So I purchased a set of real red Rays Lug Nuts on eBay from seller Tune Shop (they are legit). After about a year they faded, so I looked into getting them reanodized and it was going to cost around $110 with the valve stems. After searching on eBay I found a set without the box, when I got them I thought they were real but after careful inspection they were not. A few months later I was still looking for a real set, I got a set that was supposed to be real but again after careful inspection they were not. They came in the same box as they were supposed to but the print card (with info) was not as colorful and detailed. Here are the results:

Real Rays Lug Nut Key


Fake Key 1


Fake Key 2


Real Rays Lug


Fake Lug 1


Fake Lug 2



Here is how you can tell they are real:
-there should be three markings on the locking lug nut:


From Left to right the numbers mean:
37=Middle Slotted Key (27=Left and 47=Right)
1.5=Thread Pitch
82=?

Fake 1


Fake 2


They should have X’s at the top which go down until a metal circle.
As you can see Fake 1 does not have a circle line to cut the X’s off and Fake 2 the X’s dont go all the way to the circle. Also as you can see on Fake 2 the edges are flat while the others are sharp.


I have not been able to use the Fake 1 key (which is middle slotted) on the real lug nuts (which are middle slotted). I cant find the real key to test on the fake lugs. The fake 2 set is left slotted.

FYI:
Rays Valve stems can be used on almost any 1 piece wheel. Lug Nuts Can be used on stock wheels that have ball seats with SSR adapters. These change the seat of the lug nut from acorn to ball.

http://www.kseriesparts.com/cr/SSR-WHEELWASHER.html

Here are pictures showing these on Type S wheels:

 

Good to know! Thanks for sharing

 

From someone who is about to buy a set of Rays Lugs, this was extremely helpful! Thanks for posting this!

 

Thanks Skier.

 

I just bought a set of rays lug nuts 2 months ago. looks pretty real to me. The chrome one is the key, and the matte silver one is the 21mm to 17mm adapter

 

What good are authentic Rays lugs if they're fading like that after a year, may as well just go with the cheaper reps.

 

all the red ones, real and fake, I've seen fade pretty easily. black too, but its not as obvious since its black. using hand tools instead of impact tools definitely help prevent chips

 

Some good info here, but it begs the question....why didn't you just order another set from the "legit" vendor you got your first set from instead of getting burned not once, but twice from other random ebay vendors?

Couple lessons to be learned here: #1, ebay "JDM" parts are almost always fakes (hence the OP's 66% failure rate). #2, real or not, eventually anodized aluminum parts fade no matter what. Every set of red anodized lugs I've seen look more pink than red.

 

great thread....

I am happy with my $35 gorilla lugs LOL

 

They Look Legit to me, but just look at the tops of them to see if the X's are present all the way to the circle.

Almost anything that is anodized red fades, especially after left in the sun.

Yep, if your having a shop take off your wheels tell them not to use an impact, make them do it by hand.

The legit lugs were $175 which was a decent deal (MSRP is around $225). I found the first set of fakes for under $80, I knew they might be fake but that was less than the cost of anodizing the real set, so it was worth the risk. The second set, was supposed to be real but they were still priced around $100 so not a huge gamble.


Black fades the least/slowest
then blue
then red (the fastest)

More on anodizing can be found here:
http://www.anodizing.org/Reference/r...ide.html#Type2