Not a great day today..

Only got new JOM coilovers fitted over the Xmas. There had been a knocking noise over the speed bump even at 5-10mph but I was thinking it could be the Top Mounts. I rang the fitter and booked her into get it checked.

Since the time i rang my engine management light came on so I haven't drove the car for the last 3 weeks, only trips have been up and down to the local shops as I need to get time off work to get the car to Dublin to get her looked at.

Anyway, went for a spin to Lidl this evening and could hear a rattle coming from the front, I put down the windows and started to listen.

I was thinking it was the loose exhaust or something, turned back and drove to the house and just as I turned into the drive way I could hear it getting worse.

Parked the car up and all looked fine. I got a torch out to look under the car, when to my horror I could see something had snapped.

after more looking, it was a bracket off the shock that looks to had snapped off.

i'm no mechanic so i'm not aware of the name of the item but it looks like a metal rod that connects to the shock.

any of you guys seen this happen before or know the name of the part that has snapped. just need it to ring the chap tomorrow.

pictures aren't great as it was dark out..

i'm gutted now I changed them in the first place, I should have let them OEM shocks with just lower springs.

Sorry but JOM are fairly cheap coilovers, even so this shouldn't have happened. That bracket, what does it hold?

Trying to work out what it is...

Should be under warranty still.

Very nasty. That's the ARB (antiroll bar) droplink bracket by the looks of it. Great amount of force has been applied there - it looks to me like the droplink has actually bent slightly and the bracket then torn off. I suspect a fitting error, rather than a fault with the parts.

PS - do not drive the car any distance in this condition. If you must move it, then drive it VERY SLOWLY. Not sure entirely what is going on there, and what is happening to the other side. Better if your fitter can come out to you and take a look.

Edited 15 March, 201115 yr by EGC

that's interesting as I also got front and rear ARB fitted also by the same guy.

on the test run with him, he did hear the slight knocking. to me it felt like the shocks we just slotting into place.

he said he may have to look at the mounts but was happy to say the fitting was done. he told me to book it in for a check up.

as you say even if they are cheap, they should last longer than 2 months, they have only done about 300 miles since then as I only use the vRS on the weekends.

my wife just pointed out to be there after reviewing the pictures, it looks like a lot of rust has formed inside the shock itself.

you'd wonder was it corroding away for a while before it finally snapped, looks to have rust on the shock and the bracket.

just took a picture of the Skoda standard shock, you can see the bracket is a lot better design..

thanks for you notes so far.

PS - do not drive the car any distance in this condition. If you must move it, then drive it VERY SLOWLY. Not sure entirely what is going on there, and what is happening to the other side. Better if your fitter can come out to you and take a look.

Thanks for you notes there. for defo, I'm going to have to call a local mechanic to replace the front two shocks with my old ones.

i've lost confidence with these coilovers now so i see what the company that sold and fitted them for me says.

that's interesting as I also got front and rear ARB fitted also by the same guy.

on the test run with him, he did hear the slight knocking. to me it felt like the shocks we just slotting into place.

he said he may have to look at the mounts but was happy to say the fitting was done. he told me to book it in for a check up.

as you say even if they are cheap, they should last longer than 2 months, they have only done about 300 miles since then as I only use the vRS on the weekends.

my wife just pointed out to be there after reviewing the pictures, it looks like a lot of rust has formed inside the shock itself.

you'd wonder was it corroding away for a while before it finally snapped, looks to have rust on the shock and the bracket.

The design of this unit appears to be a shock absorber mounted inside the tube which goes into the hub mount and holds the spring seat. Some rust has formed inside the tube, but that is not the cause of the failure. Judging by your photo (its not entirely clear) the ARB drop link has actually bent. This would require a huge amount of force, so its not surprising that the bracket finally broke away. I suspect that either the bracket is incorrectly located on the coilover unit (not high far enough up) or there was some kind of installation error that caused the ARB to 'bottom out' and so you had the weight of the car on the droplink, bending it and eventually breaking the bracket. Either way, it will require the coilover units to be removed...

NO disrespect, but you have just fitted some cheap nasty coilovers to what is a very well built and heavy car. :S :S

Buy nice or pay twice, or dont bother buying at all

NO disrespect, but you have just fitted some cheap nasty coilovers to what is a very well built and heavy car. :S :S

Buy nice or pay twice, or dont bother buying at all

I've learned my lesson alright, I'm wouldn't have known at the time of buying that they're were of poor quality. it's a pity as I could have paid more for better ones.

I'll see what the supplier and fitter says as he may do me a replacment deal for all the hassle I've had with them.

thanks to you all for your comment, this has really helped me due to my lack of knowledge. that's what i love about Briskoda. everybody wants to help you...

gutted for you mucker keep us posted with the outcome I hope the fitter sorts you out properly for the bother. Good Luck!

Quick update, i wrote to the fitter today, he got some shock when I showed him these pictures and explained the damage.

he put up his hand and said he's going to replace the set for me, I'm thinking as i've lost my faith in JOM i might just spend the extra and get a proper setup with maybe a discount from him for all the hassle I've got with this set.

any good ones out there recommended for the MK2 vRS Combi TFSI edition?

Have a look at bilstein as they have always been good for me on other cars. I know they are not coilovers but are you really going to adjust them?

Weitec seem to come up a lot on this forum, I think they are reasonably priced aswell.

thanks lads.

AP coilovers, weitec coilovers are good value, and built at the same place as KW in germany so you know they have buld quality

Blimey, not good. Decent resolution from the garage though, to be fair.

Yes, take this opportunity to get something else fitted. If I wanted coilovers, I'd go for Weitec I think, based on build quality and user reviews.