Hello,

I'm slightly confused by the different quotes I'm getting for having my ARB bushes replaced (JBS told me they were the cause of the knocking I hear at low-ish speeds).

Farmers wanted

£200 !!!!!!! just for the bushes is IMHO sounds far too steep It one hour of a job and less than a tenner for parts .

Did mine on my 2002 Octy Tdi this weekend. The bushes cost about £3.50 each from Skoda and are straight forward to fit. The only problems I had was that VAG changed the design of the bushes after 2002 and the new ones have a ribbed section in the middle, this means you may need to buy two of the new ribbed style clamps or do what I did and trim the raised rubber from the bush using a stanley knife and re-use the original clamps.

For a quick how to the job simply involves

1. Undo the 16mm (or 5/8 works) bolt holding the droplink to the lower wishbone (needs to be done with both wheels at the SAME height to take the load of the bar ...better to do this on ramps but you can reach with the car on the ground but its a tight squeeze.

2. Once you have done the droplink on each side then the bar is free swinging. Jack up the car and get the wheel off. SUPPORT the car on an axle stand Then undo the single 13mm bolt holding the clamp to the subframe and wiggle it and the bush off. Make a note of which way up the old bush fits into the clamp to make re-assembly easier.

3.Clean up the arb and check for any corrosion If its severe then you may need a new bar and this may obviously involve mork expense but I think it would be unlikey that you need a new bar..you could take your chances and just fit new bushes.

4. Apply a good dose of silicone grease (must be suitable for use on rubber eg. Ambersil M494) to the inner surfaces of the bush and around the ARB.

5. fit the new bush onto the arb and then put the clamp over it and slide into position. Hook the end of the clamp into its bottom slot and then refit the bolt. Now this is the b*******d swearing knuckle skinning pain in the butt bit of the job. The bolt is badly designed and is very short making it difficult to get it started back in its threaded hole when you fit the new bush. You will need to use long nosed pliers to hold the clamp in position whilst you get the bolt started in its thread. Beg borrow or steal a pair if you can as it will save much cursing and time.

6. Repeat for the other side then drop the car onto its wheels and re-fit the droplink to wishbone bolts.

You do not need to re-track again as the droplink design does not affect tracking and the arb is not 'mechanically fixed' as such and is not connected to the hubs (unlike the track rod ends)

I have seen a link that may be helpful and will post it here when I find it again.

EDIT: here it is (thanks TDI club)

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=703198

4. Apply a good dose of silicone grease (must be suitable for use on rubber eg. Ambersil M494) to the inner surfaces of the bush and around the ARB.

Fairy liquid works just fine too

Fairy liquid works just fine too

Please gents don't use washing up liquid, it is a good lubricant but its full of corrosive salts

Or, you'll find, as I did, that the plastic sheath around the ARB benath the bushes is cracked right across and a neaw ARB is allegedly needed. I'm going to attempt to repair it somehow.

5. fit the new bush onto the arb and then put the clamp over it and slide into position. Hook the end of the clamp into its bottom slot and then refit the bolt. Now this is the b*******d swearing knuckle skinning pain in the butt bit of the job. The bolt is badly designed and is very short making it difficult to get it started back in its threaded hole when you fit the new bush. You will need to use long nosed pliers to hold the clamp in position whilst you get the bolt started in its thread. Beg borrow or steal a pair if you can as it will save much cursing and time.

I found the same thing! Luckily I did have a pair of needle nose pliers and the job then wasn't too bad!

Luckily there is no plastic sheath on the TDI arb (least there was not on mine), the old bushes have a built in fibre glass reinforcement encspulated into them and its this which seems to be the reason for the groaning and creaking when the rubber wears away and the fibreglass rubs against the bar.

The person who told me about fairy liquid used to work at Rover....... perhaps thats where they went wrong then ?

Well I had a new bar in the end. The bar seemed quite 'thin' where the bushes fit around it. Tosh said that it was quite common for this to happen, and usually when the bar starts knocking it's because the bar has worn out, not the bushes(!). Didn't seem to require new clamps, which is odd, because I thought they changed the design in 2002. Weird.

The wallet's