Having removed the ARB bush from the n/s front I discovered that the plastic sleeving had cracked, which presumably explains the squeek/screeching noise.

Is it true that I'll need a new ARB?

Has anybody successfully claimed a free ARB from Skoda?

-at least I can drive the car knowing that I'll not be doing it any more damage than has already been done.

A piece of brittle plastic sandwiched between a steel ARB and a flimsy rubber bush on a joint that is constantly moving, what an absolutely crap piece of design that is.

The bushes are so cheap why not have a harder bearing surface and treat the bushes as disposable?

ps. It doesn't *look too bad to take out the front ARB and I've learnt how to remove and re-assemble the ARB links/bushes.... But that'll be another weekend morning then...

*famous last words:rolleyes:

I have an Octavia 4x4 which had 2 sets of ARB front bushes replaced under warrany, the first after 24000 miles. Out of warranty I replaced both bushes and drop links at the front. For the drop links this was the second change, the first within warranty. I scratched my head when I found the plastic sleeve between front ARB bush and ARB. On the off side this sleeve was out of position and not sandwiched between bush and ARB. Not having access to wotkshop manuals I was undecided as to the function of the sleeve.

In time these sleeves fell off through wear and I now rely on Molyslip OGS (a wire rope lubricant) to help bush and ARB work together. So far all is well after 10,000 miles and its easy to spray more lubricant on ARB and bush

I assume the ARB bush is "scraficial" as are brake pads ??

Not impressed with quality and durability of many VW components and will not make the same choice of manufacturer in the future

The sleeving is still in place on my ARB, but there is a large crack down it. I had considered fitting an alternative arrangement and lubricating it, as I'm in no rush to replace the whole bar!

In fairness, cars from other manufacturers also have issues with suspension bushings.

UK roads with their many speed bumps, potholes and rough tarmac are far below the standard of German or French road surfaces (I've no idea what Czech roads are like) -You might expect a 4x4 to be able to cope though....

I have a similar issue with my TDi Octavia which I posted (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/octavia/octavia-tdi-os-graunch-after-using-air-con/57076/2/#post655155)

if you want to take a look, I've had a slight result with Skoda UK because my car is just out of warranty and not even hit 40K yet so they've offered to pay for parts so it may be worth contacting them if your car is just out of warranty or has low mileage the number is 01908 679121.

It does seem ridiculous though that there are a lot of postings on this site for Octavia's with squeaking bushes/ARB's, I mentioned this to my dealer and SUK and they both agreed it's a common point of failure on them yet they have not modded the parts to make them more durable/reliable, admittedly they are a wear and tear item and as previously mentioned by someone else the roads in the UK are not very suspension friendly but you would expect a car to go beyond 40K before the suspension starts to show up signs of wear, my problem baffles me in so much as it is brought on / made worse when I use the air con????

If you call SUK good luck, they are very helpful and seemed willing to help me out, I can't fault the customer service both from SUK and my dealer both have been excellent for me.

All the best

Hi

Yes give them a call on 0845 7745745

But I may be wrong , but I thought that they went on to a 4th year of warranty.

There are parts that do go in to a 4th year and some in to a 5th

Give them a call and see how you get on.

They may pay for the parts or even a bit of labour if your lucky.

Just rmember though that if they ok the parts you will be looking at paying dealer prices for fitting it.

Sorry

Sarah

Yeah, I know I'm getting the worse end of the deal as I have to get my dealer to fit the parts and I know the labour will be more than the parts cost, the other thing I'm not certain of is if my dealer will replace the ARB, Bushes and drop links, I'm no mechanic and prior to calling SUK was going to book it in for all the parts to be done at the same time as I was informed by my dealer it would be worthwhile as taking the ARB off is not much more work when changing the bushes?

But now SUK have agreed to pay for parts the dealer will only replace worn parts so I may not end up with a new ARB and drop links which I would have if I'd just booked it in myself. When I take it in on the 26th I may insist that they replace all the parts regardless as I dont want to have to roll it back into them again in a few months to have to have any parts they dont change next week replaced.

I didnt know about the warranty running over the standard 3 years for certain parts, it's certainly not something Skoda seem to publicise.

Still think they have good customer service from my own experiences that is.

I would like to find a good independant in my area though I have asked before but had no luck yet, I think it's always good to go by reputation as there are so many cowboys out there, I'm in Great Bookham Surrey, near Epsom/Guildford if any one can make a personal recommendation I'd be grateful.