Octavis Vrs Suspension Bushes.

[thomasj]

This might help people thinking about replacing their suspension bushes on their Octavia. I have gone through the whole set of bushes and shocks. I decided to go with Powerflex bushes and B6 Bilstein shocks.

 

I collected an number of ancillary parts over a few weeks as I could see problems in removing and replacing arms in some areas. I also had a few unexpected items to replace sadly as some parts aren't cheap to replace!!

I decided early on to replace all the locking nuts and some of the bolts as well. On the rear the anti-roll bar bolts were a pain. I ended up taking the rear sub frame out because the camber adjustable Top arms, like a Swan neck were seized as were the inner adjustable spring wishbone inner bolts. I broke all the brake pipe clips on the rear sub-frame but they are replaceable cheaply. The rear shock and mounts + bump stops went of course. At the Front I decided to replace the Top mounts and bearings as well as the struts. I had one nut spin off on the top mount. The wiper arms were difficult to remove surprisingly so I purchased a small puller to deal with them. I discovered that the bolts holding the front wishbones were seized in the alloy Konsoles (Skoda's name), they snapped off. There was also a seized bolt in the alloy under casting to Konsole. I replaced one front spring as it was badly corroded. The trail of pictures show the affected parts. I wouldn't have been able to do the job without my trusty Fiery Dragon (Oxy/Acetelene bottles). I ended up throwing away the aftermarket front wishbone as it would NOT accept the Powerflex bush kit. The suspension has been adjusted on a 4 wheel alignment jig and all good so far.

[Kadaffi86]

Thanks for pictures, i'm sure it will come in handy as i'm planning a few bush replacements too. I have to replace the upper and lower bush where the dog bone bolts into, was the sub frame easy to unbolt? Also does it knock out the alignment? 

[VRsdgm]

Did the same job a few months ago and feel your pain, didn’t have the sub frame out though.  The corrosion on the nuts/bolts was pretty severe on my 09 car and had to use an angle grinder, Dremmel and drill for the removal of some.  Surprisingly the front wishbone bolts on mine came off with little difficulty using the torque wrench.  Three out of the six front top mount nuts spun on mine, horrible job to cut them off from within the wheel arch but got there in the end.  They had obviously been over torqued at some point. 

[thomasj]

Hello everyone,

 

I had previously replaced the rear discs, pads and the OS caliper + short brake pipe as the bleed nipple was seized in the caliper. When I undid the bleed nipple it stripped the thread out of the alloy caliper!!! so beware!! The brake pipe was in the same state.

 

To Kadaffi86. The subframe is held in by 4 bolts and is easy to remove, BUT. There is always a BUT you will find a brake pipe running across to the OSR caliper. The brake hoses must be unclipped from the sub frame on either side and the 6 brake pipe clips must be removed to detach the pipe completely from the sub frame. It is not necessary to bleed the brakes if you unfasten the rear calipers and suspend them off the body. It is likely that you will need to replace the 6 clips across the top of the sub frame. I thought that it was too difficult to get to the top swan neck arms as the bolts were seized in the bushes, these are the Camber adjustable ones I think. I purchased a kit of Camber bolts washers and lock nuts. Reassembly with copper grease for everything. I would remove as many of the arms, anti-roll bar and rear hubs etc as the sub frame will wobble about so the lighter the better. I made a point of trying to put the Camber and Tracking eccentric bolts back in the same place as I removed them which is quite easy if you mark the position of the bolts even if you fit new bolts etc.

 

Yes you will need to get the alignment checked and reset. This will be easy to get sorted if everything has been freed off.

 

To VRsdgm. I used a 1/2" UNF socket on a couple of long extensions and hammered the socket onto the spinning nut from underneath and it was easy to undo.

 

I have got to say that Skoda must be rubbing their hands when people try to fix these cars due to the cost of some parts. That said all the parts are available. ha ha