Many thanks for the advice on the ARB bushes. I've replaced them this evening and the creak is still there. I've looked at the drop links and they seem fine, the arb is like new, the bush that came off was also in perfect nick.

The sound comes from the nearside of the car. When it was supported underneath with the nearside wheel off, I had the car running and rotated the steering wheel from lock to lock and all was silent. This tells me that it is definitely the passenger side of the car.

What's my next port of call do you think? The sound is present all the time when moving and people are turning to see what the noise is. I've got some big trips coming up and would like to sort it sooner rather than later in case it's something a bit more serious.

I've bounced the car on the drive and it appears to be coming from within the wheel arch, but doing this on my own on the drive has it's limits. Does anyone have a technique for narrowing down the source of the noise?

Thanks,

Andrew.

Did your ARB have the sleeves? Did you remove them?

On my car it was the sleeves that creaked:

I removed them and fitted the 19mm bushes straight on the bar. No issues at all since.

I'll have to have another look tomorrow. I've not seen pics like that before Rob, but it all makes sense now I've seen them. I guess they need snapping off by the look of things. I'll have a go and get back to you.

Thanks.

I had the bushes off a couple of times - I thought the sleeve was a part of the bar itself when I looked at it.

I carefully chipped them off using a hammer and small chisel. They're strong plastic but brittle.

I assume grit gets under them to cause the creak.

I had the bushes off a couple of times - I thought the sleeve was a part of the bar itself when I looked at it.

I carefully chipped them off using a hammer and small chisel. They're strong plastic but brittle.

I assume grit gets under them to cause the creak.

I think I've made the same assumption then. When I cleaned the bar up, it seemed that there was nothing on the bar other than a lug to keep the bushes in place. If I get a spare hour today, I'll take them off again.

Make sure you buy smaller bushes when you do it again. I went for the 17mm ones and the bar has been fine ever since.

I got the correct bushes from TPS. When I got into doing the job, I found that mine were the revised versions with the ridge anyway. Just one question though, does the bar have a lug on it when the plastic collars have been removed?

No the lug is part of the plastic collar.

Right, so the bar shouldn't have anything on it when the collar has been removed?

Exactly

Right, here's a photo of what's come off the car,

The collar/lug is of a different design to yours Rob, which is why I got a bit confused.

The upshot of this is that the noise has been reduced greatly, but there's still a creaking from the nearside wheel arch. It seems more suspension orientated now and less to do with steering. It could be that there's two sounds and one has been sorted?

Drop links maybe?

Drop links maybe?

They seem okay, but it's hard to tell when they're off the car because they aren't under load/stress I guess. Is there a simple way of telling just by inspecting them?

suspension top mounts/bearings maybe?

Edited 6 June, 201115 yr by bond007

Did your ARB have the sleeves? Did you remove them?

On my car it was the sleeves that creaked:

I removed them and fitted the 19mm bushes straight on the bar. No issues at all since.

Didn't you have to put the bushes on with the 17mm void? I thought that was the recommended practice when removing the sleeves?

suspension top mounts/bearings maybe?

I hate to do this, but I had the local(ish) Skoda dealer have a look this morning. They said it's the bottom arm bushes that are cracked and the bottom ball joint that's creaking. They've quoted £252.89 to sort the issue. That's no new parts other than sorting the bushes by pushing them out and replacing them and a new ball joint. I booked it in for Thursday, so if possible I can get it sorted cheaper elsewhere in the meantime.

What price seems fair for a job such as this?

I hate to do this, but I had the local(ish) Skoda dealer have a look this morning. They said it's the bottom arm bushes that are cracked and the bottom ball joint that's creaking. They've quoted £252.89 to sort the issue. That's no new parts other than sorting the bushes by pushing them out and replacing them and a new ball joint. I booked it in for Thursday, so if possible I can get it sorted cheaper elsewhere in the meantime.

What price seems fair for a job such as this?

Was that Chapmans? I find them expensive. Is it the sort of thing that Des Winks VW would do? And was the quote for both sides or just one?

I've got a spare pair of wishbones at home I haven't got around to doing anything with. You could press in new bushes yourself and then just swap the wishbones over. You'd need new ball joints of course.

I'm in a bit of a spot really as normally, I'd source the parts and then get my usual bloke to fit things. I'm going to be doing a fair few miles this next couple of weeks and would like it sorting. Trouble is, my usual mechanic is starting a new job this week and won't be able to do any work in the evenings for a short while.

I think in this case, I'm going to have to stump up the cash and go with Chapmans. :'( I hate paying over the odds for anything as it takes so long for me to save the cash in the first place.

Thanks for the offer of the wishbones though, if things were different I'd have taken you up on the offer.

Where are you based mate?

skinnyman just pm'd you might be able to help you out

Where are you based mate?

Sunny Scarborough.

skinnyman just pm'd you might be able to help you out

A big as usual.

It's now all sorted thanks to Chapman's of Pickering. It was the bottom arm bush and the ball joint that needed doing. They have sorted it and all is quiet, but blimey, it wasn't cheap. If I didn't have all these miles to do this weekend, I would have waited, but it's sorted.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, yet again, confirmation of how friendly this forum is.