Hi all,

 

Has anyone had to change the rear axle bearings on a MK2 Fabia before? I suspect that my rear passenger side is shot. It's just had new dampers and top mounts on the rear. The noise is a definite knock from under the boot floor when traveling over potholes and when rolling off speed bumps. I've triple checked the shocks are tight and I'm happy with that but this noise is slowly getting worse the more bumps it soaks up.

 

Any advice would be great.

 

Thanks 

Yes did mine just before a kind person wrote my car off last year August time,  the bearings come complete in the hub ,so you have to replace the whole hub, I had ABS type hubs with drums and purchased them from Skoda parts.com they were around £120 for the pair plus £15 delivery and came with new caps and centre nut .  

You  can get them cheaper but quality is an issue with these and some do not come with new nuts or caps. It's  up to you really,  changing them is not hard but you will need to change them in pairs ,you will change the one side then the other will go costing you more again ,time delivery etc,  you will  need to free the ABS pickup and move it back just in case you damage it when removing the hub, more cost you do not need, can't remember the size of the bolt but was a torx  head type you might need a puller to release  the hub if it's stuck on the stub axle but i did manage to tap the hub and keep turning it around and it freed up from the stub and I wiggled if off , I did clean the stub  up and put a smear  of grease on it before pushing the new hub back on and then  tighten nut  up while still rotating the hub, don't forget to put the ABS pickup back in place once hub is back and fully tightened up ,if you have rear discs it's the same but disc has to be removed as so the drum  

9 minutes ago, Murdockman said:

Yes did mine just before a kind person wrote my car off last year August time,  the bearings come complete in the hub ,so you have to replace the whole hub, I had ABS type hubs with drums and purchased them from Skoda parts.com they were around £120 for the pair plus £15 delivery and came with new caps and centre nut .  

You  can get them cheaper but quality is an issue with these and some do not come with new nuts or caps. It's  up to you really,  changing them is not hard but you will need to change them in pairs ,you will change the one side then the other will go costing you more again ,time delivery etc,  you will  need to free the ABS pickup and move it back just in case you damage it when removing the hub, more cost you do not need, can't remember the size of the bolt but was a torx  head type you might need a puller to release  the hub if it's stuck on the stub axle but i did manage to tap the hub and keep turning it around and it freed up from the stub and I wiggled if off , I did clean the stub  up and put a smear  of grease on it before pushing the new hub back on and then  tighten nut  up while still rotating the hub, don't forget to put the ABS pickup back in place once hub is back and fully tightened up ,if you have rear discs it's the same but disc has to be removed as so the drum  

Not sure you're referring to what I'm talking about, I was referring to the rear axle (not the rear hubs) but will have to investigate either way. The dums where new about 3 months ago 

I'm sure that you checked the rear coil springs while the dampers were being changed - did you?

1 minute ago, rum4mo said:

I'm sure that you checked the rear coil springs while the dampers were being changed - did you?

Springs are fine, nothing wrong on that front. They're still almost like new after 8 years. It's definitely a bushing or bearing knock. Obviously I can't guarantee this until I next to have another look. 

 

Have a look at the pics attached, these seem to be the suspect bushing that is causing the knock

I'm not aware of anyone reporting bonded mounting bushes issues/failures on any MK1s onwards.

Shock top mount?

Were the bump stops changed when the shock absorbers were replaced?

 

The top sleeve dropping down & being free to bounce up & down can make the same noise as you describe.

 

My MK2 Octavia had new shock absorbers fitted by a garage for the previous owner, not only did they not replace the bump stops but they left one of the sleeves out completely.

 

Always worth checking the work that was done when a related problem occurs soon afterwards.

 

Apologies if you have already done so.

7 hours ago, J.R. said:

Were the bump stops changed when the shock absorbers were replaced?

 

The top sleeve dropping down & being free to bounce up & down can make the same noise as you describe.

 

My MK2 Octavia had new shock absorbers fitted by a garage for the previous owner, not only did they not replace the bump stops but they left one of the sleeves out completely.

 

Always worth checking the work that was done when a related problem occurs soon afterwards.

 

Apologies if you have already done so.

No, the whole lot was replaced new bump stops everything, top mounts to. I'm ruling out a direct suspension noise as when standing on my tow bar and bouncing up and down you can't here the noise. It's only when the passenger wheel goes over uneven ground or bumps in the road. The noise seems to occur when the suspension is rebounding not compressing. Both sides had the same replacement parts but bear in mind the noise was just starting before I changed the dampers and top mounts.

***UPDATE*** manufacturing fault

the problem was the new top mount, no rubber insert for cushioning the damper movement. I'm assuming the assembler probably fell asleep or had a bad day 🥱

 

Original top pic

Faulty (new one) bottom pic

Damn, that's unlucky!