Noticed a funny noise from the passenger side wheel, turns out that the suspension has rusted right through and dropped onto my wheel !!!

is this an easy fix? can it be easily driven to a garage (6 miles away)?

would this be easy to fix myself ? i have seen a replacement shock absorber on ebay for £35 inc p&p ?

how much should a good garage charge to fix this ?

Edited 9 September, 200817 yr by steve200

Rear ones are easy peasy, front ones not so easy.

Apparently it's best to renew shocks as a pair on the same axle. A good idea if for no other reason than that if that one has failed then the other may be ready to fail.

Garage would just charge you however much it would be for a new shock absorber which no doubt would be more than it would cost you to sort.

Also see the sticky thread in this section for more info on this issue.

If it has dropped onto your wheel please DO NOT drive it to the garage no matter how close, either get it trailered or do it where it lies, it doesn't take much to wear through a tyre with that kind of fiction on it, and i would guess within a couple of hundred yards you would have a tyre smoke trail behind you before the inevitable pop.

This is worrying as mine aren't that far off really!

Trying to hold out long enough to see if i can sort some coilovers out!

Hope you get it sorted...

Phil

well it happened 8 miles from home, and i carried on at 45mph (slowed from 60mph) and when i got home the tyre was so warm it was steaming !

Just braved the cold to check the tyre and it looks ok, no cuts/ unsusal wear, but it was very warm when i got home!

Any estimates on the cost of replacing both at my local garage?

... just dont want to get ripped off! :P

I'll make my guess at £160 for the pair fully fitted incl vat. Probably best to get out the Yellow pages and call a few different garages for quotes.

DIY, you need either some spanners and axle stands, or same plus spring compressors if you're re-using the springs you've got.

I have a full set of shocks sat in my garage with new cups etc. I am told they will fit either Felicia or Favorit. If its any help to the person who has the problem i can let you have these till you can replace them to get your car on the road.

DIY, you need either some spanners and axle stands, or same plus spring compressors if you're re-using the springs you've got.

And a bloody big hammer, and I've still not removed that lower clamping bolt yet...........see thread at the top of this section "damper failure"

Mick

I had mine replaced after I examined mine and found them rusted. One had a hole and prob would have failed shortly afterwards and the other wasnt far behind.

Cost be £75 per side for the shocks and fitting. Got it done at Kwik fit but the main dealer quoted me the same price.

I had mine replaced after I examined mine and found them rusted. One had a hole and prob would have failed shortly afterwards and the other wasnt far behind.

Cost be £75 per side for the shocks and fitting. Got it done at Kwik fit but the main dealer quoted me the same price.

If Kwik Fit are charging £150 then a good independent garage should do it for about £100...

well my local quickfit was £178 inc VAT

.... this seemed high so i sourced the parts myself cheaper than the garage £71 for two shocks inc P&P + VAT (garage price was £40 somehting per shock!)

and 1 hour of labout per side so 2 hours labout inc VAT is going to be £92

so total cost is going to be £71 + £92 = £163 inc vat

thats the best i could find ... maby mechanics charge less per hour in the north !?

there only held in by 3 nuts/bolts.

jack it up

wizz the nuts/bolts off

push the wishbone down and pull the shock out

then you'll be needing the spring compresers

undo the top nut

wip the spring off

pit spring on new damper (spring still squoshed)

put top mount back on

loose the compresers

re-fit the same way it came out.

I had mine replaced after I examined mine and found them rusted. One had a hole and prob would have failed shortly afterwards and the other wasnt far behind.

Cost be £75 per side for the shocks and fitting. Got it done at Kwik fit but the main dealer quoted me the same price.

I'd have gone to the dealer rather than Kwik Chimp then!

I'm the local garage that steve200 has taken his car to.

I quoted him 2 hours labour to do both sides. We all know what a swine the strut to hub carrier bolt can be! We charge £39.50 per hour + VAT, which round here is very competitive.

If I do the job in less than the quoted time steve200 will be charged less. If the job takes longer than the quoted time he will not be charged more. I don't think I can be fairer than that?

I did say to steve200 I was able to source cheaper parts but it would take me longer to get them than me using the local factors.

No-one needs to worry about being ripped off by me....I'd lose all credibility in the trade, on here and as Treasurer of the Skoda Owners' Club. I do have to make money for the business that I run though, just as we all do!

Whoops...just remembered I must sort out my renewal of Briskoda freedom membership!

I'd have gone to the dealer rather than Kwik Chimp then!

TBH The car seems fairly sound still, only difference is they fitted mk2 Golf shocks (Munroe brand I think) rather than Skoda ones which the dealer would have fitted.

Only really went KF for the free shock check, and as the car was there anyway thats where I had the work done.

TBH The car seems fairly sound still, only difference is they fitted mk2 Golf shocks (Munroe brand I think) rather than Skoda ones which the dealer would have fitted.

I don't believe Golf Mk2 shocks would fit without some modification :confused: I'm starting to wonder if the kwik chimp accusation might be reasonable. Still, if it's passing MOT's it can't be that bad.

Also, I have the sneaky suspicion that any "free check" is often used by companies like kwik fit to drum up business where work does not need doing. Any customers wanting a check will no doubt believe there could be a fault leaving the company able to play on this belief to make themselves some money.

The invoice showed Golf Mk2 shocks.

I don't think they would have needed much modification TBH as the Favorit was designed to be universally compatible with generic parts and the Felicia is a revamped Favorit.

Otherwise no bananas for the Kwik Chimps

The invoice showed Golf Mk2 shocks.

Might just be the way they entered it onto the computer then.

Just checked my KF invoice.

It was £75 per side fitting for the shocks and had the tracking done too

£174.95 it cost in total.

Also another error on my part . Its not Golf Mk2 but prob mk 3 as it says Golf 94 Gas F on the invoice