askered

Spacers were installed by Hartmann Wheels/Achtuning and they provided new longer bolts for both the front and rear. I believe the bolts were 45mm on the front and 58mm on the rear. Cost was maybe $10.

By wheel bearings I'm assuming you're refering to the CV joints? OK, I'll bite... How and why might a 23mm spacer have a negative impact on the rear CV joints?

Had the car aligned 30 days ago as part of CPO process. Shall I assume that you are trying to tell me that all that work went out the window when they pulled everything apart to install the springs?

Please provide the answers to your questions so everyone else on this string can benefit.

askered

Ok, now that it's been a few days I do have one small disappointment with these mods. The stance on the rear tires appears a little "knock-knee'd" with the overall angle of the wheels tilting inwards fat the top. It kind of reminds me of an old VW bug rear stance only not as dramatic.

Questions - Is this a result of the newer/shorter springs over original shock, the 23mm spacers, or a combination of both mods together? If I went down to a 14mm spacer on the rear would it correct some of this inward lean? I don't remember seeing much of this inward tilt on the wheels and tires with the OEM set-up, but I clearly see it now on both the front and rears, and the rear is more prominent.

Icon - You seem to know a lot. Thoughts here?

1Hondalover

Any increased leverage (moving the wheels away from the hubs) will induce additional load to the rotating assembly (CV's, bearings, etc.). I was about to ask if you had the car realigned following your mods, but if they were after your alignment 30 days ago I'd say you are way out of whack.

The VW swingaxle look you see is called Negative Camber. It could easily be a result of the 23mm spacers and the leverage placed on the suspension. I'd be really surprised if the shop that installed your parts didn't demand the car be aligned last.....though I'm not sure if this can be done properly by anyone but the dealer. Our Q was just aligned for $375 at our dealer, adjusting and/or syncing the sensors and rear view system that go with it.

iconoclast

when lowering a car you should always get an alignment or else you will wear out tires unevenly and quickly. now that you put spacers and lowered with springs your stance is completely different and you should definitely look into an alignment.

as far as the bearing issue goes, there is an odd coincidence with audi wheel bearings and spacers. it appears that the larger the spacer the more stress it adds to the wheel bearing and forces them to wear out prematurely.

if click here you will see many results for wheel bearing failure + spacers:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...&aqi=&aql=&oq=

you have lowered the car and added one inch spacers, it has changed the geometry of the suspension and it is reflected in the stance. you need an alignment to adjust the negative camber or else you're going wear out the inside tread of your wheels and your car will handle poorly because of this along with poor mpg and a few other things.





alignment and lowering 101:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5526674_ve...alignment.html

askered

So is going with a 23mm basically a bad idea? I now have an appt with the dealer for front and rear alignment tomorrow, and I'm considering going down to a 14mm on the rear today.

srb_03

I had to buy new longer bolts, 55 mm length for the rear and 47mm for the front, After installing everything, it looks beautiful, 14 mm on the front is perfect, anything more would be too much, 23 mm in the rear is exact fit. Didnt have any issues, car drives straight, no wheel alignment necesary. If you are buying, make sure it's H&R...

I will post up some pics when I have time to take them.

iconoclast

when i had the 20" oem wheels 14mm were perfect and worked great with the extended bolts. h&r hubcentric is the only way to go. anything else is junk.

askered

I agree that visually, 14mm on front and 23mm on rear fit with the OEM 20 x 9 et 60 wheels perfectly. My concern is that I don't want to prematurely damage the rear CVs, especially since I'm running the H&R sport springs as well. I definitely need a 4 wheel alignment as my eye sees a lot of negative camber on front and rears. Will likely jump down to 14mm Spacers on rear before alignment is complete. It won't look as good, but it will look much better than the OEM setup, and I'll probably sleep better at night knowing that I'm not wrenching on the rear CVs. Will post follow up picks of new Spacers and corrected alignment next week.

iconoclast

in the future, if you're going to use a 23mm spacer or more switch to studs instead of wheel bolts. anything over 15/18mm should be studs and not wheel bolts. imo.

askered

Well, the alignment definitely changed a lot. It removed about 1.5 degrees of negative camber on on all the wheels and (for whatever reason) ended up changing the stance to the point where now I need the 18mm spacer on the front. Originally, the 23mm rear and 14 mm front were perfect in terms of visual appearance/stance, but now I believe that with the OEM 20s (et 44) the 23mm rear and 18mm front the front and rear stance will be more balanced.