Products Alloy wheels Parent Rays Co., Ltd. Motto The concept is racing | Revenue ¥1,010,000,000 (2008) Founded 1973 Number of employees 231 (Sept. 2008) | |
 | ||
Industry Motorsport
Automotive engineering Key people Masumi Shiba (president) Website RaysWheels.co.jp
Rays International Headquarters Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan Profiles | ||
Rays Engineering Co., Ltd. (株式会社レイズエンジニアリング, Kabushiki-gaisha Reizu Enjiniaringu), a part of Rays Co., Ltd. is a high-end Japanese wheel manufacturer for both motorsport and street use, mostly notable for manufacturing Volk Racing flagship brand of wheels. It is a common misconception that "Volk Racing" is the parent company of Rays Engineering, purely as it is its most associated with brand name. Their wheels feature high-tech forging processes that are exclusive to Rays Engineering.
Contents
- Jem motorsports presents rays engineering company tour
- History
- Wheel Construction
- Forging
- Types of Forged Wheels
- Casting
- Types of Cast Wheels
- Product Lineup
- Exclusive Distributors Authorized Dealers
- References
They are the current wheel suppliers to winning factory race teams of Nissan, Honda, Toyota, and Mazda in racing series such as Super GT, Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC), British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), Formula Nippon, and Formula One.
Their Volk Racing wheels are popular with owners of sport compact and import cars on the race and show circuits.
Rays Engineering also manufactures wheels for car manufacturers' in-house tuning teams such as Nismo, Ralliart, STi, Mazdaspeed and Toyota Racing Development and also supply wheels to Williams Formula One team as well as the cars of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
Jem motorsports presents rays engineering company tour
History
RAYS Engineering Timeline:
Wheel Construction
Rays Engineering wheels are manufactured through two different processes: forging and casting. After each wheel is manufactured, the wheel goes through strenuous inspection before being packaged and shipped out. The following is a video showing each manufacturing process of a Rays Engineering wheel: Rays Engineering Manufacturing Process.
Forging
The forging process for a Rays Wheel consists of seven steps:
- Hot Forging - Takes a billet and creates metal lines through volume distribution with a hot press.
- RM Forging - Forging method exclusively developed Rays Engineering. Finishing of designed parts on the wheel is completed during this process.
- Cold Spinning - Width of wheel is constructed during this process with a high-speed spinning machine.
- Heat Treatment - Wheel is quickly heated then immediately cooled down with a solution to form a strong structure for the wheel.
- Machine Work - Special cutting device used to improve roundness of the wheel.
- Shot Blast - This process smooths the surface of the wheel to prepare of aesthetic finishing.
- Surface Finishing - Various chemicals are used to prevent corrosion and protect the surface of the wheel
Types of Forged Wheels
Casting
The casting process for a Rays Wheel consists of four steps:
- Fusion - Aluminum metal is heated up into molten liquid.
- Molten Metal Treating - Process of removing impurities from molten aluminum. Molten aluminum with no impurities are moved into a holding furnace.
- Casting - Molten aluminum is poured into a die to form the wheel.
- Machine Work - Various chemicals are used to prevent corrosion and protect the surface of the wheel