right, i have decided to bite the bullet and order some coliovers from awesome (in feburary), rather than doing them last im going to do them first, and then do down the arb etc route

i have done a search and im pretty sure i can do it myself, if it all goes to plan.

obviously i will have to get the geometry set up by a pro once im finished.

just looking for some advice, about any sort of special tools i might need, and any other parts that are worth doing while im fitting them, was thinking along the lines of bushes?? and maybe my front arb (car has just gone over the 106,000 mile mark, but still going strong).

I have also seen something about changing top mounts, which lower the car by 10mm so you can run the coilovers slightly higher for a better ride. would that be mounts for front and rear?

was thinking this bush kit? Buy VAG - Front/Rear Running Gear Bushes Kit by PRI Racing Ltd. buy online

does anyone know what else can be changed for better bushes?

bit of a long message i know, but im sure we are all the same when it comes to spending our hard earned cash!

thanks in advance

mark

Edited 23 December, 200817 yr by mark_sargeant19

Anyone?

ok mate seen no one els has come up yet,

I did my Weitecs muself. EASY if you know how.

the kit you put down is good, the dogbone mount you can do urself but youll need a vice! to hold it.

Id get the local mech to do the bushes for you, front and rear wishbone bushes and the rear beam bushes i thought would be too tricky to do so I went and got them done properly.

Id also get the 19mm ARB bushes from superPRO too. they can be done yourself, just jack the whole front end up and take both wheels off and youll see the bushes and clamps. they are a bit fiddly mind but not too hard took me 10 mins for first one then 5 for the second.

get the kit and also go to your local dealer or GSF(if you become a freedom member you get discount at GSF) and get 2 new top mounts and 2 new bearings. also might wonna get a tub of greese.

45736STRUT TOP MOUNT OCTAVIA 6.75 Add 45737ASTRUT TOP BEARING OCTAVIA 3.50 Add

make sure you have an allan key that fits the std front strut and a spanner that you can put on and still get to the allan key hole!

the bolts in the kit and the allan key will prob be a diff size as the ones on the std sus is not the sizes that come in just any allankey set.

youll also need a large hammer and a verry strong long pole to get the front struts off(or the removal tool)

I took my callipers and discs off the front so there was less weight on there and so I could get in but it is up to you.

MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS TORQUED UP! after.

for the rear BE CAREFUL as you need to get the back end off the floor so when jackin up go up bit at a time on each side or it will twist off the jacks!

the back is easy to take off but youll need some kind of tool to put the rear shocks on as I have no Idea what kind of tool to use. I put the springs on myself but tool it in to get the shocks fitted. I think youll manage if you got a vice pos?

hope some of this helps mate soz cant tell you the sizes of sockets and spanners to use. all the torque settins are in the Haynes manual. IIRC sizes too.

good luck mate

billy

ok thanks mate, seems like quite a daunting job just looking at it on paper, but im sure its self explanatory once you dive into it. i have 2 good friends at the local stealership so maybe they can sort me out with some tools or whatever. might ask them what the price to fit would be seeing as they also do their own private work on a saturday

Sorry for hijacking your thread!

Billy the team dynamics alloys you have on your car are they the lightweight ones. I was thinking of getting some for my OCTAVIA 1.8t ESTATE. The alloys are 16 inch and I was thinking about 18 inch. Will they be a lot lighter as I do not want increased unsprung weight.

Regards

Aaquil

just to throw another spanner in the works, what about something like the koni srt kits that you get on awesome?

Aaqil: Yea mate they are the lightweight ones. they weigh approx 9kg each. I got them from a lad in leeds he is on ebay as for the life of me I couldnt find them cheaper anywere else. One thing is thou I had to wait for 3 week to get them as they are made to order and then painted to the colour you want in the range.

Mark: can I ask what did you use to colour the headlights? I wanna do my tail lights like that. Hope what i said earlier helps a bit mate, once you start it is pritty easy and self explanitory.

i heatgunned the surrounds untill the lense separate from the body part, then painted all the surfaces that are not used to focus the beam etc, dont know if it would work as well with the tail lights because of the red lense, but you might as well give it a go and see how it comes out. there is a few pics on the forum where people have watered paint down with lacquer and sprayed a few fine coats over their lense which looks pretty nice imo.

SORRY AGAIN!!!

BILLY

You don't by any change have the ebay guys details do you. Have you got any pics of the alloys on your car?

Also, do you know if they are lighter than the usual standard Elegance 4X4 1.8T alloys?

Aa,

for some pics on the car click on my name at side and go to my profile or gallery and there is a few on there mate. or go in to the members cars and look for Billys octavia.

not sure bout the diff in weight mate but I would say yes they are. my wheels and tyres each weigh bout 16-18kg cant remember exactly. jus get the spare out and see what that weighs. dont forget mine are 18" so that is really light.

eBay UK Shop - BILLY BOY TYRES: TEAM DYNAMICS, 18 WHEELS, 16 WHEELS

that is his shop site on fleabay mate.

I followed Claytarget's route and fitted Weitec Coilovers. Weitecs and AP are all made in the same place as KW.

I replaced every part on the suspension. New Top Mounts, bolts, anti roll bar links etc. I replaced all the bushes prior to this. The rear shocks are easy providing you lower both sides of the wish bones together then you will have all the room to take out the springs as well. All the work is fairly easy to do. Must be, as I did it myself. Even the wishbones are ok to do providing you have enough time and patience, and spare bolts for the ball joints as these are prone to snap . This site has all the various info and links to help. I even have pics if needed of most of it.

I would recomend you get or borrow the front Hub strut seperater tool ( can be purchsed form VW around 10 quid) as this will make seperating the strut so much easier.

Also you will need to the get coil spring compressers if you are taking out standard springs, as you will struggle with clearance, removing the front struts.

one on that mate, you might of struggled coz you had new bushes in. If you got the old ones in then youll be fine.

Bowders, How did you get ur rear shocks off the mount? all that is at the top is what i describe as a tooth. no visible way of removing

unless you have a vice to hold the centre pole you cant undo it?

billy

Claytarget, I get the bit you mean now. Yep took a little thought with that. All i did was get a very small spanner that was a reasonable fit over the lug at the top of the shock (around 6 or 7mm i think), then with a open ended spanner undo it, and off it came.

think it will be a 6mm as the smallest I got is the 7mm and it jus spun.

.I replaced every part on the suspension. New Top Mounts, bolts, anti roll bar links etc. I replaced all the bushes prior to this. Even the wishbones are ok to do providing you have enough time and patience, and spare bolts for the ball joints as these are prone to snap . This site has all the various info and links to help. I even have pics if needed of most of it.

right as we all like to do, im changing my mind again and looking at other options,

the latest plan is koni FSD's with H&R springs, been reading alot about these and they seem pretty good, ( there are alot of potholes and really badly repaired roads around here so cant really go as solid as i would like to :( )

before i fit them i was planning on gettin the bush kit mentioned above,

bowders i see you replaced various other parts of the suspension, where did you source the part numbers etc, and do you have any idea of costs?

thanks, mark:thumbup:

the top mounts and bushes are on the GSF site mate just go on there.

iirc they are bout £20 ish for the lot. and you know about the superPRO bushes

good luck mate

billy

do you need 4 top mounts and bearings or just 2 for the front

2 of each mate.

the top mount is a big rubber cup and the bearings ar small like plastic donut things. fairly heavy for the size

Mark, hopefully this lot will help you.

These parts are purchased from VW as they are the same parts(only went to VW as they are closer than Skoda to me) but that is your choice. Even Seat and Audi are the same(although only VW will sell you the Hub spreader tool, don't ask me why? )

Front Suspension

Outer nut, self-locking 21mm x2 part# N90 353 603 (top of suspension strut)

Lower strut mounting bolt 18mm x2 part# N10 207 803

Lower strut mounting nut 18mm x2 part# N10 106 402

Hub Strut Spreader X1 3424

Rear Suspension

Upper shock mounting bolt 16mm X4 part# N90 648 401

Lower shock bolt 16mm x2 part# N90 517 304

Lower shock nut 16mm x2 part# N10 286 110

All that came to £30.

Then this lot came from GSF

Front Suspension

Part Quant. Part No.

Strut Top Bearing x2 1J0-412-249 (GSF P/N 45737A)

Strut Top Mount x2 1J0-412-331C (GSF P/N 45736)

Came to around £20 as mentioned

Also I went for doing the ARB links as one of mine was bad. Again purchased from GSF

RH Anti Roll Bar Link 42274N (IJ0-411-316D)

LH Anti Roll Bar Link 42274M (IJ0-411-316D)

These were £38 for the pair

For the Front anti roll bar bushes, used Super pro as mentioned

SUPER PRO P/N SPF2593-19K price £15.16

For the Front wishbone Bushes I fitted Power Flex(newer improved ones, as old ones had issues with popping out the wishbone) - Awesome GTI

Front End of Wishbone Bush’s (PFF85-201)

Rear of Front Wishbone Bush’s (PFF85-410)

Cost £78.00

When I did these I replaced the Wishbone bolts as these should not really be reused especially the the lower ball joint ones.

Purchased from Dealer

6x Ball joint bolts(SN10127707)

1x Wishbone rear bolt(SN90484003)

1x Wishbone front bolt(SN10262201)

Cost £7.39

phew , think that does it

Is it worth replacing the wishbones while Ive got everything apart? I'm also going to replace my front arb at the same time with the one from awesome gti, fk I think, Ive been told mine is quite worn 107k on it. Will this be hard?

Wishbones look easy. 5 bolts and they should come out. £50 from Skoda, but I've seen them for £25 elsewhere. They come with all the bushes pre-installed.

Front roll bar replacement requires you to remove the rear 2 subframe bolts and drop the rear of the subframe down. Bit more daunting! I'm thinking of fitting a Neuspeed front bar, but I'm not sure wether to do it myself or not! I guess as long as you bolt it back together properly it should all be fine still...

Wonder how much somewhere would charge to do the arb then

I've also been looking at the arb links on eBay, and I see that there are 2 types, metal thin ones and thicker plastic ones, on gsf there are 2 different numbers and prices and are labeled as different sides, I assume the eBay ones wouldn't fit then

Why bother with the ebay ones, GSF are ok. They are sided as they bolt upto the suspension strut from opposite sides. I would just fit bushes to your standard anti roll bar. Replacing the wishbones is easier than fitting bushes into them but these will come with standard bushes. It is not do difficult replacing bushes just a little patience and plan a bit longer time.

P.S do you know how long it took me listing those parts and prices. Did I get thanks........

P.P.S Did you buy the AP's in the end?

Yeah sorry about that mate, you must have put ****loads of time in with those part numbers etc, and I'm truly grateful, it's given me a true idea of how much I'm gona have to shell out, decided coilovers would be a little extreme for the roads round here and the mammoth speed bump that I have to navigate everytime I leave the base, I've ordered h&r springs a coupla weeks back, and I'll order my fsd's on payday which is the 30th, then it will probably another month before I order all the bolts/bushes depending on wether I can find anything to sell on eBay lol, thanks again mate