Opinions on eibach pro spacers 5 mm ??????

Jeff GTi · Post by **Jeff GTi** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:38 am

hi i am toying with the idea of spacing out my standard gti monzas with some eibach pro spacers only 5 mm each corner, but would give it a little better girth and a much more squat stance i feel

has anyone or does anyone use these or have experience with them

they are machined to the 57.1 centre bore of the hubs 5x100 and are tuv approved

they are only Â£37 a pair and obviously will need 2 pairs but providing its safe, could be a neat and cheap little chassis mod

iv never been a spacers fan but im looking for honest useful feedback on them here

as its only a small amount will my standard wheel nuts be long enough too, im assuming they will be?

anyone anything constructive that may help me here?

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:33 am

Coming from a line of Ibizas (amongst other stuff) I have had a bit of experience with spacers. Ibizas really NEED spacers on standard wheels as the rears a really hidden in the arch on all Ibiza models from 1994 to date! I've got some universal ones in my garage now and they really are quite thin. But even so they would make the standard bolts struggle to get a good purchase on the hub as the bolts are quite short.
To be perfectly honest 5mm spacers will make no obvious difference visually considering their not insubstantial cost.
I would recommend you spend a wee bit more and go for 10mm hubcentric spacers and longer bolts. Then again you 'might' get clearance problems again, but I find it less likely as the wheels are quite skinny. What ET are the standard 16s BTW?

Jeff GTi · Post by **Jeff GTi** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:01 am

standard offset is et 38, so 5 mm out making them an et 33 then which i think would be fine

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 5:33 pm

I still don't think 5mm is going to be enough, we'll (wheel?!!) call is quits at 8mm!!! Just so long as you can get 8mm hub-centrics.

If I've got time I'll try one of my 5mm spacers on my car a bit later to see if there's a noticable difference.

Just keep in mind that the hub's spigot isn't all that long and nor are the bolts, so you won't get all that much purchase on the wheel with 5mm spacers on standard bolts. You're running a lot of torque and your front wheels need to stay attached!

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:30 pm

Update: Tried to take a wheel off tonight to trial fit spacer & failed. Bloody standard jack kept slipping off the sill lip and the car kept dropping. Dangerous design or what? Can't be right surely. Big patch of wax now missing off underside of car. Grrrrrr! So much for me fitting some different wheels to the car at the weekend.
Is there a knack for positioning the jack? If not I'm going to have to approach VW about this and they can cough up to repair my sill!!!

(I tried a rear wheel BTW, will try a front at the weekend weather permitting, as the sill looks a bit better shape....)

Jeff GTi · Post by **Jeff GTi** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:54 pm

my standard vw jack also failed on me so now i keep a trolley jack in the boot

iv decided against the spacers as they dont sound safe, so ill just like with it how it is haha

daa709 · Post by **daa709** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:57 am

dont put it on the sill!! there's no support for the car there, put it on the solid black underside of the car just behind the sill and have it around 10-15cm away from front wheels, and 15-20 from rear wheels.

have a look in the manual just to make sure

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:58 am

Hmmm, are you sure? I'll look in the handbook, but normally the jack sits over the sill using the u shaped bit of the jack, then the flat bit of the jack rests on the reinforced part of the floorpan just behind the sill. On the Polo the u shaped bit pings off just as the wheel starts to leave the ground.

KennyPOLO_Gti · Post by **KennyPOLO_Gti** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:31 pm

I also never put it on the sill, I put it in the same spot as daa. Anytime i get my tyres changed the bloke always puts it on this spot and not the sill.

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:56 pm

I have duly checked handbook and have confirmed that I was doing it right in the first place! So it's a poor design on VWs part!!!

I never put anything load supporting under the floorpan. The sill part is reinforced but the floorpan isn't and Polo's are heavy cars.

dino · Post by **dino** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:37 pm

Jeff GTi wrote:iv decided against the spacers as they dont sound safe, so ill just like with it how it is haha

They clearly are safe as long as you make sure the bolts have sufficient bite on the hub, otherwise god knows how many cars are driving around on unsafe spacers!!??

BeezerDiesel wrote:I have duly checked handbook and have confirmed that I was doing it right in the first place! So it's a poor design on VWs part!!!

I never put anything load supporting under the floorpan. The sill part is reinforced but the floorpan isn't and Polo's are heavy cars.

No, it's not a poor design fault, it's yours for not checking where your car's jacking point is. I'm pretty sure its the same as the 9n and there is a notch that the jack slots onto so you know it's on the right place. They wouldn't put it there if it wasn't safe.....seriously would they???

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:47 pm

Okay Dino, go back and read my posts properly. I've checked the hand book, I've checked under the car and I have been driving and modifying VWs for over 20 years. I work with vans and trucks and I know a bad design when I see it!!!

dino · Post by **dino** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:21 pm

Yes i'm fully aware you checked the hand book after trying to jack the car up on the sill and slipping and taking a chunk of wax off the underneathe.....

You should be working with VW designing the car's as you clearly know a better way than they do.

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:03 pm

Yes I checked the hand book after I had examined the sill, carefully checked where VW had put the 'direction' arrows, climbed under the car so make sure the correct bracing was there on the sill where the arrow pointed to just to make sure etc etc etc.
And guess what, the jack is the same as in my 15 year old Polo and the same as in the 3 year old Golf I had just sold (after taking the wheels off quite easily using the standard jack, and replacing the standard items), and the hand book stated exactly the same procedure as the other 20 or so Volkswagens/SEATs/Skodas I've owned. Where the problem lies is that on the rear wheel jacking points the sill is an inverted L shape and the jack has the usual U shape. Once the jack reaches the critical point it loses grip on the L shaped bit and the car drops as the jack slips back onto the crossmember behind. A really safe design I'm sure.
Perhaps if you're not busy at the weekend you could drop by and give me the benefit of your expertise and sarcasm first hand?

gti-joe · Post by **gti-joe** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:43 pm

The nickname for VW's jack is the widow maker. There was a thread on Vortex about some place selling t-shirts with a picture of the VW jack with the legend WIDOW MAKER printed underneath.

Like Jeff I never use the standard jack,there poop, I carry a trolley jack in the boot.