I suspect my anti roll bar bushes are on their way out (53 plate vRS 108,000 miles) and was looking for a bit of advice. I have read on hear in the past that often the whole role bar needs to be replaced and not just the bushes due to wear of the bar itself. Is this likely? I don't want to "upgrade" so who are a good source of standard/replacement parts and how much am I looking at for front and/or rear? And finally is it an job I could easily tackle at home on a Saturday afternoon with a reasonable level of mechanical skill and Haynes workshop manual?

The search button is your friend, as there are loads of posts about this problem, and a thread running at the moment.

The search button is your friend, as there are loads of posts about this problem, and a thread running at the moment.

Yes there are a lot of posts about the problem ... I had been wading knee deep through them for over an hour before I posted this as none of them answer my questions and all most people seem to be interested in is wanting to do a "PAX Mower upgrade" to their cars! I'd hoped for a short cut to the process.

I have read on hear in the past that often the whole role bar needs to be replaced and not just the bushes due to wear of the bar itself. Is this likely? Reading between the lines I need to have a look.

I don't want to "upgrade" so who are a good source of standard/replacement parts and how much am I looking at for front and/or rear? GSF Car Parts seem to get a slagging for poor quality. Is this fair? I can see no evidence of any other reliable source so it looks like the dealer is my best bet.

And finally is it an job I could easily tackle at home on a Saturday afternoon with a reasonable level of mechanical skill and Haynes workshop manual? If I need to replace the front ARB then possibly not as I don't fancy having to drop the front subfame.

Mmmmmn! I think I may just have answered all of my own questions

Mmmmmn! I think I may just have answered all of my own questions

Errr .......yes you did lol.

Your abour right really, not a lot more we can add.

I had to have mine done last November, they noticed it at the service. The whole bar had to be replaced as it had corroded under the bushes. Car had done 105k miles.

Skoda quoted £190 to do it so I took it to a local independent and they did it for £140, they sourced the parts themselves but afaik they are genuine VAG parts.

Thanks chicken_eyebrow. Thats the sort of useful information I was after. £140 is worth paying rather than the aggro of doing it myself. I will get some quotes.

That said, the wear which occurs under the worn-out bushes isn't inevitable, if you catch it in time. You may not need a new ARB.

Thanks Ken. I'd better take a look first.

As an aside - is it obvious to the untrained eye as to whether these bushes are worn or not? I guess after 108,000 miles the answer to that is yes, they are worn. However, are there other things I should check that present the same symptoms. Are there droplinks that could be worn too and if so how would I check them?

It's all a bit tight under there imo, might be worth undoing the bottom of the droplinks either side, which will allow you too see how bad good/bad the arb bushes and droplinks are.

Get plenty of grease in there when you do them, I have uprated bushes which seems too be supplied with crap grease which dries quickly, as a few of us have had issues recently,

As you can see I went a little wild when I did mine.

You need too change the bracket and bolt as well imo as I have crossed mine in situ so that one is stuck in tight for now, until I can find a way to get it out, but thats for another thread:O

Note the clean wheel arch .........I never knew it was silver under there until yesterday :rofl:

Brilliant. I'll give it a go at the weekend.

Get plenty of grease in there when you do them, I have uprated bushes which seems too be supplied with crap grease which dries quickly, as a few of us have had issues recently,

As you can see I went a little wild when I did mine.

You need too change the bracket and bolt as well imo as I have crossed mine in situ so that one is stuck in tight for now, until I can find a way to get it out, but thats for another thread:O

Note the clean wheel arch .........I never knew it was silver under there until yesterday :rofl:

That looks just like mine Glad I'm not the only one that goes totally mad with the grease

That looks just like mine Glad I'm not the only one that goes totally mad with the grease

I'm glad I did as that bolt is in there for good at the moment :O

After this winters creaky tomfoolery with that dodgy white grease they supply with the superpro bushes I wasn't taking any chances :rofl::rofl:

Judging by the state of your bush I don't think I used enough lube

As stated the ARB starts to corrode under the bushes where the little metal lugs are that are supposed to help the bushes stay in place. As it corrodes it becomes loose and the paint starts flaking off arouond it and then leads to slight knocking noise. Even when folks change the bushes if the bar has corroded then the knocking noise will still be present. I have changed my bushes and brackets just before this occured so was lucky and the job was not too dificult as I just removed the bracket to let the ARB bar move. Putting the bracket back on over the new bushes needs a little persuasion. However if you need to change the ARB you may want to leave the job to the dealer or a good garage. The parts from the dealer are not to expensive.

I found the second bracket was a pig to get back on - if the bolt was a couple of mm longer it would be easier !!