Installed new Panzer plate, but now I....

scrape everytime I enter my driveway, and then again when i enter the garage.
I think it's because drops down right away, where the original plastic crap was a slow angle down, it's only scraped a couple times coming into my garage with the old plastic one, and that was only hanging by three screws and a zip tie.

Any ideas of what to do?
2003 Jetta. 80850 miles.

Thanks

Most likely the extra weight caused your car to ride lower.

Especially common on older suspensions. You could put a stiffer suspension in or raise it slightly...

puter said:

Most likely the extra weight caused your car to ride lower.

Especially common on older suspensions. You could put a stiffer suspension in or raise it slightly...

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Oh come on, it isn't that heavy. You may need new springs though and it does hang slightly lower.

Enter your driveway at a more aggressive angle.

hevster1 said:

Oh come on, it isn't that heavy. You may need new springs though and it does hang slightly lower.

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I've heard from several people that their car rides lower with a metal belly plate...

With the panzer plate you lose between 1/2 and 1 inch of ground clearance compared to the plastic belly pan.

rackaracka said:

With the panzer plate you lose between 1/2 and 1 inch of ground clearance compared to the plastic belly pan.

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And that's on a new car. I betcha it's more on a car with 80k on the suspension like what the OP has.

I wouldn't really say it is the weight that is causing the scrapping. The original plastic was more gradual on the bubble shape on the bottom of the skid plate. The metal one the bubble is more at the front and it does sit a little lower overall to give some cushion room if you were to hit something so the metal skid plate doesn't hit the oil pan. You could add a 1 or 2 inch lift kit. I haven't had scrapping issues since I installed the lift unless I am on the back country mountain roads anymore. It does help to come on to a curb at an angle so it raises the center of the car before the plate reaches the point of scrapping.

mafrif said:

...Any ideas of what to do?...

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smile and congratulate yourself on your wise decision to protect your oilpan. you were probably only a couple of mph and a few degrees of trashing it everytime you entered your driveway
your struts may be on their way out if you are hanging that low

You had the three screws and a zip tie set up like mine eh? lol... in my opinion that set up is the pinnacle of engineering and design

/s

eventually you will wear a slot in the drive way and solve the problem!

Slow down?

I had a DG panzer put on at 60K and now with 110K, no issues that cannot be attributed to me going too fast over a dip.

Thanks for the replies.

When I was laying under the car putting the skidplate on I was surprised when I pushed up the on the car and I could easily lift the front end 3-4". So I'm sure it did drop the front end a little.

I asked my wife (the main driver of the car) if she scrapes when she come into the garage, her response was "huh". I take that as a no.

Chad

With the Panzer and a 1" drop (eibach pro-kit), I've only 2-3 inches clearance left but I normally have no problems unless I hit speed bumps too fast. Just try a different approach angle.

Similar with my new herbie with the panzer, I just slow down and try to hit steep transitions at an angle. I don't want to lift the car with new springs or high pressure gas struts because it looks great so low.

puter said:

I've heard from several people that their car rides lower with a metal belly plate...

Click to expand...

Seriously, did they ever really measure it? I doubt it. I have the panzer and it did lose because the panzer simply hangs a little lower.