I’m surprised what the street value for four truck steel wheels and six truck-sized tires are.
There’s an unbelievable photo on social media as of late showing an entire Penske rental box truck with its wheels stolen. The truck, like so many other cars without wheels, hangs suspended in air held up by two stacks of cinder blocks and one lone bottle jack.
Is that photo legit and more importantly, can a single bottle jack really hold up that much rear box truck?
Apparently, yes and yes.
Here’s the photo from Facebook below.
Yes, the photo is legit, it first was shared on Reddit on March 23, 2021 by /u/Downtown_chair9216 and shows our infamous box truck with the caption “Wheels are rented separately here at The Home Depot, make 6561 famous.”
Look up Home Depot 6561 on Google Maps, and it’s not technically in Houston but Katy, Texas, itself part of the greater Houston metro area.
Zoom into street view and, is this the Penske rental box truck with its wheels (new?) back on? (click here on Google Maps to see for yourself.)
Taken in 2022, it appears to be one and the same.
OP says he has more pictures and I DM’d him asking if I can see them to update this blog with, so if you’re reading this. he hasn’t responded yet.
Empty, box trucks this length typically weigh about 16,000 pounds.
And, if you’re in the business of stealing box truck wheels, investing in a cheap hydraulic bottle jack, like this 12-ton (24,000 pounds) linked here from Harbor Freight for just $45, is a just common sense.
As for the street value of four steel wheels and six tires, here’s how much just the drive steel wheels that fit an International Durastar 4300 (yes, that’s the make and model truck of these Penske rentals) fetches on eBay.
Let’s round down to about $150 each.
And, here is how much (1) used tire that fits a Durastar 4300 costs.
Let’s also round down to $180 each.
Total, that’s about $1680.
But, we’re talking street value, pricing them to sell ASAP will net you…$900? (Honestly, your guess is as good as mine what the actual street value is.)
If a gram of me** costs $40, these steel wheels and tires equals many grams of me**!
Or, someone legitimately needs them for their own truck, and it’s easier to steal them from the Home Depot rental.
Oftentimes the most expensive items to steal aren’t even in the store, in the case, over $1,600 was sitting under a tree in front of a Katy, TX Home Depot waiting for someone with a $45 bottle jack and some cinder blocks to yank them off.
Have you seen such a large vehicle with its wheels stolen like this before? Let me know in the comments below.
