Lowered or not lowered: this is the question

[Le_Combattant]

Hello all,

Sorry, I'm little bit on the rush because of the black friday.

I could have some nice reduction on Sachs shock absorber but I'm little bit confused about the spec of the rear ones.
Are they monotube or bitubes ?

For me, monotubes as the bitube are more for the "economy" line part supplying from VW. But not 100% sure.

From factory: 6C0513025AH
Sachs P/N: 84 4902 007 591

The funny thing is, I can't found anything related to the "84 4902 007 591". Nothing match.

o-05fd839fab51b305f0ee75552f12240c-volkswagen_polo_v_6r_rear_shock_absorber_damper.jpg (75.78 KiB) Viewed 10721 times

According to website, the "317 336" are the good ones (1JP PR codes) but I'm still not sure.

Thank you for you help !

[Le_Combattant]

Today was Christmas come early for the Polo

It started off with a bang as soon as it was delivered :funny:
The delivery driver called me to say he'd be there in two minutes: great.

*He had already delivered a parcel to me the day before and remembered my name*

I took the parcel without checking anything.
I opened it: an air fryer
I looked at the label, it was the right number but the ‘street name and surname’ wasn't right

Luckily, I had his number. He came back and we were able to exchange the parcels.

I'm definitely not angry with him. Having been a delivery driver a few years ago, I know that between street names and numbers, it's sometimes possible to get confused.

The famous springs ‘6Q0511115CL’:

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Living on a steep street and wanting to play it safe, I headed to the countryside to find a dirt road to replace all that.

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To replace it, the rear axle needs to reach a certain height to allow the springs to come out.
To do this, you will need:

-A wooden plate
-The emergency jack
-Some dodgy jack stands

And then you pray very hard that everything goes well. I was not confortable.
Once the rear end is up in the air, remove the screws securing the two rear shock absorbers and install a second jack under the rear axle to adjust its height.

Here are a few photos to compare the springs:

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After more than four years, the Eibachs looks super clean.

There is some slight rust on the lower part that is in contact with the lower plate support rear axle, but otherwise everything is fine.
Where I'm concerned is the height: to the naked eye, they look identical.

The two upper rubber bases showed no defects. A quick clean and reassembly.

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Cleaning the hubs (no trace of rust).
Where I messed up was with the nuts on the screw that secures the lower part of the shock absorber to the rear axle.
These are self lock nuts and therefore need to be replaced systematically after removal.

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I hadn't anticipated this, so I put a drop of blue Loctite on it.
In any case, I'll be back soon to work on the rear axle because...

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Yep, the bump stops are completely are completely shot.
They need to be replaced, as do the shock absorbers.

I'll take the opportunity to replace the metal base plates as well when I change the oil next Monday.
I brush them with a metalic brush but I would prefer a smooth/clean metal surface in contact with the brand new spring to avoid any paint damage and so: rust

I hope the 3 days job I will not cause too much damage to the paint...

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Now it's time to put the car back on its four wheels.

Horror!
The rear end won't come down, and it looks awful: higher than it was originally.
Finally, by releasing the handbrake and shifting out of first gear, the rear end settled down. Phew!

And here's the result:

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From Factory:

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With Eibach Kit:

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The result is somewhere in between. But I must admit that the look with the Eibachs was just perfect.
No idea if it will settle any further.

But I can already say that the rear suspension is much more comfortable. It feels like rediscovering the car.
On speed bumps, the rear end squashes down nicely and absorbs the impact. Whereas with the Eibachs... they just followed the curve.

Now I just need to find the right springs for the front axle, and I'll be good to go.

[RUM4MO]

I don't think that many people know that these aluminium lower "plates" exist, because salt is used on the roads frequently in winter, where I live in central Scotland, when I replaced the rear springs on my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI in Summer 2024 I think, at roughly 40,000miles, there was very little remaining of these plates, really just a narrow ring where it fits over the raised part of the lower mounting area, and a lot of white dust.

When I needed to replace the rear springs on my wife's previous 2002 9N VW Polo 1.4 when it was 10 years old and possibly 75,000miles, there was only small traces of white dust - no remaining aluminium - I replaced these plates on that one as well.

[Le_Combattant]

I don't think that many people know that these aluminium lower "plates" exist, because salt is used on the roads frequently in winter, where I live in central Scotland, when I replaced the rear springs on my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI in Summer 2024 I think, at roughly 40,000miles, there was very little remaining of these plates, really just a narrow ring where it fits over the raised part of the lower mounting area, and a lot of white dust.

When I needed to replace the rear springs on my wife's previous 2002 9N VW Polo 1.4 when it was 10 years old and possibly 75,000miles, there was only small traces of white dust - no remaining aluminium - I replaced these plates on that one as well.

Fortunately for me, we are not using so much salt in France...because winter are just no that cold.
And it's not as rainy as UK for exemple.

I mean, I have some spot of rust, normal for a 11 years old car with 200000 km. But compared to some UK polo with less mileage, some are just wreck.

But I brush them to make them more smooth. They looks okey but I don't want to f****d up my brand news spring (with rust) just because of 5 euros parts not been replaced.

EDIT: I checked all invoice, for the last suspension replacement and... I was wrong.
They are from factory....
So yeah, they need replacement

[ciclo]

I'll have to check those aluminum lower plates after winter.

I recently replaced the ABS speed sensors with the new model for testing purposes, and I took the opportunity to spray some copper grease (the only thing I had on hand at the time) on the contact area between the spring and the plate. My goal was to eliminate a squeaking noise that occurs when going over speed bumps at low speed in rainy/cold/humid weather conditions. Temporarily successful.
It's likely that the squeaking is indicating that these plates are completely worn out (97,000 km).

[Le_Combattant]

I'll have to check those aluminum lower plates after winter.

I recently replaced the ABS speed sensors with the new model for testing purposes, and I took the opportunity to spray some copper grease (the only thing I had on hand at the time) on the contact area between the spring and the plate. My goal was to eliminate a squeaking noise that occurs when going over speed bumps at low speed in rainy/cold/humid weather conditions. Temporarily successful.
It's likely that the squeaking is indicating that these plates are completely worn out (97,000 km).

As you, I will brush everything, put copper grease, and install back the springs.
Monday I have an oil change scheduled and as the car will be on lift, it will be much easier.

Now, still the question for the front spring.

Factory spring or the same as you (and Tinman)

I'm not 100% sure about the weight capacity.

If I relly on the weight sticker on the B pillar, mine has only 10kg more front axle capacity.

[ciclo]

The front suspension of my 6R R-line, despite its age, still feels perfect. My TSI is a four-cylinder (EA_111).

I don't think you'll notice a huge difference if you choose original R-line or GTI shocks/springs, they're listed as SPORT in ETKA.
What you will definitely notice, which I assume is your goal, is switching from Eibach springs to any original/factory part.

[Le_Combattant]

The front suspension of my 6R R-line, despite its age, still feels perfect. My TSI is a four-cylinder (EA_111).

I don't think you'll notice a huge difference if you choose original R-line or GTI shocks/springs, they're listed as SPORT in ETKA.
What you will definitely notice, which I assume is your goal, is switching from Eibach springs to any original/factory part.

The only thing I would like to avoid is a too high or too low (if I miss understand ETKA). Also, changing front spring is not as easy as rear spring where you just put the read of the car in air and remove them almost tool less
And also, money question.

So here is the table for the front suspension:

Capture d’écran 2025-12-20 154418.jpg (87.88 KiB) Viewed 10402 times

According to VW, G12/G70 are the PR code for the front suspension or, sport chassîs

Here is the ETKA page (with my VIN, nevermind):

Capture d’écran 2025-12-20 154757.jpg (75.89 KiB) Viewed 10402 times

As my "Factory is front axle" is G72/L39: (G72:621-650KG)
Stock suspension data:

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The -B spring is L38 (G72)

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The "-B" spring is only missing the G14 (PR code for higher chassis, Cross Polo I suppose)

I don't know if I can change the weight range like that without any issue (mine has a panoramic sunroof, engine 1.2 ea211 and manual gearbox).
For the rear for exemple, the weight range increase between 1JP to 1JS (from 1JP:443-462KG to 1JS:457-481KG)


Links:
Factory: https://catalog.polo.blue/6R0411105B/
-B (potential): https://catalog.polo.blue/6R0411105C/

[Le_Combattant]

So back to the rear suspension.

I took the opportunity of the oil change to replace the metal base plates.
And oh my....

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They were in pretty bad condition to be honest. I had to use a screw driver and a hammer to get them off.
I brush the base to make is smooth, put some copper grease, and installed the new one.

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Now for the spring:


So yeah, 350 km later, some damage to the paint have been made. I was disgusted.
On some spot, the paint is missing. So yeah, my rear spring we will wear out quite fast.

What a stupid idea I had to install them like that 3 days ago...370 euros for nothing.

[RUM4MO]

Well, when compared with my wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS 6MT, the condition of the rear road springs on your car are almost perfect - like new! The aluminium rings are also "just slighted corroded" when compared with the very small collar that was left on my wife's August 2015 Polo.

I would expect the quality of the paint on the genuine VW Group springs to be very good, when I replaced all 4 road springs on my wife's August 2015 Polo back in 2024, I only replaced them as they were slightly rusty and I wanted to avoid any of them breaking, I also chose what I think are good quality springs, Lesjofors, I still consider that they are made with good quality material, but after just over 1 year on the car, they are rusting quite a bit, so maybe they are good quality steel, but minimal amount of paint was applied to them - my error!

So, now that it is cold and we are in proper Winter, the best I can do is to apply Waxoyl to them - what a nuisance!

[ciclo]

There is a slight rubbing, nothing worrying! I don't think there is premature wear due to those minimal rubbings, will last for many years.
Thanks for the images.


Edit: I'll have to test Waxoyl. I'll buy a Spray.

[Le_Combattant]

There is a slight rubbing, nothing worrying! I don't think there is premature wear due to those minimal rubbings, will last for many years.
Thanks for the images.


Edit: I'll have to test Waxoyl. I'll buy a Spray.

I hope you are right. I hate spreading money like that and make something wrong.

You are welcome for the pictures

Waxoyl ? What kind of spray is it ?

Btw, I also put copper grease on the upper part of the metal so like that, the lower part of the spring is in contact with copper grease.
But I'm little bit worried about the fact it could act as a magnet.

What about the fact I can return the spring and put the "damaged" part on the top, on the rubber bushing ?

[Le_Combattant]

Since I have some free times, I tried something with Paint.

I'm not an expert, so the final result is...meh

As I had some pictures of my car with original factory springs and now, with the rear one replaced, and with the same angle of view.
I decided to creat kind of an hybride:

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The the back is with the new spring (sport's ones) and the front, taking years ago, with original front factory spring.

The distance between me and the car, when I took the pictures, were not the same, so I had to adjust.
The final result is not perfect, a little bit odd, but It gives a nice results, or at least, kind of an idea of what the car could looks like if I would go back to original spring for my VIN (6R0411105C, 347mm) instead of the 6R0411105B (330mm) you have guys.

The results looks, strange. I think with the front a little bit lower, the car would looks better non ?

By the way, @Tinman, your car is equiped with sunroof seems too ?

[Tinman]

Hi, My polo does have panoramic sunroof.

[Le_Combattant]

So, after few months, my rear axle is done...or maybe not.

Few months ago, I installed the rear spring.
Yesterday, I completed the setup with the shock absorber.

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The Sachs 317357 are slightly shorter than the B4.

BTW, the B4 were completely shot. Like an air pump.

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After a quick ride...it's quite firm. I was disapointed as I wanted to gain some comfort. Maybe I made a mistake by choosing the Sachs 317 357 (1JS) instead of the 317 336 (1JP).
Also, compared to the B4, they are monotube, instead of the rear B4 (bitubes).

Also, second point: the bump stop.

On the Polo, there is two model:

-6Q0512131B: 123mm
-6Q0512131C: 113.5mm

Of course, without any reflexion, I went for the -B (123mm) but those are made for the 1JP PR Code.
The -C is made for...yup, you have it, the 1JS Pr Code.

Here is the suspension, car level. Not so much travel...

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I don't know if it's the reason of the "poor" confort ar the rear. Also, my tires are 5 years old.

@Tinman

How is the confort of your Polo with the Sachs 357 at the rear ?