Unstable Estate

[Sri5]

Got an on going problem with my 04 Vrs estate in that its not really stable anymore. Its been gradulally getting worse over the past year, and the symptons are, kinda like your driving on a really windy day and the gusts seem to take you a bit, its like that but worse over bumpy roads. It doesnt seem to handle the corners aswell either.

I have had 3 garages take a look and one problem, bushs on the front suspension, were replaced as they were showing wear. Its had two new front tyres and all the suspension geomotry checked and corrected. All this work made it slightly better but its not cured it. I'm thinking that the shocks might be going but I cant see any leaks anywhere.

So I'm hoping that someone out there will have experianced this and be able to point in the right direction otherwise I'm just going to have to sell it:mad:

[shark_90]

Soggy dampers? Rear bushes?

[ExAudiSi]

Just because the shocks aren't leaking doesn't they aren't shot!

I've just changed the front ones on my other car and one still had gas pressure whereas the other didn't, but there were no visible leaks.

How many miles has the car done?

[flabio]

Rear wheel alignment? my old felicia estate used to wobble and slide around corners until i had this done ,after this the car was transformed , much better.

Edited 13 May, 2009 by flabio
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[RobClubley]

The Mk1 Octavia's rear wheels aren't adjustable for alignment!

[Sri5]

The cars done approx. 102,000 - mostly moterway miles in the begining.

Last month when I had the car set up on the lazer alingement and they said that rear was slightly out, but as mentioned it is not adjustable.

If the shocks are shot but with no signs of wear, How I tell? Also on inspection the front anti-roll bar bushes look like they've seen better days, could this cause these symtons?

[ExAudiSi]

At that mileage, I would say that it's a safe bet that the shocks are pretty tired if they haven't been changed in the past.

[iep]

Do the vRS models have gas shocks? If so then they can wear out with little or no external sign of wear. I had to replace all the shocks on my old VR6 at 100k. Externally they looked fine but when I got them off they were basically undamped push rods. Even replacing those with OEM made a huge difference to how the car performed.

iep

[vRSLen]

I would go with shocks and tired springs...

[Sri5]

Thanks guys, how much should I expect these parts to cost if I fit myself?

There is also some wear showing the in the front anti-roll bars - would this contribute to the problem?

[Oet]

are the wishbone bushes ok?

that can cause an unsettled feeling, would guess the shocks/springs need doing too if original....mine do at 70k, and front arb bushes will cause noise but shouldnt cause the car to drive badly.