Hi

Had a rear spring break last week, so had a pair of genuine Skoda rear springs fitted a couple of days ago. Now the rear wheel arch is a fair bit higher from the tyre than it used to be. It looks a bit like the rear is jacked up. The distance from the wheel arch to the ground is 69cm, or just over 27 inches. I know new springs are meant to settle lower after a few miles, but it looks like they will have to settle a lot to look like they used to on my VRS. Yes I have gone back to the garage and the manager checked again with his supplier on the correct part number and it came back as correct sport springs for a VRS. He did also say if it still sits that high after a week or so, he will get another pair and change them. Any one else had this problem and will they usually settle a lot lower and look correct after a few miles?  Seeing as though there are a lot of very informative members on this forum, would anybody have the part number for rear springs, just to compare, as the garage have the part number of the ones fitted. Late 2011 VRS TSI hatchback. Thank's for any info.

The springs have coloured dots on them so you get the correct ones,have you got the old ones to compare against whats being fitted? it should not sit higher than it did before,maybe they have fitted non vrs model springs? 

6 minutes ago, mikey vrs said:

The springs have coloured dots on them so you get the correct ones,have you got the old ones to compare against whats being fitted? it should not sit higher than it did before,maybe they have fitted non vrs model springs? 

Hi mikey

The garage have probably thrown out the old ones and they were fairly rusty, so the colour code dots might not still show. I did say to the manager, "have you been sent Skoda Superb springs by mistake, but he did check with his supplier in front of me whether they were correct and a different guy at the other end of the phone confirmed the same part number as the ones sent and fitted. I might go down the garage now to see if they still have the old springs and have a look. Do you know for certain they from new should not sit too high initially?  

It's probably worth taking a look for the paint dots on the springs that are fitted to check what they are.

They may sit a little higher when first fitted but should not be too noticeable & soon settle to original height,if the car is way higher at the rear then you may have a issue,i recently replaced both rear springs on my dads jag x type as that had one broken spring,once i lowered it back on the ground it looked exactly the same as it did with the old springs on.You would think a skoda dealer supplying genuine springs would supply the correct ones though. 

Last year i looked at my rear springs during the service & the dots were easy enough to see at the top of the spring,my car was 8 years old at the time,i cant remember the colour codes as ive got rid of the car now. 

The other option is they are fitted incorrectly but as its easy to replace the rear springs on a octavia i doubt that may be the issue,but you never know! 

Hi again

Just been down to the garage, who are by the way, an excellent independent who I have dealt with for years. They have had the scrap collected, so no old springs to look at. He did say he tried looking at the old ones but they were too rusty to see the colour code. He totally agrees with me about the height and got back onto TPS who supplied them. They said again they are the correct ones, but we all know they are not. Maybe they have had a bad batch of springs incorrectly marked! As Ben the manager of the garage said after phoning them, they did have quite a few springs a few days ago, but they are now on back order. Maybe TPS have seen a problem and are replacing a whole job lot, I wonder!! Anyway, when the new batch of springs come in, Ben is going to replace them on the car. He even said when he looked at the car as he stood further back, it looks far higher than a standard Octavia at the rear. Thanks for all your comments guys, as usual an excellent forum when you have a problem.

It's worth remembering that springs sag over time, so even springs that haven't otherwise failed eventually need to be replaced due to this. It's quite possible that your car had sagged on the old springs and the new springs have restored its original ride height. It's noticeable to you because it's a sudden change, compared to the gradual decline as the old ones sagged. See if you can find someone else with the same model as yours to measure the wheelarch height so you can compare to yours right now.

11 minutes ago, chimaera said:

It's worth remembering that springs sag over time, so even springs that haven't otherwise failed eventually need to be replaced due to this. It's quite possible that your car had sagged on the old springs and the new springs have restored its original ride height. It's noticeable to you because it's a sudden change, compared to the gradual decline as the old ones sagged. See if you can find someone else with the same model as yours to measure the wheelarch height so you can compare to yours right now.

Hi chimaere

I  bought the car with only 30k miles and it now has 66k miles on the clock. Ever since I have owned the car it sits on the suspension at a certain height. So I am used to how it should look and as you know, as an owner you tend to look at other owners VRS cars as well. They sit the same as mine unless they have been lowered. If you could see my jacked up rear end, so to speak, you will see how daft it looks now. Bit like a drag car with the rear on massive tyres.   

Edited 6 April, 20179 yr by roaddetective

@roaddetective I did read the thread first, but you won't be the first person to have been supplied with "normal springs" for a vRS. The only way to be sure(ish) would be to compare arch gaps with a normal model and maybe another vRS.

What's the dot colour sequence on the springs that are now fitted?

 

Edit: apologies to langers2k who suggested this an hour ago.

Edited 6 April, 20179 yr by Wino

10 minutes ago, Wino said:

What's the dot colour sequence on the springs that are now fitted?

 

Edit: apologies to langers2k who suggested this an hour ago.

Can't easily see any dots with the springs fitted. They are wrong though. I was told the colour of the dots on the spring matched the chassis number, we just think they were marked wrong at the factory. I have just found a standard Octavia in Sainsburys car park and the space between the top of the tyre and the lip of the wheel arch is the same as mine. But as you know, my VRS has slightly lowered springs compared with a standard Octavia, so there should be less space between the two on mine. Anyway, new springs ordered and they should be arriving sometime next week. Will post an update when they are fitted.

Your local skoda garage or TPS  should be able to give you a print out of the suspension fitted to your car,  I got  

1 for mine a few years back when fitting springs, it shows the distance from top of the wheel arch to centre of the axle, mines not a vrs so no good for you, mine also sat high for a few days before settling.

17 hours ago, Cryonut said:

Your local skoda garage or TPS  should be able to give you a print out of the suspension fitted to your car,  I got  

1 for mine a few years back when fitting springs, it shows the distance from top of the wheel arch to centre of the axle, mines not a vrs so no good for you, mine also sat high for a few days before settling.

Oh 100% these are the wrong springs supplied by TPS. They have been on the car now for 3 days and in that time I have done 300 miles and they still sit as high as when they were fitted. If you looked at the back of my car you would also think my VRS looks really naff sat that high. 

Do you have a side on pic of your car so we can see?

from what your saying it sounds very noticeable. 

56 minutes ago, Redfab said:

Do you have a side on pic of your car so we can see?

from what your saying it sounds very noticeable. 

See what I mean, bloomin high. Looks like the wheel arch and the tyre have had an argument and want to keep their distance.

Looks kinda high.  Was thinking of a full side on pic of the whole car to compare with the front too to get an idea.

But yes that does look like a good size gap!

Will be interesting to see how the new springs from tps compare with those ones side by side off the car.

 

7 minutes ago, Redfab said:

Looks kinda high.  Was thinking of a full side on pic of the whole car to compare with the front too to get an idea.

But yes that does look like a good size gap!

Will be interesting to see how the new springs from tps compare with those ones side by side off the car.

 

Hi Redfab

The space at the front is at least a 3rd less. The space I have now is the same as the space on a standard Octavia, as I found one in a car park and asked the owner if I could measure it. He may at first, before I explained why, have thought I was a crazy man!!  There is another VRS that always parks just around the corner and when I look at the rear of his, it reminds me what mine looked like before these new springs were fitted. Hopefully when TPS get the back order of springs next week, they will be the correct ones.

If it helps I've just measured mine. 27 inches from ground to the wheel arch. and 3inches from top of the tyre to the wheelarch. 

I have an elegance. Standard suspension. Has brand new tyres on too so full tread. 

7 hours ago, Redfab said:

If it helps I've just measured mine. 27 inches from ground to the wheel arch. and 3 inches from top of the tyre to the wheelarch. 

I have an elegance. Standard suspension. Has brand new tyres on too so full tread. 

Hi Redfab

On the rear, 27.3 inch from floor to bottom of wheel arch. 3.5inch from the top of a good tread tyre to the bottom of the wheel arch. The front wheels have a gap that is correct, 2.3 inch from top of good tyre to bottom of wheel arch. The rear originally looked like the front until the new rear springs were fitted. As you can see by the rear figures, they are certainly not VRS original fitment lower sport springs. Should be all sorted in the next week though, assuming TPS send the correct springs this time! Thanks for those measurements mate.

So update. The garage have just received another new pair of rear springs from TPS, which are going to replace the first set of new springs that were fitted early last week, again from TPS which are clearly wrong. A  quick question to a knowledgeable member. When they take the incorrect springs off, which I believe are standard Octavia ones, if there is a difference in height between standard springs and VRS ones, they could once taken off, put the first set of springs side by side with the second new set just supplied. That way, if TPS have got it wrong again, the garage will know before fitting the second set. Does anyone know what the height measurement of a new VRS spring is. There should be a difference between standard and lower sport springs should there not.

Would it be easier to just ask someone with a similar age vRS to give you the colour dots on the springs to match up to the supplied part?  If they don't match it seems like a problem?  I'm not sure anyone will have a bench unloaded measurement for you?

 

I can get the dots of my springs but mine is an estate and I think slightly different ratings.

13 hours ago, roaddetective said:

So update. The garage have just received another new pair of rear springs from TPS, which are going to replace the first set of new springs that were fitted early last week, again from TPS which are clearly wrong. A  quick question to a knowledgeable member. When they take the incorrect springs off, which I believe are standard Octavia ones, if there is a difference in height between standard springs and VRS ones, they could once taken off, put the first set of springs side by side with the second new set just supplied. That way, if TPS have got it wrong again, the garage will know before fitting the second set. Does anyone know what the height measurement of a new VRS spring is. There should be a difference between standard and lower sport springs should there not.

If they already have the recently fitted incorrect springs off then you can put the old & new next to each other & id expect to see a slight difference in height/number of coils etc but to be fair its such a easy & quick job to replace the rear springs they may as well just fit the new ones & see how the car looks on the ground. I made a note of the coloured dots off my springs when i serviced mine but i cant find the info now,i suspect its gone with the car. 

My suggestion if you have time, get the new springs take along to Skoda main stealer and compare with genuine part for your car