Hi all

I've noticed over the course of the last week or so that the insides of my two front tyres are wearing faster than the rest of the tyres. I've read, and suspect, that this is most likely down to weakened console bushes. My suspicions are reinforced by the fact that the suspension has gone squeaky when I pass over speed bumps, in exactly the same way that my previous fabia did when it had a console bush problem.

The question here is simple. If I replace the console bushes with the SEAT equivalent, which I've read are tougher and don't deteriorate anywhere near as quickly, will I need to do any alignment checks? The thing is, we've already made a tool to "fit" the console bushes (to avoid the labour expenses - the parts themselves are very cheap), but don't have the facilities to do proper alignment checks.

Also, will there be any other benefits other than not having to replace the bushes almost twice a year, if I were to fit the "better" bushes? I've read some stuff about more direct sterring responses, but am a little sceptical of the extent of the improvements.

Thanks for your help.

I've just fitted Cupra bushes to mine, there is a guide in the technical section.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/technical-guides/fabia-wishbone-bush-replacement-diy-guide/101781/

My initial impressions are here

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/fabia/fitted-my-cupra-bushes-today/101507/

After the work I took the car for an alignment check and it didn't need any adjustment but I know from other members experiences that not everyone gets away with it.

if the bushes are renewed with the consoles in situ , the alignment will not of moved much if at all , but it is still worth having it checked after fitment

the steering feels so much more responsive after the Cupra bushes are fitted, slightly more road noise in the car for a month or so , but i don't notice it now

If your car is lowered (Eibachs etc), that introduces negative camber to the front end. So the inside edges will wear quicker. On mine it was 1-2mm or so...

Even without lowering there's some negative camber - that's the cause for uneven wear of the tires.

Even without lowering there's some negative camber - that's the cause for uneven wear of the tires.

when the original voided console bushes wear they allow more movement in the lower arm , especially under braking , when this happens the tracking can move out of the standard setting by quite a lot , hence more tyre wear

if the reason for the tyre wear was just down to the fact the standard car has negative camber , then everybody with a VRS , or Fabia for that matter, would be complaining about excess tyre wear on the inside edge , which is not the case

before i fitted the Cupra bushes to my VRS i had some Dunlops fitted to the front , these were worn smooth on the inner edge , even though the tracking was correct , i have had no problems with tyre wear since fitting the Cupra bushes , the bushes were fitted at 46k miles , i'm on 58k miles now

when the original voided console bushes wear they allow more movement in the lower arm , especially under braking , when this happens the tracking can move out of the standard setting by quite a lot , hence more tyre wear

if the reason for the tyre wear was just down to the fact the standard car has negative camber , then everybody with a VRS , or Fabia for that matter, would be complaining about excess tyre wear on the inside edge , which is not the case

before i fitted the Cupra bushes to my VRS i had some Dunlops fitted to the front , these were worn smooth on the inner edge , even though the tracking was correct , i have had no problems with tyre wear since fitting the Cupra bushes , the bushes were fitted at 46k miles , i'm on 58k miles now

indded, on my vRS I was having wear on the insides of the tyres, after new console bushes, they were wearing evenly...

when the original voided console bushes wear they allow more movement in the lower arm , especially under braking , when this happens the tracking can move out of the standard setting by quite a lot , hence more tyre wear

if the reason for the tyre wear was just down to the fact the standard car has negative camber , then everybody with a VRS , or Fabia for that matter, would be complaining about excess tyre wear on the inside edge , which is not the case

before i fitted the Cupra bushes to my VRS i had some Dunlops fitted to the front , these were worn smooth on the inner edge , even though the tracking was correct , i have had no problems with tyre wear since fitting the Cupra bushes , the bushes were fitted at 46k miles , i'm on 58k miles now

indded, on my vRS I was having wear on the insides of the tyres, after new console bushes, they were wearing evenly...

Very interesting, I didn't know that's the case. But surely only the bushes can't make that much difference:confused:

I always thought everyone with a vRS has more wear on the inside edges.

Very interesting, I didn't know that's the case. But surely only the bushes can't make that much difference:confused:

I always thought everyone with a vRS has more wear on the inside edges.

up to some extent, you may get a small ammount of uneven wear, (I get wear on the inside of the offside front wheel on the fiat, but thats due to over enthusiatic roundabouts, and the ESP snaggin the front wheel to stop understeer...) but at the last awsome RR day I went to, watching the furby vRS's on the rollers, you could actually see which ones had worn console bushes, and which were ok, the movement of the front wheels was quite alot on ones with worn bushes... no movement on ones with good bushes.....

How much do the SEAT bushes cost to buy?

How much do the SEAT bushes cost to buy?

about £7 each I believe..... just the labour which is expensice (which is why everyone is doing it themsleves! lol.....) Skoda should still admit its a design fault, produce a modified part, and do it under warrenty though......

about £7 each I believe.....Skoda should still admit its a design fault, produce a modified part, and do it under warrenty though......

Exactly but add Volkswagen and Seat to that list.

Front wheel movement leading to tyre wear due to crappy soft/torn TCA rear voided bushes - these bushes are about 2 inches in diameter, so they can let the front wheels move around quite a bit.

Exactly but add Volkswagen and Seat to that list.

Front wheel movement leading to tyre wear due to crappy soft/torn TCA rear voided bushes - these bushes are about 2 inches in diameter, so they can let the front wheels move around quite a bit.

but when mine was in warrenty, skoda wouldn't do them, and my local seat dealership quoted better prices to fix it, and the service guy I spoke to said, that they did them all under warrenty for the seats, and he couldn't understand why skoda wouldn't fix it under warrenty....