I'm inclined to think my front ARB bushes are not in great shape based on the rattle coming from the left side and the creaking noise on the right. Looking at the service manual and parts catalogues, the OEM repair is to drop the front subframe and replace the entire ARB. Doing some searching around, there are replacement bush kits available, but none from manufacturers I've heard of, suggesting that they're not a particularly good solution.

 

So two questions:

1. Anyone know if it's possible to replace the ARB without dropping the subframe?

2. Any source for reputable/decent bushing kits for these as an alternative?

 

PR code for the ARB is 0AE, diameter 23.6 mm.

Never known anti roll bars changed just for the sake of bushes being worn.

Think you will have to drop sub frame off, watched a clip on YouTube a fella changing his egr valve and done the ARB bushes at same time. It was a Vw but looked the same as my Superb.

Wife’s Fabia vrs had a bad knocking noise and I looked numerous times but unable to find the cause, then the garage finally found the fault which was the ARB had slid to the drivers side causing it to catch the chassis. New bushes fixed it.

The ARB link arms can make all sorts of noises making things sound worse than they are , my old Volvo sometimes sounded as though the suspension was dropping to bits and them being replaced sorted it

Edited 4 June, 20206 yr by Snapper1725

On 04/06/2020 at 23:18, Snapper1725 said:

Never known anti roll bars changed just for the sake of bushes being worn.

Think you will have to drop sub frame off, watched a clip on YouTube a fella changing his egr valve and done the ARB bushes at same time. It was a Vw but looked the same as my Superb.

Wife’s Fabia vrs had a bad knocking noise and I looked numerous times but unable to find the cause, then the garage finally found the fault which was the ARB had slid to the drivers side causing it to catch the chassis. New bushes fixed it.

The ARB link arms can make all sorts of noises making things sound worse than they are , my old Volvo sometimes sounded as though the suspension was dropping to bits and them being replaced sorted it

The bushes don't appear to be easily separated from the ARB on these - it's a peculiar design decision. Like I said above, any replacement kits I've found are from bottom tier aftermarket manufacturers and I'm loathe to even try them. The VAG option for all A5/B6 platform cars is replace the entire ARB assembly if the bushes are worn.

 

I've already replaced the drop links front and rear, and replaced the rear bushes.

@chimaera

What about Powerflex fit and forget

Instructions for fitting 

I have replaced rear camber bushes and rear bushes to these also front wishbone rear bushes😁

Also full kits from PSB wish I knew about them before I started replacing with Powerflex

Done a front and rear kit on a Golf last week

Edited 7 June, 20206 yr by DEL80Y

I spotted the powerflex ones last night as I dug through Google. I'll still need to get the ARB out to do them though. I had a quick look at that today and it looks like there might be enough room to slide it out if I unbolt the steering rack and lift it out of the way.

A postscript to this. I got the PowerFlex ones a few weeks ago and finally took a look at the job last Sunday. I was hoping that I could do the job without dropping the front subframe - it looked like there was enough room in there to wiggle it out so I could drill out the brackets. There wasn't! Five hours of poking at stuff and swearing at it to no avail. So during the week I ordered up the bolts I'd need to replace when I dropped the subframe.

 

I got around to doing the job today and it went largely as expected. At the start, I'd hoped I wouldn't need to completely drop the subframe, thinking it would be a pain in the behind to fully drop it. Suffice it to say the subframe did have to come all the way down but once it did it was quite straightforward to get the ARB out and sort it out.

 

The OE bushes are held in place by a two piece clamp with a flange on the nut binding the two together. That had to be drilled out to separate the clamp and get the old bushes out. I had expected the OE bushes to be a single piece moulded onto the ARB as this is the only sane reason to set it up the way they did. It turned out that it was a bog standard two piece bushing, which makes the design decision to require replacement of the entire ARB (and dropping the subframe to do so) utterly daft. I found a 10 mm drill bit too small for those flanges but a 13 mm bit was fine. Leave as much metal on the nuts as possible after drilling them out: this can be hammered down to retain the nuts on the bracket (I'll have pics when I can get them off the phone in a bit).

 

From there it was plain sailing: swap the bushes, bolt the ARB onto the subframe (a bit easier when it's still dropped down), jack the subframe back into place and bolt it in, torque everything down properly. One benefit of replacing the bushings this way is that I shouldn't need to drop the subframe next time since the brackets & bushes can be popped off the ARB easily now.

Pics of the bracket mod:

 

I realise that this is an old post, but is it quite a big job to remove the subframe? I've got exactly the same symptoms as you, and after replacing the wishbones, drop links (twice!), shocks, springs and top mounts, I'm resigned to the fact that it's probably the damn bushes. But reading this post hasn't exactly filled me with confidence...

On 01/06/2022 at 10:33, Bigbadpod said:

I realise that this is an old post, but is it quite a big job to remove the subframe? I've got exactly the same symptoms as you, and after replacing the wishbones, drop links (twice!), shocks, springs and top mounts, I'm resigned to the fact that it's probably the damn bushes. But reading this post hasn't exactly filled me with confidence...

 

It's not too complicated but it is a big job. I did it on the driveway in a few hours.

 

There are 6 main bolts securing the subframe to the shell which need to be undone, along with 2 securing the dogbone mount to the gearbox housing. It's also a good idea to unbolt the ARB from the subframe and drop links before attempting to drop the subframe.

1. First crack open the 6 subframe bolts - you don't want to have everything else undone before you find out you can't get them open and it will probably need a breaker bar
2. Unbolt the dogbone from the geabrox and the ARB from everything it's attached to, then completely remove 4 of the 6 subframe bolts
3. At this point you'll want to put a jack under the subframe to support it while you remove the remaining 2 bolts
4. Once they're out, gently lower the subframe on the jack until you can slide out the ARB from the passenger side
5. You can then use the procedure above to separate the two parts of the clamp and replace the bushes
6. Reassembly is the reverse of removal
7. Dogbone bolts and the 6 subframe bolts are torque + angle specification
   1. Subframe bolts are 90 Nm + 180 *
   2. Dogbone bolts are 50 Nm + 90 *
8. When all this is done you will need to get the alignment checked

Incidentally, on my car neither the rattle nor the creak were solved by this job. The rattle turned out to be a brake pad with a bent mounting tab (can't figure out how that happened). At this point I have replaced ARB links & bushes, springs, dampers, strut top bearings on both sides and the creak is still there. I'm guessing it's probably a worn rubber bush in the control arm but the car is driving very well and I'm leaving it alone for now. My parts budget is going on my recently purchased Porsche 944 at the moment which is a far more needy patient.

 

Thanks for the informative reply, Chimaera, I'm going to temporarily stuff the bushes with grease to see if the creak quietens then hopefully it should give me an idea...don't want to go to all that hassle if it turns out like yours! My worry is it's something steering related,  which would be more serious with our upcoming trip to Holland next month. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again 👍

Hello Chimaera! Did you order the 24 mm or the 25 mm bushes? Thanks. 4 year later, did they hold up well?

11 hours ago, MikeKaroq said:

Hello Chimaera! Did you order the 24 mm or the 25 mm bushes? Thanks. 4 year later, did they hold up well?

No idea at this point, probably 24 mm as this would match the ARB. Can't say I've noticed anything amiss down there since so I guess they're doing fine.