Hawaii Group Buys

Given our geographic isolation and excessive shipping costs for many things, I thought I'd start a thread where we can have a venue to announce intended purchases of accessories etc. and offer each other the opportunity to join-in for a potential savings in shipping and time.

To kick it off, I'm going to be ordering a set of Alloy Gators this Sunday. Alloy Gators fit between your tire and rim and provide a barrier to prevent curb damage. In a nutshell, they take the beating instead of your rims. See this pic of a Gator that saved a rim to see a worst case scenario where the Gator was killed by a really hard it, but the rim was saved. And, if you damage the Gator (normal scrapes...not like the previous pic), a tool is included that scrapes away the shredded mess to make it look new again (see pics of this here). I've read great reviews of them on the forum. They are a very durable material that can take a beating and the general consensus is they are well worth the money (about $110 or so)). They have to be ordered from the manufacturer in the UK so there's a transit wait time. With the high costs of international shipping, I'm offering the opportunity for others to jump in on the order and the shipping cost is split evenly among all buyers.

They come in many colors to float most anyone's boat. (Pics below) The silver seems to be a good match for the silver Tesla rims (I'll be ordering silver). The black ones may make your rim look ever so slightly smaller. (see the last image on the page showing the black ones listed below) But you can get them in Red too, Akikiki...if you want that racer look (link to pic below). :love:

Pics of Silver (Midway down page)
More pics of Silver (Midway down page)
Pics of Black (Midway down page)
Pics of Red (Midway down page)


If you're interested, just let me know either with a post here or a PM and I'll add your request to my order. Folks on the outer islands, I'm cool with sending your items to you too if you want to jump in...I'll just add the actual postage cost from me to you. This may not save you any money versus doing it yourself, but it could save you the time.

I plan to install mine myself. Not sure if the SC will perform install for a fee or not. Forum posts are hit and miss with some SC's installing for a fee and others refuse to install.

Anyway, anyone interested in joining in on the purchase, please let me know no later than 8AM on Sunday the 15th.

Most people install be deflating the tire pressure a little, raising the air suspension to very high, then placing it in jack mode before before using a jack to lift the wheel being worked on. The Gators are installed with the wheel still mounted on the vehicle. Also, the package comes with a set of 5, so if you tear one up down the line on a bad curb, you've got a spare. In addition, they are reuseable, so if you have to replace a tire, you can remove it and remount it on the new tire (although you may have to buy new metal clips, but they are cheap.)

Here's their website:

Alloy Wheel Repairs, Protection, Refurbishment, Cleaning & Polishing

There's a tutorial video of how to install them.

@dpodoll, after I place the order and calculate the cost per person (even split), you can send me a check.

@RodF,looking at the other forum threads on these, a professional installation should run around $100. Or, if you want to get together, we can install ours at the same time and I can help you. I'll leave this offer open to others as well. As nanimac mentioned, once you figure our the first one, the rest should be quicker. Although with manual jacks and not a lift, it will take longer than 30 minutes. I'm estimating a hour per car...unless anyone has convenient access to a lift.

It's not too late to jump in! So far I have requests from the following:

dpodoll - Silver
RodF - Silver
Spleen - Silver
mmartin - Silver

We will be getting a 10% discount off of their advertised rates. The total will be $100 per set (unless the exchange rate unexpectedly swings wild), which includes shared shipping costs and duty (import tax). This is a savings of about $15 per set from the standard rate if you purchase them from their website as an individual.

Any others who want a set, please let me know by 8AM tomorrow (15th).

dmith2189, it was your lucky day.

I placed the following order today:

dpodoll - Silver
RodF - Silver
Spleen - Silver
drtko147 - Silver
Hawaiiskibum - Silver
mmartin - Silver
dsmith2189 - Black

They will be sending these from their UK location, so expect a delay due to international shipping. I'll post any updates that I receive from the company.