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Fabia wishbone bush replacement DIY Guide


vrsfab

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Just a couple of observations, if you remove the lower swivel at the ball joint then the camber/caster should be as was, get the tracking checked should maybe read get a full four wheel realignment carried out. Also the Seat dealers seem to offer a fitting lubricant to aid the fitting of these bushes - but good guide - I hadn't thought of using a strap to pull the TCA onto the new bush, also maybe try to get high strength machine bolts for the bush removal/fitting tool. One point to remember is that the swivel mounting bolt holes are over sized to allow them to be used to set the suspension up correctly, I sprayed mine with yellow paint to make accurate refitting possible when I replaced my broken road spring(s).

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Cheers rum4mo,

Valid points. I wish I knew about the Seat lube, the wishbones were an ar5e to get back in.

I believe the holes in the wishbones were only oversize on the early cars. The holes on my Vrs were almost size for size.

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Good stuff! Now i dont pretend to know much about this sort of thing so i have a question. I recently had wishbone bushes fitted front and rear, so would i have had the console bush changed too?

I have handling problems since being fitted but have had 4wa done. (octy vrs by the way) thanks.

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nice guide there mate! Wish it had been about when I tackled this myself....

Just a minor comment - you do need lubrication to fit in the bushes, but oil remains there and can allow the bush to rotate out of alignment later on - there's a proper Skoda lube available, but I used washing-up liquid..

Cheers

Bas

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Good stuff! Now i dont pretend to know much about this sort of thing so i have a question. I recently had wishbone bushes fitted front and rear, so would i have had the console bush changed too?

I have handling problems since being fitted but have had 4wa done. (octy vrs by the way) thanks.

I don't think the Octy has the same setup as the fabia, so I can't really answer your question, sorry :)

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I believe the holes in the wishbones were only oversize on the early cars. The holes on my Vrs were almost size for size.

Well I thought that as well but Haynes, based on an early Fabia strip down pointed this out, so when I later bought the Polo Haynes book it was just copied across and the Polo by 2003 should have had the smaller holes. I've only ever considered that you can remove and fit these parts "as was" if they are dowelled in place or the bolts have shoulders and the arm a captive nut - as far as I can make out this is still not the case, so slight but significant misalignment can take place. I just have always had bad experiences when removing lower balljoints for reuse - so would be inclined to avaoid removing them - but it would mean that the pre "job" alignment was retained - if indeed that was still okay. Could be that VRS get better TCAs.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi thats brilliant and gives me the confidence to tackle mine, just one thing what size is the large socket used to extract the bush as I dont think I have anything above a 22mm or 24mm.

Thanks.

Oh and could you tell me again why the cupra bush is favoured over a full powerflex set up (less harsh?) Thanks again.

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Hi thats brilliant and gives me the confidence to tackle mine, just one thing what size is the large socket used to extract the bush as I dont think I have anything above a 22mm or 24mm.

Thanks.

Oh and could you tell me again why the cupra bush is favoured over a full powerflex set up (less harsh?) Thanks again.

I know what the Ibiza Cupra bush is - its a solid version of the normal voided one. The Powerflex set up, was, as far as I know, a stiffener insert that was forced in to make the voided bush sort of solid - but to use it you really need new bushes - so why not just fit Ibiza Cupra ones by themselves. Also, it has been said that the Powerflex voided bush inserts tend to sneek out when you are not looking.

Other point, socket sizes, I can't answer that one but as you will need to get hold of the Powerflex TCA front bushes before you do this job - you should be able to work out what sizes are needed as the main dimensions of these parts will be the same, and if you then chop off carefully the front and or rear "stepped" section, then you should be able to carefully hack out what is left - maybe give it a fright with a blowtorch to "light" the rubber then push it out with a large screwdriver or something else - that always seemed to work in the past for me (on other cars) and does not create a lot of heat - but maybe a bit of smoke (cough cough!).

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Thanks for that :thumbup:

Now just a socket size needed (rather than grovelling in snow with a tape measure!)

I edited my posting - but snow? surely its better to sleep in front of the telly and drink beer when that stuff is around - I suppose its still Winter! (Summer is just round the corner - but which one?)

One other thing, as I can't put my hands on the stuff at the moment, when you nip into your Seat place to buy the Cupra bushes, just ask for a tube (or something) of the assembling grease. I didn't know about this but the guy said "do you want some assembling grease as well" I just pleaded ignorance and said "yes". Curiously, the indep specialist that fitted my bushes for me (fitted one in reverse!!!) used goldish stuff - could be coppaslip when he replaced the wrongly fitted bush - buy maybe its best to use the right stuff.

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Ah, seen that now and yes quite obvious when you think about it.

Would normally do the beer and telly thing except having a month off after xmas new year my birthday and a weeks holiday!

Thanks again :)

And more! Yes maybe thats the stuff to go for, think its Bas above who says too much oil in there and it could go out of alignment. Mind you didnt he use fairy?? Might just spit on it :D

Just need to book the mother in laws drive for a day (cos I know it will take me all day) she dont mind reminds her of hubby and keeps the cats amused.

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The large black socket is 1.5" bought when I had Rover V8's and a man needed a proper socket set :D. Using one of the spacers and an offcut of largish tube would be ok.

Where are you based? If you leave a deposit you can borrow the gear.

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Ah, seen that now and yes quite obvious when you think about it.

Just need to book the mother in laws drive for a day (cos I know it will take me all day) she dont mind reminds her of hubby and keeps the cats amused.

Ah well I just hope the weather is better - a bit like it seems it was when vrsfab took his pictures!! Still got white stuff here where the sun has not sorted it!

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The large black socket is 1.5" bought when I had Rover V8's and a man needed a proper socket set :D. Using one of the spacers and an offcut of largish tube would be ok.

Where are you based? If you leave a deposit you can borrow the gear.

Thanks for that and the kind offer of tools.

My Dad is an engineer and I'll be asking him if he can make up some spacers for me and think he's got some "man sockets" too.

If that doesn't work out I might be in touch :thumbup:

run4mo, I definiteley fair weather mechanic, especially when its not actually broken :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm sure the answer to this is "Yes"

Powerflex bushes are made from polyurethane not rubber and they keep their properties longer than rubber.

It's not just Skoda bushes that aren't so good it's common practice on the majority of car brands to uprate these parts, both for performance and an "as new" feel to the car.

I have yet to do this to my car but can relate to the symptoms reported often on here and look forward to getting it done, hopefully in the next few weeks.

Hope that helps :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

very good guide on replacement bushes for the fabia, just one question I have just phoned powerflex and they say that the part numbers quoted on here are for 02-05 models

I have a 01 model fabia 1.9sdi, doe's anybody know if these newer parts will fit my model

same question about the cupra console bush

just found this site after a google search, very good info

cheers

les.

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Done my bushes using this guide, got the tools made up as per the instructions in this post & they worked a treat. Alot of people say this job is beyond them, personaly I found the whole process not too bad just as long as you take your time & a methodical approach.

Cant help you on that one Lesb, but I did think that they were all the same under the skin irrespective of year apart from the Mk2 model.

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Thanks for your help guys, all parts ordered today.

cheers,

Les. :)

Just to let you all know this oil burner runs on 100% home brewed Bio-Diesel

no power loss, very clean Low exhaust emissions at its Mot.

unlike my wife's MG-ZR 2.0TDI, it hates the stuff. :confused:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got round to doing this at the weekend, thanks to this guide it all went relatively hassle free :)

I would say definiteley get a high tensile bolt for the cupra bush pulling in tool cos all I had was some studding from screw-fix. A pack of 5 studs and bolts which I managed to bend, thread and shear :eek:

I would reccomend Basil's washing up liquid as this seemed to be way more juicy than any grease I tried (my parts man had not heard of any fitting compound)

Only driven a short way but it feels much more precise thru' the corners, more stable on the brakes (312's fitted) and less knocky on the bumps :):D:thumbup:

Thanks to everyone who contributed towards this guide its the most hardest work I've done on a car, ever, but was worth it.

Briskoda rules :D

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