, but I've learned to be skeptical when they say something like 1 month if they arent a high volume tire only shop. A couple shops I have been back to 1 month later that said it takes 1-2 months to fill the bucket, and the bucket barely had 25 pounds in it.

At first I thought dealerships where good places for weights, but I've learned that if someone says you can take the weights then they are most likely going under the managers head. Out of all the dealerships I originally stopped at, 4 said I could take the weights, but from 2 of those the word has now come from higher up that they have something setup with a recycler. The 3rd one is a little too far of a drive and even though someone there said I could take the weights, I'll probably end up getting a no once someone in management is asked since the people working in the shop seem to often times not really know what happens to their used weights. So dealerships seem to always have some kind of recycling setup in place and wont consider giving or even selling the weights to you. The 4th place will still give me the weights, but they arent asking management first.

It seems to be the same thing with tire shop chains. Every tire shop chain store I have been in they have a setup in place where a recycler comes in and takes the weights and when I asked them if it was chain wide they said yes. Single location tire shops are good though, as well as single location general auto repair shops that do tire work.

[el34]

A tip I learned here over a year ago is to check yellowpages.com for "used tires". You'll get small mom-pop tire places that don't have recycler agreements and will often sell you their WW. I needed my own buckets at two of them and my own scale at one, he priced them by the pound.

The % of lead, whether SO or CO, is constantly going down. My last 100+ pound bucket cost me $60 but by the time I smelted the lead my ingot cost was $1.02/lb. I waffle between moaning about it and continually scoring more, the price will probably never go down.

[konsole]

My last 100+ pound bucket cost me $60 but by the time I smelted the lead my ingot cost was $1.02/lb.

$60 for that much is really high. Maximum I hear people consistently getting a full bucket is $20 and if its overflowing then $25. Atleast find out what the local scrap yard would give them for the scrap weights and use that when haggling a price at the shop. If your having to pay $60 to beat someone elses offer, then I would go elsewhere if you can.

[cdngunner]

Prices up here are $0.35/lbs of mixed wheel weights. I usually go out with a scale and a printout of current scrap prices.

For scrap lead I usually offer about $0.50/lbs.


I am just across the river from Buffalo NY and find the prices there about double.

[konsole]

cdngunner,

0.35/lb for mixed weights isnt too bad. I would be comfortable offering that if I really liked the place, or they where very very close to me, or I discovered that their buckets contained an unusually high percentage of lead weights.

[flyingmonkey35]

I hit up my fav local shop the other day when getting my oil changed and tries rotated.

Yup I'm to dam lazy to do it myself.

Picked up one 5 gal bucket of mixed ww and stuff tire stems etc..

$35.bucks

Last time I went to the local recycling place they upped the price to .50cents a pound.

I think I'll stick to the shop.

[Geezer in NH]

Common practice in NC for second tier tire shops to reuse WW's... IMO if I am purchasing a new set of tires I would expect new WW's. The vast majority of my WW's come from two independent first class tire shops and they have told me they would never reuse WW's. I would have to assume that kind of attitude has kept them in business for more than 35 years..
The big question should be "Do you put in new air stems every time?"

[Beesdad]

The big question should be "Do you put in new air stems every time?"
Yes ...