bit of a complaint, i want your views

a couple months ago i bought some new coilovers. they were from ebay, unused but second hand.

they were fitted to the car but since they were fitted the rear of the car was too high, the rear arch being at least 30mm above the rear tyre

i contacted the manufacturer asking for the part numbers of the springs my set was meant to have. they couldnt tell me, the kit was discontinued and the specs were not available to hand.

after sending in some pics of the car looking odd im told to go see Elite in Essex, theyre one of their largest retailers.

Elite measure the ride height, i spoke to a Toureg driver who described it as "a bit on the high side", Elite checked it was fitted ok, it was, so no problems.

the results are, in their opinion

1) front too low
2) units wound all the way down
3) rear high is within "tolerance"


i say opinion because, to this day, despite being chased, they have not been able to provide spec sheets for this suspension set. they dont know the part numbers, they dont know the recommended heights or the amount of thread youre not meant to use.... but theyve decided my car is "ok" despite the ride being best described as bad and the ride height best described as stupid.

ive been speaking to a sales manager there. who can give me any advice on where to head next with this?

i dont want compensation, i dont want a new set, all i asked for was the part numbers for the springs. if its out of spec, then of course something will have to be done

this is doing my balls in. i dont want to shell out s on another set or even on shorter springs for the back until i know whether my kit is wrong or not

 

Sounds like a cop-out to me TBH.

It seems to me they are looking for an easy option, since they can`t/won`t provide the info you need.

They`re Eibachs, right? I can`t believe they can`t provide the necessary specs, discontinued or not...

 

I hope this serves as a lesson to you and buy something you have researched next time!

 

you have no idea, go troll somewhere else.

any ideas where i could get the spring part numbers for a particular kit? i got someone here to call the american tech line, they had no info about european kits

 

Hes well clued up, as hell show when he finally books the Donny track day............. eventually

 

how does that possibly mean he knows whats in the kit i have and what should be in there?

 

Troll, no, been around here for a long time, and know a little about the subject matter here.....

Ever heard of the expression "you reap what you sew"? In your case you bought a kit you didnt research, and I'm guessing got for a pretty good price in comparison to a retail price kit from a proper retail outlet. Try learning from the experience, or indeed from people who know what they are talking about - one thread you started comes to mind, and you werent very open to any suggestions on that if my memory serves

Edited for my lack of grammer and spelling!

 

Didnt say he had the answer to your questions, just that hes clued up in general. May be better if you let people in to the secret of what kit it is.

Do you need the springs testing? Think I have a name and number for a company who will test them to check rate etc

 

I've got a set of GAZ coilies for a Mk3 (an ebay bargain). I'm in Ireland at the minute, but from memory, the rear springs are 12" long and 170 lb. Fronts are 9" long and 250lb. I'll have to check the diameter to confirm if they'll fit yours.

If you want to compare them side by side with yours, or trial fit to compare, give me a shout by PM. I'm around at the weekend.

You could have the springs tested, but you might be as well just to buy some shorter ones. At the end of the day, if you got an ebay bargain, then you probably saved enough to pay for them.

If you didn't buy from Eibach, then they owe you nothing. The attitude could be better, but it really isn't their problem.


EDIT: The other thing that just struck me, is that Eibach tend to make proper performance kit. I imagine (and I'm guessing, but it fits their normal style) that they don't want to make wideboy coilovers that sit so low that your tyres rub and risk blowing out on the autobahn... If they've prevented from adjusting to a super-low ride height, maybe that's because they considered it unsafe?

 

the eibach main springs are a lot shorter as they have a tender spring to go with them

my rears are 40Nmm, which is 228LB rear springs

your gaz springs will be a different ID to mine too

228LB rear springs seems very high... hence i want to check part numbers,

 

Do they look like these ones then? Does the spring seat on a separate adjustable platform at the back? Looks like they used two different springs to give the same effect as a progressive rated spring?



New springs might still be the way forward, if you really want it to sit lower.

However, if you're more interested in handling than looks, then maybe try it for a bit.

 

Y'know, if you try to look for uprated springs that also leave your car with suspension travel it's impossible.....

 

with the car on the ground i have 120mm of travel at the rear (damper body to the spring top plate) the bump stop is only tiny.

i could easily get a spring thats 2" shorter and be done with it, GAZ have priced it up for me anyway. but i still just want to know what my kit should have come with but eibach are keeping schtum.

shuolda just bought the bloody gaz set that i always wanted anyway

 

So... in a whole thread about suspension, you still haven't mentioned whether the car handles any better.... How much rear suspension travel do you have with 5 people in the car? With the progressive rated spring I expect it will sit lower.

 

as for handling better, it is "ok" when youre pressing on. once youre making progress the car is quite unshakable

a few weekends ago, whilst out with some friends we had some toe down fun on a dual carriageway. on a long right hander there was a sequenc of slow bumps, after the final compression the front of the car came off the ground and moved a good 6 inches to the left.

wasnt even going that quickly (75mph and the road isnt that bad).

that was nothing to worry about according to eibach. the damping is pretty bad. ive seen the speedo flick at 100mph

 

Doesn't sound great then... is that on its softest damping setting? Are they adjustable on compression, rebound, or both? Normally it's just rebound.

 

with eibach prostreet coilovers theyre not damping adjustable. the blurb says they spent 10,000s track hours setting the damping and spring rates for you

 

Does the ebay seller know?

 

Why don't you just buy the gaz's and sell these ones back on the bay?

 

Sounds like you need to get rid, to be honest. They're not really what you want. Hope they were cheap