MidnightRider Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Buying car parts from Ebay is always a gamble. Usually you win but with slight modifications necessary. Unfortunately, for me, today was not one of those "winning" days. I bought a set of Rota RB's 17x9 and 17x9.5, and have slowly inching my way to getting them on my car (Having three 4-to-5 lug spacers and adapters with stripped bolts on the car is a problem). Wanting to save a little money and get a bargain, I turned to Ebay for the new lugs I need for my new wheels. The shipping was FAST, got to Memphis from LA in 3 days. Anodized red, looked flashy but what I wanted. Until I tried to put them on the car, *spoiler alert* I get what I paid for. The anodized paint flaked off immediately upon touching any surface harder than a mildly firm pillow, the manufacturer forgot to thread these all the same size and most of them wouldn't fit on the lugs, 23 out of 25 to be exact. Some of them it seems like they decided to change the thread size halfway through. Worst of all they were made of ALUMINUM. Not just aluminum, but probably aluminum recycled from melted down Honda's and East German Trabants. Any suggestions on what I should get? I would like a set of red ones. Flashy I know, but something has to make up for my paint job Just nothing made of sheet metal, wood, tin foil, tofu, or plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getoffmyinternet Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Aluminum lugs?? Aluminum lugs. Wow ebay I'm not even mad that's just amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 (edited) Out of my experiences, even the expensive red Ray's Volks lug nuts have chipping/rubbing problems if you're not super super careful with them. During my splurging period with my RX7 I bought a set of neo-chrome Project Kics lug nuts and they haven't chipped at all, even when being torques and taken off, I was pretty surprised. But for the price they damn well have performed that well even though the Volk lug nuts let me down in that same department. The cheap Muteki lug nuts also chip, as well as the superlight Titek ones. The only thing I could possibly suggest is putting electrical tape over your lug nuts when installing or removing, or use a plastic bag in your socket. Edited October 7, 2011 by LoneStarS30Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Have you considered having a set powder coated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 (edited) Someone is not aware of all the lawyer sharks out in the real world...wow. Scary. When I bought the Sportmax wheels through the group buy here, they came with a set of tuner lugs nuts that are really nice. I would love to get another set for my other Z. They had color options available and they have been on and off several times with not a nick in them yet. They look like these: http://thmotorsports...CFUnc4Aod5h64PA Edited October 7, 2011 by cygnusx1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 The only thing I don't like about those Muteki's is the lug nuts key. Not only is it useless at being a key seeing as you can get them easily from Autozone and Discount Tire, but I've seen quite a few times the sockets walls would expand or crack leaving you with once again, a worthless key and lug nuts you can't get off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightRider Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 Thanks for all the feedback. Any other suggestions for lugs? They need to be thin to clear the wheels, 60* acorn seat (correct me if I'm wrong) and tall is good so that I don't worry about scratching (Rota RB's). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Aluminum lugs?? Aluminum lugs. Wow ebay I'm not even mad that's just amazing. I have seen aluminum lug nuts on Porsches before. They are not original as far as I know. They need to be high quality to be safe and reliable. 7075 alloy maybe? A long thread engagement is necessary (compared to steel lugs) which might require longer studs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ33 Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 I have a set of Drag lugs on my Z, they havent chipped or anything and are really light... but its been MAYBE three months, tops, and they are now a goldish color because of the sun... they are good lugs, but the color fades fast, but I kind of like them that way now. Also, BLOX lugs are super light and when I have tightened and removed them by hand there was no damage or chipping, but make sure if a shop is doing the work to tell them to do it by hand because one of them is now chipped due to an impact wrench. Both of these were less than $100 and both have served their purpose and lasted and I have been happy with both. Just my opinion of courss though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padam07 Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 I am curious to see what lugs you did purchase. I bought a set off of ebay also and I too had problems with threading them on. I was able to fix the problem by buying a die the and chasing my studs. I din't change the thread pattern it just brought it back to exact which i am assuming the lugs were. Aftet that the lugs threaded on with ease. Here are thew ones I purchasewd. Here is them installed before the flares were installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightRider Posted October 8, 2011 Author Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) I am curious to see what lugs you did purchase. I bought a set off of ebay also and I too had problems with threading them on. I was able to fix the problem by buying a die the and chasing my studs. I din't change the thread pattern it just brought it back to exact which i am assuming the lugs were. Aftet that the lugs threaded on with ease. Here are thew ones I purchasewd. Here is them installed before the flares were installed. That's badass, I'm jellin'. How did they fit under the flares? Suspension? Off topic but exactly what I want to run. My lugs looked identical to those only red. They're getting refunded and returned (if the seller even wants them, probably cost .50 to make). I haven't made a decision on new lug nuts yet. I'm afraid of what I'll get now, so still open to options. Maybe yours were higher quality? Mine were only $50 Edited October 8, 2011 by RB26powered74zcar Removed quoted images Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) The reason you use the key, which is really a dedicated socket, for those tuner lug nuts is that they are made very small so that you can fit the socket over them, inside the holes of the rim. Use some anti-seize, and proper torque, and you won't break the socket. Edited October 8, 2011 by cygnusx1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) I realize why they're small, I had Volks that would only fit tuner lugs. Those keys just wore out over time, that was back in my drifting days so they saw a lot of usage and I wasn't the only one having issues. I ended up just going with Titek's tuner lugs and never had a problem since they didn't use a key. Less hassle IMHO. Edited October 8, 2011 by LoneStarS30Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getoffmyinternet Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 Indeed. Even with my zx rims I couldn't get a proper impact socket on the lugs. Never broken a socket though, are you guys breaking them putting the lugs on or taking them off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 I had my problems taking them off, wether it was over torquing (insert Discount Tire techs) or just gradual usage, they all cracked or "bored" out so the teeth didn't grab anymore. There's other tuner lugs out there that are extended versions and use 6 sized sockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightRider Posted October 8, 2011 Author Share Posted October 8, 2011 Now that I'm paranoid of getting something that will either not fit or fail.. what should I get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 That's sort of up to you, the tuner lug nuts can be bought at Autozone for pretty cheap and they come with keys. The Muteki's use the same design. You can buy replacement keys from Discount Tire for somewhere between $10-$25, I don't remember the exact price. It's not like the key break straight away though, they just wear over time. I bought these Titek's since Muteki's keys weren't very good a being a key seeing how easy they were to get. Other than the key failures, the autozone one's work fine as lug nuts go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightRider Posted October 8, 2011 Author Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) I'm not worried about my wheels getting stolen, not in the part of town I live in at least. Nobody is going to do much with 4 lug over sized wheels anyway. The lugs nuts breaking is what I'm most worried about. That would SUCK. *or boring out. Edited October 8, 2011 by MidnightRider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) Ah I think you understood me wrong, the lug nuts themselves don't break or wear, it's the "key" that goes over them since you can't use a traditional 6 sided socket. Like so: Gorilla also makes tuner lug nuts using the same design, I don't know if those have issues with their keys though. Edited October 8, 2011 by LoneStarS30Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padam07 Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) That's badass, I'm jellin'. How did they fit under the flares? Suspension? Off topic but exactly what I want to run. My lugs looked identical to those only red. They're getting refunded and returned (if the seller even wants them, probably cost .50 to make). I haven't made a decision on new lug nuts yet. I'm afraid of what I'll get now, so still open to options. Maybe yours were higher quality? Mine were only $50 Yeha I only paid like $60. I am happy with them once i fixed the threads on my studs. I doubt they are any higher quality than yours. They weigh like an ounce each. Whats good about the rota rbr;s is that they were designed to fit a normal size socket and therefore not needing tuner lugs. About my car. I am happy with the flares. I wished the front wheels were a little more flush to the flare. The rears are awesome. I screwed up and orderd 245/45 tires for the fron thinking I can keep the same overall rolling diameter as the reas but I am having rubbing issues. I am going to be buying a new set of fronts 245/40. Turns out that 245/45-17 are the stock size for e36 m3 rear wheels so my buddy will be buying them off me for what I paid for them. I have a shitty coil over suspension in it that was already installed when I purchased the car. The pics that I have here are do not have the front coil overs adjusted properly. I will be lowering them about 2 inches to get the correct ride height. I may be lowering the rears just a tad also. these were taken immediatly after installing the rear flares. I still have to weld the inner fender wells to the out quarter panels. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics. Edited October 8, 2011 by padam07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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