Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

[nightphotographer]

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

+1

I just don't get why there's so much hate around this subject - we all own VW's can't we just get along?

[gareth_oau]

I found out recently that spacers up to 12.5mm are legal in WA.

I find car rules and regulators very frsutrating somethimes - the logic that seems to be applied is "some spacers are dangerous - lets make them all illegal!!"

If Porsch can supply them as OEM and these are legal - that just proves the rule itslef is not correct.

Using the logic, some tyres are illegal on my car - the rules states i must purchase tyres that are legal - but why doesnt it just make all tyres apart from OEM illegal?

[Bflat]

*grabs popcorn and awaits the mods intervention*

[dylan8]

I found out recently that spacers up to 12.5mm are legal in WA.

I find car rules and regulators very frsutrating somethimes - the logic that seems to be applied is "some spacers are dangerous - lets make them all illegal!!"

If Porsch can supply them as OEM and these are legal - that just proves the rule itslef is not correct.

Using the logic, some tyres are illegal on my car - the rules states i must purchase tyres that are legal - but why doesnt it just make all tyres apart from OEM illegal?

interesting! is that 12.5mm each side? or 12.5mm over all track (half each side...)

[Ben J]

Very interesting. Wonder if there are many other things which may be legal over there which aren't here? Seems like QLD, VIC and NSW are all pretty similar. Maybe as a group of car enthusiasts we should all move over to WA

Back on topic of the spacer which actually broke, I pulled the wheels off and had a good look today, the spacer which broke dug into the wheel creating a small crack which is leaking. Not sure if I'll replace the wheel or get it fixed yet, going to take it to a wheel repairer in the next couple of days who'll check it's still straight etc and get a quote. Pulled the other spacer off too, it hadn't craked yet, although if you look at it closely you can see stress lines right down the middle, so doesn't look like it was far off following the other side. Ebay sellers name was "optionselects" so I would suggest staying well clear of them for anyone looking at spacers. It's true what they say, you get what you pay for.

[MK4Golf]

how much you pay and what were they made of dude?

[Ben J]

Spacers were like $35 + postage. Description says theyre made out of billet 6061-T6 Aluminium but I very much doubt they actually are

[Diesel_vert]

I find car rules and regulators very frustrating sometimes - the logic that seems to be applied is "some spacers are dangerous - lets make them all illegal!!"

If Porsche can supply them as OEM and these are legal - that just proves the rule itself is not correct.

Wheel spacers aren't actually illegal per se, nor is fitting them onto motor vehicles. The authorities would come door knocking with arrest warrants in hand, if they were!

However, depending on the regulations in your state, fitting them onto vehicles that are to be used on public roads may render the car unroadworthy, which is what's relevant to us.

Using the logic, some tyres are illegal on my car - the rules states i must purchase tyres that are legal - but why doesn't it just make all tyres apart from OEM illegal?

Unlike brakes, wheels, tyres, etc. that undergo certification processes derived from UNECE vehicle regulations (or self-certification in the case of U.S. Department of Transport regulations), there is no major regulatory body specifically covering the use of wheel spacers - only that whatever component the vehicle manufacturer chooses to fit to their car, must not constitute a safety hazard or create any danger (or something to that effect).

For the rest of the industry, it's basically a free-for-all.

So you have OEM spacers from Porsche at the top of chain, down to $19.99 specials on fleabay (which people actually buy), and everything in between.

And that is probably why the regulations here just said "no" to the lot of them - except for OEM wheel spacers.


Personally, I hold the TÜV (Germany's most famous certification body) in very high regard, so anything with their stamp of approval on it I would use with confidence.

[noone]

To fuel the debate, what about spigot rings?

These similarly adapt different wheel's center bore diameters to the hub size. I had no idea these existed until I had bought a set of used rims and found one had a broken bit of plastic in the hub mounting area...

Personally, I think that spacers should be used wisely, as should anything that relates to suspension, wheels, tryres, braking. There are many people out there who would tut and frown at lowering a road car for performance or looks, some cars run crazy camber, oversized rims, practically no tyre or no suspension travel. We are a forum containing many members who enjoy this field, its good to be discussed.

Who is right? No one (no, not me), but I hear a lot more about deaths and accidents from drink driving than stupid mods or bad suspension components. not to say that any death / injury from something like this would be acceptable, etc...

[Diesel_vert]

Personally, I think that spacers should be used wisely, as should anything that relates to suspension, wheels, tryres, braking. There are many people out there who would tut and frown at lowering a road car for performance or looks, some cars run crazy camber, oversized rims, practically no tyre or no suspension travel. We are a forum containing many members who enjoy this field, its good to be discussed.

Personally, I only tell people what the rules are, and leave it up to them whether they follow them or not.

As far as I'm concerned, I am not the law, nor do I administer the law, so I don't.

Also, this forum or myself is not responsible for anything anyone else does in relation to anything.

[Ben J]

I think Australia should have some sort of equivalent to TUV when it comes to parts like these, or at least make it legal to use things that are approved by these bodies. The fact that any spacer, no matter if they are approved by various over seas bodies (which obviously wouldn't approve them if they weren't safe) makes it so much more tempting for people like myself (and many others on the forum, and in the car scene in general) to just buy the cheap parts as the expensive ones are still illegal anyway. If there were spacers which were legal to run over here, I think almost everyone would choose them over the ebay junk without much thought.

The fact that you can spend hundreds on quality parts which will get you in as much trouble with the police as the ones you can get for next to nothing makes it so tempting to just buy the cheaper ones. I've learnt the hard way and won't be using them again, but that was basically my reasoning behind getting them in the first place, and I'm sure a lot of peoples minds work just like mine. Luckily the spacers were the first and last cheap thing I've put on my car related to suspension/wheels/etc

[Diesel_vert]

I think Australia should have some sort of equivalent to TUV when it comes to parts like these, or at least make it legal to use things that are approved by these bodies.

I trust the TÜV because unlike some certification bodies, you can't gain their approval via self-certification, AFAIK.

Though given complexities of adopting a foreign certification body, I wouldn't expect anything anytime soon, especially given the size of our market.

The fact that any spacer, no matter if they are approved by various over seas bodies (which obviously wouldn't approve them if they weren't safe) makes it so much more tempting for people like myself (and many others on the forum, and in the car scene in general) to just buy the cheap parts as the expensive ones are still illegal anyway. If there were spacers which were legal to run over here, I think almost everyone would choose them over the ebay junk without much thought.

The fact that you can spend hundreds on quality parts which will get you in as much trouble with the police as the ones you can get for next to nothing makes it so tempting to just buy the cheaper ones.

I'm not sure I'm liking your train of thought here.

Just because a certain component is not allowed to used on public roads doesn't mean you should lower your vehicle's safety standards or reduce your duty of care.

I've learnt the hard way...
Luckily the spacers were the first and last cheap thing I've put on my car related to suspension/wheels/etc

I hope so.

[Ben J]

In hindsight it wasn't a very clever thing to do. I didn't figure much could go wrong with a pretty simple piece of metal, and it said it was made of quality 6061-T6 billet Aluminium and so in theory it shouldn't have been much different to the big brand name spacers. Is there an easy way to see what sort of grade of Aluminium it is short of putting it in a tensile testing machine? It doesn't seem like it is made out of what they claim it was. At the time it didn't make sence to spend a lot more money for what seemed to be the same product with a fancy brand name.

Clearly though, despite whatever bull**** the ebay sellers put in the description about their cheap spacers, not all spacers are created equal. This is the message I want to get out there with this thread.

[gecko2k]

Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

Even though I wouldn't suggest anyone to run spacers, buy some with TüV, but please not from eBay, second hand or unknown shops.

The TüV seal of approval gets pirated a lot, which is a well known issue. So be careful when buying your next load of TÜV approved spacers in china...

I generally trust their judgement in terms of safety (read: fun police), hell....those guys don't even let you have more then 250hp in a MK1 no matter how strong your chassis is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Diesel_vert]

Is there an easy way to see what sort of grade of Aluminium it is short of putting it in a tensile testing machine? It doesn't seem like it is made out of what they claim it was.

And therein lies the problem.

Short of ordering two pairs and testing one of them to destruction (assuming one even has access to or can afford to pay for a testing facility, which is unlikely), all you have to go on is their word, or their photos, or their flashy website, or marketing campaign, or word of mouth, etc.

Same goes with a lot of aftermarket products out there.

I'm not going to say, "don't buy anything from eBay", but know what you're getting yourself into before buying.