Hi all,

Had the car for 7 months now and it feels a little loose and seems to "float" a little on the m-way (seems to need correcting alot like its in a strong side wind) It also rolls a little more than the standard fabia in the corners.

Anyway the previous owner kindly had an inspection service the week before selling and one of the advisories was "front arb's, bushes and clamp in poor condition, but no play"

Im guessing that these have deteriorated and need replacing, however in a bid to save a bit of cash I though I would source parts and came accross 2 sites with very different prices

http://www.eurocarparts.com/anti-roll-bar-components

and

http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=256

Any ideas what the difference is, and if one is more suitable?

Cheers

ps - car is completely standard.

Sounds like you may need some new ARB bushes and clamps as a start (these are the cheapest) as a starting point.

You need the 17mm ones as the sleeve will need to be removed from the bar to fit them.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Skoda-Octavia-Anti-Roll-Bar-Bush-and-Bracket-ALL-SIZES-/400065164628?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5d25bdf554

Edited 26 January, 201115 yr by Liverpool-Lad

Thanks

So can i assume as I have no knocking or creaking that the arb link itself is OK? and just the bush and clamp may need doing?

Cheers

Well, its the lesser of 2 evils at the moment & the ARB bushes have a bad rep for going wrong, moreso than the drop links youre looking at.

Cheers

I will get some and book it in to see whats what.

Thanks

Although Im wondering floaty behaviour would be down to this...are your shocks in good nick and so on?

The Octy does suffer a bit on the mway ive noticed with cross winds.

Hi,

Cant see any leaks and I have done the bounce test (push down on each corner and see how the car bounces back) and it bounces back and stays.

I think I will book it in and let them diagnose if its just the bushes or the whole lot.

Cheers

to check your anti roll bar links. you can put full lock on and if the arbl moves ie twists quite easy in your hand theyre ready. have you checked track rods? again this can be checked by hand. if they twist may need a change. cheapest part to go is roll bar bushes. the wish bones also could be a problem with rubber bushes.

Hi, if your talking about the Mk1 Octavia vRS, i did my ARB bushes last week. (quite easy if you have the right parts/tools)

My 05' plate vRS has a 19mm ARB (with no plastic sleeve) so i bought these. http://www.priracing.com/product.php/1586/304/vag---front---anti-roll-bar-to-chassis-bushes. I understand earlier cars had a bar that came with a plastic sleeve so you may require a smaller bush.

If you use the style of bushes as above, and you have an older car you will need the new style clamp's (as found on VWSPARES) as the new bush will not sit properly in the old style clamp. But if you use OE then use the old clamp.

BEFORE YOU START U NEED. 19mm socket, 13mm socket, 19mm spanner (link). Torque wrench. M8 25MM bolt. 2x M8 20MM bolt's, unless you use the old ones.

1. Loosen front wheel bolts, jack up car, place front end on axle stands, remove wheels.

2. Remove anti roll bar LINK nut (19mm socket and spanner on other side to stop ball joint spinning) and pull LINK away from ARB. This allows the leverage for later on..(do both sides)

3. Remove ARB,bush clamp bolts (13mm, both sides) it also helps if you turn the wheel in a given direction, giving more room to do the bolts.

4. Use the AR bar as leverage to assist/remove old bush from clamp and bar.

5. (use plenty of grease) Insert new bush onto bar, place clamp on top and slide into correct position. (note the bottom edge has a lip that must sit in)

6. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT. Use an M8 25MM bolt first, and tighten all the way, This helps the bush seat properly, i TRIED and TRIED using the old bolt and gave up after an hour, its just too difficult because your new bush will be fresh/new so the old bolt is not long enough to catch.

7. Once i did the M8 25mm up, i left for a hour or so just to let the bush settle.

8. Remove 25MM bolt. Use M8 20mm bolt to correct torque and jobs a good un.

9. Replace LINK end bolts, wheels etc and your done.

YOUR DONE.

I was helped by this link.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?988261

If its any help i paid a VAG specialist £20 to change mine including the bushes! With the current weather was worth every penny!

Hmm I thought the bar was 19mm WITH bush? The true diameter is 17mm?

EDIT - Ahh, didnt know that,

Edited 27 January, 201115 yr by Liverpool-Lad

Im going to buy new clamps anyway as they are only a few pence then for £20 get some new drop links while im there then use the new style bushes and then the jobs done properly and you wont find your drop links need replacing any time soon they must have changed the plastic collar setup for a reason so I would get rid of it as it wont cost you anything to change

UPDATE!

Well dropped the car off this morning to my trusty back st garage and they have inspected all the bars and bushes and all is well.

They took it for a spin and can see it feels looser than it should. They also noticed the tracking is out so going to get that done and make sure its all straight.

So its not an obvious problerm, could just be tracking I guess

He also noticed the steering wheel sits slightly to the left and pulls left too, so could be another symptom of tracking i guess.

Update you all later with their findings.

Edited 28 January, 201115 yr by vrsneil

It may all 'look ok', but i had that 'loose' felling your describing at speed and had to continually adjust the steering. New bushes sorted this for me and the front end now feels very good. Its an easy DIY so do it.

Hi

Which bushes was it with yours?

Thanks

The front anti roll bar (x2). Used the ones i linked in my post above. (like i say, easy to do if you have a spare hour)

I am looking at getting the rear wishbone ones changed for TT bushes but i dont know if i fancy doing a DIY on these!!

6. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT. Use an M8 25MM bolt first, and tighten all the way, This helps the bush seat properly, i TRIED and TRIED using the old bolt and gave up after an hour, its just too difficult because your new bush will be fresh/new so the old bolt is not long enough to catch.

7. Once i did the M8 25mm up, i left for a hour or so just to let the bush settle.

8. Remove 25MM bolt. Use M8 20mm bolt to correct torque and jobs a good un.

I did mine today, thanks for the link and the instructions. I did find that I could get the original bolt straight back in when using new brackets and new 17mm bush with the use of these, maybe useful for others.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_232357_langId_-1_categoryId_165469

wow, have you got a vrs and did your bar have the plastic sleeve? (there was no way i would have got the original bolt through using a 19mm bush)

Neil.

UPDATE!

Well dropped the car off this morning to my trusty back st garage and they have inspected all the bars and bushes and all is well.

They took it for a spin and can see it feels looser than it should. They also noticed the tracking is out so going to get that done and make sure its all straight.

So its not an obvious problerm, could just be tracking I guess

He also noticed the steering wheel sits slightly to the left and pulls left too, so could be another symptom of tracking i guess.

Update you all later with their findings.

If your tracking is bad check your bottom arms the rear bushes are known I have just did mine and they where bad so I replace with poly bushes Wow alot better now and had tracking done and car is mint now feels much tighter on front end..Poly bushes cost the same as replacing the arms so better to do that

wow, have you got a vrs and did your bar have the plastic sleeve? (there was no way i would have got the original bolt through using a 19mm bush)

Neil.

Yes I have a VRS. The plastic sleeve on mine was also not present as I was taking off 19mm SuperPro bushes and replacing them with some new bushes http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=259

with loads of grease http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_246319_langId_-1_categoryId_165705

due to having had loads of creaking from mine for sometime now and it was driving me mad :(

I had purchased a M8 25mm bolt just incase, but it was not necessary and could get the original bolt straight back in with the use of those long nose pliers I linked to.

Took it out yesterday and all sound now and no creaking at all.

Also re-fitted my Whiteline RARB today which has been off for the past few months and took it out again and nice and tight and no creaking still, the way it should be don't know why I left it so long before doing the bushes

Edited 30 January, 201115 yr by amh

Going to have a go at this on my '03 vRS as it has developed a slight creak , i assume with mine being a later model it should be the 19mm ones (with the 17mm hole)

UPDATE!

OK folks, turns out it was tracking, apparently it was way out and has caused excess way to my new tyres causing it to pull to the left.

Its now tracking perfectly and feels alot more secure and composed. Still rolls a fair bit, but I put that down to the soft OEM setup. (no creaks, knocks and the bushes are completely AOK.)

Im guessing the rather large potholes we have had is somewhat of a contributing factor with the tracking issue. Sheffield roads EH?!