Importing Wheels from Japan

[Matthew 69-2000]

Hi all,

Wanted to share my experience importing wheels from Japan in case others are interested in doing the same. I'm just now beginning the process and thought it would be good to document. I've been wanting to replace the appliance mesh wheels on my '69 since I got it, but it was never high on the list. I wasn't sure what I wanted and my budget wasn't too large, but I was willing to spend a bit of money on a quality set of wheels. I searched ebay, craigslist, facebook out in LA and didn't land on much in my desired style, size, or price. I'd heard about importing wheels from Japan, but never looked much into the process because it seemed difficult, confusing, and potentially riddled with fees.

I reached out to Alvin to see what he recommended and he pointed me to Jesse Streeter (https://jessestreeter.com/yahoo-auction ... g-service/) as a potential option. I had also been familiar with an LA based JDM retailer on Instagram, Jakob at @getjpn. (https://www.get-jpn.com/pages/purchasing-service). Both places offered similar services to help purchase and import items from Japan's online retailers (Yahoo Japan, UpGarage, and Buyee.jp and more). Both services took commissions - 10% at Streeter, 23% at Get-JPN - for their work. Streeter offers various shipping options with a really comprehensive break down of the process and prices. The benefit of Streeter is 1. a lower commission percentage and 2. shipping to your door at your desired freight. Jesse sent me a full quote for the 3 shipping options I requested. Get-JPN brings their imports over a few times a year in a shipping container that is delivered to their shop in Pomona, CA and needs to be picked up.

The way it works is you search the online retailers for the wheels, steering wheels, or other parts you are interested in and send the service the link. Then you determine a max bid that you're comfortable placing. The service places the bid from their account and if the bid wins, you receive an invoice for the purchase price + fees + shipping to their location in Japan + shipping to your final destination.

I found a set of 15x6.5 Watanabes with a +15 offset and placed my max bid with 1 day remaining in the auction. Compared to eBay here in the US where I like to bid in the last few minutes, this system requires you to pick your max bid and have confidence in the price. You do need to be willing to spend a bit more and be happy win or lose.

The selection on Yahoo and UpGarage are much better than what we have in the US. It takes a bit of getting used to to search, but google translate and searching offsets helps a lot. Yahoo has a proxy-specific site called Buyee.jp that will auto-translate ads into your desired language.

I ended up using Get-Jpn as I wasn't in a rush to receive the wheels and the total price (commission + shipping) was less than the quoted price from Streeter. Depending on how quickly the container fills up, the wheels should be arriving in December.

I'll be updating this thread as I go along to provide updates on the process, timing, and price. Here's a photo of my car for attention.

[GoldHawg]

Thanks for documenting.

[rwmann]

Nice looking rims. Trans-Pac container shipping fees have quadrupled since March, and the west coast port throughput has slowed down, both due to pandemic.

[Matthew 69-2000]

A bit of an update - the wheels arrived in Long Beach, CA around December 20th and are now available for pickup. The delivery took about 3 months and was expected given the container style delivery. No additional cost/import duties were applied based on the current trade conditions, just what was listed on the get-jpn.com site plus the sales price.

I'll provide another update once I pick the wheels up, but so far I'm satisfied with the process.

[buenavides1]

I have seen a similar rim from 4wheelonline before but I can't remember the brand. The wheel is lovely, I'm sure it will add style to your car as soon as you install it.

[bajaroadster]

Very nice looking choice of wheel. IMHO will make a very nice looking car even better. Thanks for sharing the information. I look forward to seeing them installed on the car.

[rwmann]

VTO-like?

[Matthew 69-2000]

Alright the new wheels and tires are mounted and I couldn’t be more pleased. I’ll need some new front springs to drop the front a bit. The wheels arrived in fantastic shape - as advertised. I picked a set of conti extreme contact tires in 205/50/r15 which work great with the +15 offset. Here are some photos of the final product.

[theunz]

Do you know that your rear shackles have been flipped? If you flip them back to the stock configuration it will lower the rear to where it belongs and then when you get shorter front springs it will have a nice level stance.
Or you could continue with the Dakar rally look.

[Matthew 69-2000]

Hmm it does appear that way doesn’t it. I can’t imagine why the previous owner would have done that except to extend the life of flattened springs. I’ll take a look this afternoon and see what I can do to reverse it. Would definitely like a way to drop the rear as well. Thanks!

[Alvin]

Hmm it does appear that way doesn’t it. I can’t imagine why the previous owner would have done that except to extend the life of flattened springs. I’ll take a look this afternoon and see what I can do to reverse it. Would definitely like a way to drop the rear as well. Thanks!

If these are the wheel/tires from the PO, it's possible the shackles were flipped so the large rear tires would clear the fender lips. Pretty common. Super easy to correct the shackle though.


If you can, post a picture from the front 3/4 of the car or on top of the front fender to see if the tire will clear it. 205-width tires can sometimes be too wide, especially when lowered.

Great looking wheels/size!

[Matthew 69-2000]

Here’s the view from the top. I see a little bit of sidewall from this angle.

[Alvin]

Here’s the view from the top. I see a little bit of sidewall from this angle.

Looks like it might rub on full-lock/compression, maybe a 195/55 would be better?

How is the back clearance now with the spring shackles corrected?

EDIT: none of this matters if you are just cruising around!

[Pjackb]

Here’s the view from the top. I see a little bit of sidewall from this angle.

Looks like it might rub on full-lock/compression, maybe a 195/55 would be better?

195/55 would be taller
I run the same size tires 205/45/16 (3mm taller) With 16x7 ET10 and no rubbing even on high compression
I'm lowered on MY Springs

[Matthew 69-2000]

Here’s the view from the top. I see a little bit of sidewall from this angle.

Looks like it might rub on full-lock/compression, maybe a 195/55 would be better?

How is the back clearance now with the spring shackles corrected?

EDIT: none of this matters if you are just cruising around!

In the process of correcting one thing at a time. Just finished the hub fitment project, next will be suspension. After a quick poke around, it seems the sidewall and width of the tires should fit all around. My plan is to get some Mike Young springs and then flip the shackles and potentially get the leafs re-arched. I don’t have a level or large garage for the shackle work, but I’m hoping to move into a new place in the next few months. Just going to drive and enjoy for now until I have a place to do the suspension work.