hello all,

the creaky noise from the back of my octavia is starting to irritate and i think at 75k the rear shocks and bushes and possibly springs are due replacement. its a 1.6 to work and back and occasional long drives car so i'm not lowering it or attaching the suspension to a subwoofer or whatnot.

anyway,

looking at the arrangement it seems the damper is held in bottom by a long bolt through an eye and top bolted to a mounting that bolts to the car correct? do all the 'bits' (mounting nuts, through-the-eye bolts) need replacement as they are designed disposable?

secondly the spring appears to just sit on a lower cup and is held by the top cup with nothing actually clamping it in place? what have i missed?

i could only see one other bush which connects the arm to the rest of the car - is rebushing this a job for a press?

lastly where do you jack the car up from the back to do all this work - the large label on the rear beam makes it clear that is not a good idea and i'm not holding the car up on the tracing paper sills? there are a few threads about this but i failed to find solid evidence either which way.

any help, pointers muchly appreciated.

cheers

toby

Alright Toby,

Rear shocks are attached by a nut/bolt as you have seen at the bottom, and attached by a nut to a top mount which is in turn bolted into the inside of the rear arch.

I have renewed pretty much all of the nuts/bolts as they arent that expensive. Some are stretch although which i couldnt tell you. If in doubt, change for what it costs.

Rear spring sits in a platform /perch and goes up to an almost inverted top cap, they are held in place by the weight of the car and will not come out on their own.

I think the bush you mean is the rear beam bush, this is a pain to change, but can be done (one of the other guys bought a 2 part bush i think and has posted about this) its superpro i think and allows you to renew without removing the beam and the brake lines.

Be careful if jacking on the sills as many members have had sill damage (this is a prob on all vag cars) instead there is a proper jacking point behind the sill (parallel) like a bar at the front and at the back that you can use safely (with appropriate stands).

Hope that helps,

hi sweedish,

the damper arrangement seems simple enough - i've contacted jorily to see if they supply all the fixings and i'll give it a go soonish - thanks for confirming all of that.

i'll check out the beam bush 2 part kit as it looks a bit of a pain and it may as well get done in one go. replacing the rear springs look straightforward enough i hope the process runs:

jack the car up and axle stand (with wood blocks to spread the weight)

spring clamps to gently compress the spring (with ties) and remove it

gently un sprung the spring and discard

reverse with the new spring.

vag cat lists spring seats (lower) and a top mount - is this another wise replacement none of the setup looks that protected from road mess.

thanks again,

toby

You don't need spring compressors on the rear, as the springs will just drop out as soon as you remove both dampers.

If you're replacing the rear springs, I'd get new new lower spring seats too, as these little aluminium items tend to corrode away to a lumpy mess after a while (not applicable if you're going for height adjustable suspension). I wouldn't bother replacing the upper rubber spring top mount, they don't really wear out. Just give your old ones a clean and treat them with some silicone spray to freshen them up a bit.

The dampers need stripping (only one nut), in order to re-use the metal top mounts, plastic boot and bump stops. Might be worth getting new bump stops, as these tent to crumble and fall apart over time.

See this thread for an exploded diagram and parts lists: http://briskoda.net/octavia-i/strut-shock-replacement-rebuild-information/151000/

I jack the rear of my car on the sill edge, since the rear is so much lighter. Then put axle stands with blocks of wood on under the front of the bracket that attaches to the rear beam bushes. There's like a bolt plate there. Be careful not to crush any cables, and obviously don't jack/support on the beam bush pivot point, as you may shear off the bolt there or damage the bushes.

No idea about changing the two beam bushes as I've not done them yet! I'm not sure of the symptoms if these are nakkered either (creak or knock etc).

Not totally on the line of this thread but all the experts seem to be here.

I have just had the MOT on my car and have had an advisory that the bump stop is split is one side and damaged on the other side.

Should I worry or can I leave them for a while?

Seems that the shock absorbers need to be removed to replace the bump stops so is it worth replacing these at 65,000 miles? They seem ok at present.

Not totally on the line of this thread but all the experts seem to be here.

I have just had the MOT on my car and have had an advisory that the bump stop is split is one side and damaged on the other side.

Should I worry or can I leave them for a while?

Seems that the shock absorbers need to be removed to replace the bump stops so is it worth replacing these at 65,000 miles? They seem ok at present.

Nothing to worry about as long as they are still there. They don't tend to fall off, just split radially which can allow dirt into the damper. It's not urgent or dangerous though, so you're fine to leave them for a while.

New ones are £15 each from Skoda, or alot less from GSF parts. Pretty simple job as explained above. It's up to you whether you want to replace the dampers or not. Depends how tired they are, and how much you want to spend really.

Are you considering uprating the suspension at any point, because if you are I wouldn't bother. But if you want to keep the car for a few years more, and keep her standard, then replace them if you can afford to.

Edit: Just noticed you're in Wiltshire! Me too! Not seen many fellow members of the 'shire on here.

Edited 17 September, 200916 yr by Bodge
Ham

or even less from us:)

if the springs will just fall out i think i may as well replace them and their seats.

thanks for all the advice on this.

the rear beam bushes look like a nightmare but polyflex or superflex or someone sells a split bush for the joint which looks quite a lot simpler might go with that.

thanks again,

toby

yes im pretty sure its superpro that sell a split bush kit.

The rear springs are designed to be kept in place by the perch and the weight of the car.

If you are renewing the rear springs i would do the front too, otherwise the car will be out of balance a bit. Not as bad as only changing a spring on one side, however i am fussy and would always do the whole set.

the front setup looks quite a bit more complex than the back and i think it would be easier to foul something up. that said the arb bushes need doing.

i haven't had a look at the unit in much detail - does the unit clamp into the base of the hub and bolt in at the top? does its removal mean removal of the steering and wishbone links and brakes or just unclamping the bottom dropping it from the top? i read an article on a mark 4 jetta setup a while ago but i can't recall how it looked. its much harder to crawl under the front than the back to have a look....

a sort of graunch noise when coming to a halt is likely the suspension rather than brakes i figured as the discs and pads (ATE ftw....) are new and put together with copper grease in all the right places. so you may be right in suggesting an all round replacement.

thanks for the info,

regards

toby

turns out the creaky noise might just be the crappy mdf board scraping against the spare wheel and the upsidedown polystyrene castle that lives in the boot. its sagging badly and moves a fair amount so i think it might be that.

i'll replace the shocks and whatnot and report back on if its any better.

toby,

The fronts are more complex, but by the sound of it not beyond your capability.

The strut mounts into the hub and you need to split the hub (suitable hub splitting tool makes this easyish) then you need to undo the top mount (a right pain as is a 21mm offset spanner with a 7mm allan key in the centre to undo.

When doing its worth replacing all topmounts/bearings and related bolts if possible.

Hi sweedish,

that sounds very similar to the Jetta article i read. the top mount looks like a nasty piece of work but a think a thick hex key and a severely bent ring spanner would do the job. top mounts are quite cheap anyway.

i'll give this a go when i've assembled the cash, parts and tools and let you know if the car is still drivable.

thanks again,

toby

Nothing to worry about as long as they are still there. They don't tend to fall off, just split radially which can allow dirt into the damper. It's not urgent or dangerous though, so you're fine to leave them for a while.

New ones are £15 each from Skoda, or alot less from GSF parts. Pretty simple job as explained above. It's up to you whether you want to replace the dampers or not. Depends how tired they are, and how much you want to spend really.

Just scanning threads re Bump Stops as I have been told by dealer that my rear ones (60k Service) are perishing and it will cost me £160.50 to replace. Sounds a tad expensive compared to the £15 noted above.

Is there that much labour to replace them?

Please follow link below for rear bump stops:

Search Results : Skoda, Audi, Seat & VW Parts, Jorily - Probably the UKs largest independent skoda parts supplier

Please follow link below for rear bump stops:

Search Results : Skoda, Audi, Seat & VW Parts, Jorily - Probably the UKs largest independent skoda parts supplier

Thanks for the link but I don't think I have the technical skill and confidence to do it myself.

It is good to know the cost of the parts and I guess the price of £160.50 is all down to the labour element?

I will see if I can get some quotes from other garages in the Northants / Daventry area.

I wonder how long I can leave it as it was an advisory saying one set was starting to perish and from the various comments I have found seems to be a fairly common situation.

Thanks for the link but I don't think I have the technical skill and confidence to do it myself.

It is good to know the cost of the parts and I guess the price of £160.50 is all down to the labour element?

I will see if I can get some quotes from other garages in the Northants / Daventry area.

I wonder how long I can leave it as it was an advisory saying one set was starting to perish and from the various comments I have found seems to be a fairly common situation.

I think a trip to Unit 18 may be in order

I did PM Lumox but no response since last week.

I think he worked at the now closed Skoda Dealer and wanted to see if he was still in business. I will try the mobile number I have for him later this week.

Just scanning threads re Bump Stops as I have been told by dealer that my rear ones (60k Service) are perishing and it will cost me £160.50 to replace. Sounds a tad expensive compared to the £15 noted above.

Is there that much labour to replace them?

£160.50 to change rear bump stops?! Are they having a laugh! The whole job should only take an hour if they know what they're doing. It's so simple.

20mins to remove wheels, and remove dampers (3 bolts per side).

20mins to strip dampers and replace bump stops (a total of 2 nuts).

20mins to put dampers back on and refit wheels.

No specialist tools required, just 3 ring spanners and a small adjustable spanner.

Definately go elsewhere. I always ask Skoda for a cost breakdown when getting quotes from them, just to see what they are charging me for the parts and to laugh at their insane hourly rates. I'd be intersted to hear their breakdown on this.