transport tube amp

I have transported my tube amps with the driver tubes in my car on the highway after I have packed them in the original boxes. You can transport the amp with tubes for any distance as long as the roads are not crater filled and have many potholes to cause excessive unsettling. Packed in the original box with foam should be more than adequate for normal auotmobile transport. Hauling in a U-Haul would make me cringe.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life

The safest method is to pack the tubes separately.

I've shipped tube amps successfully several times and always remove the tubes and pack them separately.

I agree with Audioquest4life that original boxes are good to have, because they prevent the amp from moving around inside the box but I would add a layer or two of bubble wrap for shock absorption, even if it means double-boxing and having the bubble wrap between the two boxes. The rigid foam that is common in manufacturer's boxes will protect from one impact but it gets crushed in the process. It doesn't really provide any absorption of vibration like bubble wrap or resilient foam.

IF you are shipping the amp. No. Unless you take off the cage and pack around all the tubes so they cannot move. I did this with an Audio Research Sp-10 I sold. Packed up protection all around the tubes, the screwed the top back on. (with a note saying take the packing out! (even though one could see the stuff, better safe than sorry)
I would use some good foam, the sort used for furniture cushions. Buy a block and carve it up with a kitchen knife into chunks to pack in nice. (you can also use it around the amp to good efect, as that foam is the best one can do to protect an electronic device when shipping UPS or FedEx Ground, and you do not have the original packing stuff. I would bet the package could be dropped twenty feet and the item not be damaged, if you had at least two inches of foam all around
(I get the foam locally and buy new salvage, cast off/leftover cut bits, I got like 8 cubic feet of foam for $8. Enough for several shipments of stuff))

why take a chance. Just remove the tubes and pack in bubble wrap.

Always better safe than sorry, Pack the tubes seperately.

Thanks to you all. Very helpful lot here. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like. Cheers