Travelling With Car Parts Parts In Your Suitcase. Good Idea?

[slow&rusty]

Hey Gang - I have two new WURs (Bosch Warm Up Regulators) in Bosch boxes that I am planning on taking across country in my suitcase and was thinking is this a good idea? I paid a lot of $$ for them and do not want TSA going through my suitcase thinking or suspecting anyway it is some explosive type device and confiscating them, especially as I cannot power them up like say a Laptop or phone. If this is the case I would rather not take the chance and can FedEx them to my myself instead. I don't mind checking the suitcase if need be but would rather take it on as hand luggage.

Recently my Dad was travelling to the Caribbean and he was carrying some Liquid Wrench in his suitcase as it is not available for sale there, and TSA took it out of his suitcase and kept it (no note either). He was very annoyed, as I would be.

What are your thoughts? I was going to call the Airline, but if I trying explaining what a WUR is over the phone that would be tricky to say the least.

Thanks!
Yasin

[MarKoBrow]

Avoid the hassle of dealing with idiots and ship them to yourself, your not breaking any rules by taking them on the plane but there is always the chance of an unnecessary conversation and somehow you end up on the no fly list

[widgeon13]

I would ship them as well, if they don't know what they are chances are you'll cause a stir. We don't want to read about you in the news.

[DanielDudley]

Ship, insure, and pack well.

[billybek]

Not on a carry on anyway.
Liquid wrench I can see them taking away.

[Embraer]

I'd ship them. I was in uniform and got "busted" for having a flashlight with wires sticking out of it in my bag. (long story, but I was going to one of our training centers to build a mockup for flight training)

Liquid Wrench is HAZMAT.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

+1

There are enough jackasses working for theTSA that will simply confiscate them to be a-holes. If they perceive them as having value and that it'll make life more miserable for you to replace them, it'll increase the likelihood they'll jerk you around if you happen to get one of the "respect-mah-awthoritay"-type pricks.

Flying sucks now. Between the "Thousands Standing Around" (TSA) and the nickel-dime fee-oriented B.S. that the airlines are pulling it's simply ridiculous. The last time I flew I actually UPS-ed a box with extra clothes and stuff in it to the hotel I was staying at ahead of time. No joke. I UPS-ed them home too, that way I only had to take one carry-on. It was cheaper than the stupid "extra bag fee".

[slow&rusty]

Thanks for the quick responses guys. I agree that TSA have some extremely low level intelligence staff, poorly selected for positions of authority and decision making (let alone common sense).

You guys have convinced me that shipping the car parts via FedEx \ UPS is the way to go.

Thanks again!
Regards,
Yasin

[LakeCleElum]

When I last visited a friend in Australia, I took the following Harley parts in my luggage: Pistons, heads, 2 carbs, ignition parts......It was not a problem.

I once had a part time job as a courier doing security work. I took a box of bolts to attach a Boeing 747 wing from Seattle to Dubai.......Due to the cost of sending me there overnight, I took the parts in carry-on.........TSA was very interested and inspected thouroughly, but there was nothing wrong with what I was doing....

Personally, I'd take them in a carry-on so you are present when they inspect...

[Noah930]

A WUR's more complicated than what I brought in my carry-on when I flew two weeks ago, but I think it should survive check-in luggage without too much difficulty. It's not like Liquid Wrench, which is highly flammable.

TSA aren't alway ornery. At some art fair my wife had purchased a wall clock where the rim of the face was made from a bicycle chain ring. Without any sort of packaging, I obviously didn't want to send it in check-in luggage. Under an x-ray machine apparently the chain ring looked like a circular saw blade! So obviously they wanted to take a closer look. The supervisor agent took a look at it, thought for a second, and let it go. In another bag they also came across a rock from the beach one of my kids had saved. TSA head dude looked at it, smiled at me and asked "Caveman weapon?" and let it go. In the meantime, some misc nuts/washers, fuses, oil filter and a couple gas pedals made it through the same piece of luggage without any mention.

[9dreizig]

Carry them on. As log as they don't wreak of gas you will be fine.

[Mark Hjelm]

Tape them up with a bottle of Pepto Bismol..... You shoud be fine....

[jcommin]

Ups

[legion]

Here's what I've done in the past:

I usually fly out of Bloomington, and our TSA guys seem to have MUCH more common sense than is the norm nationally. Our airport is usually very busy in the morning and evening, but is relatively dead in the middle of the day. So I stopped by the airport the day before my flight and asked to speak to the TSA guys. I told them I was flying to Buffalo the next day to pick up a car and I was planning on taking a set of license plates, a screwdriver, and a spare DME relay (I explained what this was) with me in my carry on. I asked them if any of the items posed a potential security problem and told them that the last thing I wanted to do was to cause them a hassle. They told me everything would be fine except for the screwdriver. I thanked them and left the screwdriver out of my carry on the next day. I went through security the next day without incident.

I understand that at a big airport, you're more likely to have a hassle, but the local TSA guys did appreciate my asking ahead of time. If you think this is impractical or you don't think it will help you, I'd just go ahead and FedEx the stuff.

[Hugh R]

I'd ship. I've been stopped with name brand indoor air quality testing equipment because it looked "funny". Names like 3M and Honeywell. Not worth the hassle. What would you do if you get to the airport and at security, they simply say "No"? Then you're at their mercy and there is nothing you can do at that point. Take the uncertainty out of your flight.

[Joeaksa]

I fly all the time with car and airplane parts in my checked bags. Not a problem.

If someone took something, anything out of my checked bag, I would be on the phone in a heartbeat reporting it stolen to the airlines. Liquid Wrench is not Hazmat unless he had gallons of it in the bags. Couple of smaller cans would be no more problem than the extra case of oil that the airplane usually has stashed in the baggage area already.

Joe A

[schamp]

Something not mentioned above is - if you are going to check the bag don't lock it. They will have to break the lock to look inside.
A few years ago I checked a bag with an electric meter inside along with a C/B radio, complete with batteries. Didn't lock the suitcase. When I got to California and claimed the bag I noticed that they had indeed opened and checked out everything. Nothing was missing. I could help but laugh when I thought about what that stuff looked like in an X ray.
If you do check it, you might want to put a note in or on the items saying what they are. UPS works also.

[Normy]

Fedex!

[RWebb]

if you ship them, then we will not have an exciting story to read here on OT about your "adventures" with TSA and -- if we are really lucky -- the federal prison system

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Normy

Fedex!

Werent you the one who said you were leaving PPOT?