So for the past few days there has been a horrible banging sound from the rear of my car. Initially I thought it was just my roof bars rolling around that I had flung in the boot...until I noticed a definite handling issue going round a corner. A quick check revealed the shock absorber has separated from the rear mount...in drastic fashion. So I removed the shock absorber to see what the damage is. This doesn't look like rust, more to do with the state of the roads around where I stay. Shock mount probably broke first before it tore out the wheel arch mount. So I can replace the shock / shock mount but looks like a welding job for the wheel arch mount. Any thoughts or suggestions? 

Nasty, definitely some welding required there, looks tricky too, save yourself a few bob by stripping out the boot carpet and trim above that shock mount so the welder can get at it easily.

Yes defo a welding job needed , I've not seen a pre-made plate for this area before so will need a good welder to repair and strengthen area, as previous post suggested get all the boot covers out  and wheel arch liners could save you quite a bit of money doing this first and also check the other side as well that might need attention as well, sometimes checking out a slight squeak or bumping can save you loads of cash

Thanks for the replies folks. Think I have found a welding wizard that's gonna look at it this week. Thanks for the money saving tips and a heads up on checking out the other mount. I'm hoping for a few £££ I can get this car back on the road. Under normal circumstances I would probably be looking at another car given this one is 14 years old and 140k. Given the price of everything (including 2nd hand cars) I think I'm gonna need to keep kicking this old girl down the road.

I had some bad thoughts about that area of these cars Fabia/Polo/Ibiza when I replaced a pair of dampers on a late 2009 Ibiza when it was 8 years old - again used in Scottish winters, though at that time my concerns were more about the "what ifs" if the bolt seized in the captive nut and I ended up with that rotating, that severe corrosion then failure of that alloy top mounting was not in my thoughts at all - horrible!

 

Now to get round to checking the condition of that same mounting on my wife's August 2015 Polo!

On 14/03/2022 at 11:18, rum4mo said:

I had some bad thoughts about that area of these cars Fabia/Polo/Ibiza when I replaced a pair of dampers on a late 2009 Ibiza when it was 8 years old - again used in Scottish winters, though at that time my concerns were more about the "what ifs" if the bolt seized in the captive nut and I ended up with that rotating, that severe corrosion then failure of that alloy top mounting was not in my thoughts at all - horrible!

 

Now to get round to checking the condition of that same mounting on my wife's August 2015 Polo!

 

Probably a good idea, here is the other side that folks advised me to check...literally turning to powder. Came off no problem though...impact gun is your friend...I think!

So I've bought some new shock absorbers and mounts. I noticed the new shock absorbers have a washer with them but the old ones (after removing the mounts) don't. I can only assume after some trial and error that it goes under the mount bolt or that I don't use it at all? Looks like the nylon on the new bolt will just catch and no more if I do use it...any thoughts?  

I wouldn't use it at all if I were you.

I think that some marques use/need these washers, like VW Polo and same SEAT Ibiza, but Skoda do not, that if it is true, and I have changed rear dampers on both a Polo and an Ibiza, is why these dampers came with new washers as they are common to all these cars when buying aftermarket parts.

 

Edit:- that picture of the other side is obscene - needs some waxoyl in there I'd think!

Edited 19 March, 20224 yr by rum4mo