Hi - I'm new here but what a fantastic forum - kudos to all involved!

SUMMARY: 53 Reg VRs Mk1 Estate - no mods

PROBLEM: Front bumper now riding even lower than normal (only slightly though - still > 645mm). I know it's quite low and many a valance/under engine cover has met a rough end but lately I've been scraping speed bumps I'd never touched before on my daily school run.

RECENT WORK: About a month ago, the TOP Strut mount bearings were replaced - the original bearing had seized - the new bearing kit (race and rubber bung to hold it) was not OEM. All seemed fine initially, but in the past few weeks, the front end has "seemed" lower while driving and this has been confirmed through the front now skimming off previously "safe" speed bumps. SWMBO has also confirmed this so I know I'm not imagining it

The work was carried out by a colleague who has done all my cars in the past without problem - so I've no doubts as to the quality of the job.

I realise that the ride height is controlled by the spring itself but I can't see how both springs have gone "softer" within the space of a month. My suspicion is that although both original and new bungs were identical in terms of height, the replacement may not be of the same compound (softer) thus allowing more play by settling in the past few weeks. As far as I know all other bushs have been retained.

Has anybody got any ideas/expert opinion please? Thanks in advance!

I have checked the other ride height/suspension topics but none seem to deal with this specifically:

- http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/88743-octavia-vrs-ride-height/

- http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/152793-ride-height-on-mk1-vrs/

- http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/153171-ride-height-of-octavia-vrs-mk-1/

I've also checked the parts diagram from http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/134489-strut-shock-replacementrebuild-information/.

I got back the original bungs and seized bearing races. As far as I can tell from the diagram it's looks like parts 7 & 8.

PS: Although I'd love to, I don't have the money to go down the coilover route - hopefully it's not the springs!?

well a quick thought could be a broken spring, measure the arch gap on each side to see if they are the same, get it up on ramps to check for damage to a spring, its quite common on cars with our age

If you are even its less likely, but worth checking none the less.

Also as you say if its a different compound it may have compressed more than the old ones, most top mounts i have done (have done quite a few) all look/feel the same whether oe or not, however it is a possibility.

I would opt for broken springs first :-)

You should be able to tell if it's collapsed top mounts, as the gap between the top of the strut and the bodywork (under the bonnet) will be huge! There should be a gap there anyway, maybe ariound 8mm or so.

Take a look at the front valance.

It is very common for these to get bent down when reversing, when it has gone over a kerb when parking.

Probably just the springs have relaxed. Maybe caused by over-compressing them when doing the strut mounts. Or the mounts are a bit squidgy. Not much else it can be.

Has your bumper got the two central screws holding it up underneath? Mine never had them from the factory, but I've recently put them in since the holes are there, and it stops the bumper dragging slightly. It also seems to stiffen the whole bumper up a bit.

Has your bumper got the two central screws holding it up underneath? Mine never had them from the factory, but I've recently put them in since the holes are there, and it stops the bumper dragging slightly. It also seems to stiffen the whole bumper up a bit.

I stuck one screw though the middle of my bumper on my diesel to lift the bumper up a bit, as I kept catching mine when I went to check on the horses, etc.