I carried out this job on a 2012 Fabia 1.2 TSi

1. With the vehicle on level ground, chock a rear wheel.

2. Loosen the front wheel bolts slightly (both wheels, maybe 1/16th of a turn).

3. Raise the front of the vehicle and support on axle stands.

4. Remove both front wheels.

5. Spray penetrating oil on the ends of the bolts that hold the ARB clamp to the sub-frame (both sides). The captive nuts on the Fabia face the rear of the vehicle, so this is where you need to look for the ends of the bolts.

6. After leaving the penetrating oil for 10mins, use a suitable ratchet to undo both bolts. At this stage, only unscrew them to leave 5mm of bolt showing beyond the nut.

On the driver's side, you will need to raise the lower suspension arm by placing a jack under the lower ball-joint to gain access to the bottom bolt.Using a 13mm ratchet spanner may negate the need to do this, though access is tight.

Repeat this process on the passenger side.

7. Undo the upper nut holding Anti-Roll Bar link to the suspension strut bracket and remove the link from the bracket. This releases tension on the Anti-Roll Bar.

Repeat this process on the passenger side.

8. Now fully remove both bolts on the driver's side. Plenty of rust came out when I removed the lower bolt.

9. Lever the clamp off the rubber bush with a suitable tool. I used a fat cold chisel.

10. Remove the split rubber bush from the bar.

11. Clean the bar where the new bush will fit. I used GT85 wiped off with an old rag or paper towel.

12. Before fitting to the car, I sprayed the new bush with silicone lubricant on the bracket contact side and pushed the bracket on and off a few times.

13. Open the bush where it splits and fit it onto the bar.

14. Fit the bracket onto the bush. This is the difficult bit as it's a tight fit. You'll need to push hard or use a lever against track rod whilst being careful not to damage it's rubber gaiter. You can use the steering wheel to move the steering gear to help.

15. Insert new bolts into the sub-frame. I used; Hexagon Collar Bolt, 68mm (60mm under head),M8 x1.25, Tensile Strength 8.8, 13mm head, as specified in the unobtainable at the time Febi kit 37660.

16. Push the clamp hard towards the sub-frame and align the captive nuts with the bolts. Start the bolts off by hand before continuing with a ratchet but don't fully tighten; as I found to my cost, this will hinder lining up the bolts on the other side.

17. Repeat steps 8 to 16 on the passenger side.

18. Re-fit the ARB links to the strut bracket and hand-tighten the nuts.

19. Tighten the ARB bracket bolts (both sides) then finish tightening with a Torque wrench to 20NM + 1/4 turn (or 90 degrees).

20. Torque the upper ARB link nut to 40NM. Strictly speaking this should be done after lowering the car to the ground but you will need to use a Universal Joint on the end of a long bar to access the nut. Alternatively, use a jack under the lower ball-joint to load up the suspension.

21. Lower the car to the ground and remove the chocks from the rear.

22. Test drive and enjoy the silence.

Edited 7 April7 Apr by phs12
Edit title

Obviously, replace the road wheels before lowering to the ground and torque to 120nm but I can't edit the post now. Moderator?

21. Replace the road wheels and bolts before lowering to the ground and torque to 120nm.

21 = 22

22 =23

Edited 7 April7 Apr by phs12
Punctuation