Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

[Ben J]

They would have snapped because the bolt tension on a spacer that isnt flush was causing the material to bend. Heat treated ali like that doesnt like to bend so it cracks instead.
As soon as it cracked you would have lost tension on the bolts as the bending was all that was holding them in.

Its all been said a million times every time someone has a problem but spacers are only dangerous when not used correctly. But then you could say that about any work you do on a car.

This is exactly what I meant. Might not have worded it properly, but these are my exact thoughts. When I bolted the spacers up they looked like they were sitting fine, but there must have been slight bending I didn't notice until it was much too late. The spacers I buy to replace these I will definitely check to make sure they are sitting just right. They won't be hub/wheel centric 10mm but either smaller than 10mm and not wheel centric so the wheels can sit on the original hubs, or a bit bigger, so they fit properly and have a decent amount of material to sit on, with enough space at the hub for them to sit properly.

[Guest001]

[. If spacers are tested and approved by dot or whatever in the states and are perfectly safe and legal to run over there, I can't see why they wouldn't be safe over here.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2[/QUOTE]

Just because another country says they are OK doesnt make them legal here.

You may find it ends up costing you a lot more than a "decent" set or a legal set of wheels if a cop picks up on them or you have an accident and have no insurance because they are fitted.

Guns are legal in the States but doesnt make it Ok to have them here.

As previously stated be sensible and dont use them.

[Ben J]

I get that they are illegal here, and I know all about police and defects (I just lost my license for 3 months from an accumulation of points from defects) and wasn't trying to say they would be legal here. My point is though, that those products obviously wouldn't be approved overseas in the first place if they weren't safe, and so realistically should be safe enough to use over here. I have considered the legal risks too but am not too worried. I don't have any insurance on my car at the moment (although I am about to get some third party) so if I'm in a crash I won't be getting any insurance money anyway.

I am going to need slight spacers up the front for my BBS RS to clear the brakes. It's either spacers of grinding down the brake calipers/carriers a bit (which some people do), but I decided small spacers would be safer than chopping up the brakes.

[Perun]

Spacers are bad, mkay...

Period.

Quality bolt-on spacers (aka hub adapters, such as the ones made by Eibach) can work well. People have used them on the track (drags, circuit) without problems but that still doesn't change the fact that they're not road legal. Still, it's a far safer option than having the weight of your car supported by 20 thin metal rods.

[MK4Golf]

what do you guys think of these?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=140822827248&globalID=EBAY-AU

[SchuMi2]

I get that they are illegal here, and I know all about police and defects (I just lost my license for 3 months from an accumulation of points from defects) and wasn't trying to say they would be legal here. My point is though, that those products obviously wouldn't be approved overseas in the first place if they weren't safe, and so realistically should be safe enough to use over here. I have considered the legal risks too but am not too worried. I don't have any insurance on my car at the moment (although I am about to get some third party) so if I'm in a crash I won't be getting any insurance money anyway.

I am going to need slight spacers up the front for my BBS RS to clear the brakes. It's either spacers of grinding down the brake calipers/carriers a bit (which some people do), but I decided small spacers would be safer than chopping up the brakes.

You might not be worried about your car or your safety...but please think about the effects you could have on others using illegal parts like this on your car which could do a lot of harm if you have a failure.

[Diesel_vert]

what do you guys think of these?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...obalID=EBAY-AU

I think they look nice. Would look great on the office table, but a bit expensive for a novelty gift though.

[MK4Golf]

Sigh...

[dylan8]

what do you guys think of these?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...obalID=EBAY-AU

Unless I missed it, no note of the material used. Wouldnt touch it.

As said above, anyone can make spacers. Just buy from a brand such as adaptec, H&R and so on.
Obviously didnt read what I wrote about the spacers that size, they are a bad idea in general (no matter who makes them) when going from a hub size to a wheel centric size of the same amount (57.1 to 57.1)

edit: Might draw a CAD drawing later to explain why

[Ben J]

I did except this thread would turn into this and am not going to continue arguing about it, but as I see it, like Tim said, good quality spacers are perfectly safe when used properly, and I have every intention to run spacers again when I buy new ones. The reason these broke is because they didn't fit properly, which I didn't even notice but obviously should have taken more care. Thousands of people run spacers and I have never heard of other severe failures like this caused by the spacer itself. While most of the modifications I have done to my car are technically illegal, I'm confident everything is perfectly safe, and my car is probably safer than the average car on the road owned by people who don't know the first thing about cars, let alone proper maintenance etc. The amount of cars I see on the road with bald tyres etc is ridiculous. These sort of people, along with those who are just dangerous drivers in general (people who don't know how to indicate etc.) are the people you really need to worry about. If I didn't think my car was safe I wouldn't take it on the road and wouldn't risk the lives of my girlfriend, friends and family by taking them as passengers.

MK4 I'm not sure about those spacers, maybe google the brand or have a look on the vortex to see what people say about them. They look alright but I'd do further research before buying them.

[MK4Golf]

Says they are made of Alloy...I need spacers to move my wheels away from the coilovers

[Perun]

I did except this thread would turn into this and am not going to continue arguing about it, but as I see it, like Tim said, good quality spacers are perfectly safe when used properly, and I have every intention to run spacers again when I buy new ones. The reason these broke is because they didn't fit properly, which I didn't even notice but obviously should have taken more care. Thousands of people run spacers and I have never heard of other severe failures like this caused by the spacer itself. While most of the modifications I have done to my car are technically illegal, I'm confident everything is perfectly safe, and my car is probably safer than the average car on the road owned by people who don't know the first thing about cars, let alone proper maintenance etc. The amount of cars I see on the road with bald tyres etc is ridiculous. These sort of people, along with those who are just dangerous drivers in general (people who don't know how to indicate etc.) are the people you really need to worry about. If I didn't think my car was safe I wouldn't take it on the road and wouldn't risk the lives of my girlfriend, friends and family by taking them as passengers.

MK4 I'm not sure about those spacers, maybe google the brand or have a look on the vortex to see what people say about them. They look alright but I'd do further research before buying them.

Just... wow...

I am so glad you live in Qld.

[ffoff]

Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

Oh get your head out of your ass. He wants to run spacers, he can run spacers. It's not really any of your business what he does.

[nightphotographer]

Looks like it's weekly 'lets argue over spacers/adapters' time again.

Certainly keeps me entertained on a quiet day

[Ben J]

Just... wow...

I am so glad you live in Qld.

Becuase I'm obviously the only person in Australia running spacers. Bet there aren't a single set on a car in NSW... hahaha.

If spacers were the most dangerous thing on the road, the roads would be a much safer place.

Yes I'll be running spacers, I'll also be running redrilled wheels with incredibly stretched tyres and my car is also on airbags. If you have a problem with that, then good for you. I couldn't care less.

Must agree with nighphotographer though, these sort of comments are quite entertaining.