Front suspension refresh photos

[Bodge]

I did all this about a month ago, but I've been slacking it with posting up pictures, so here we finally go:

Both my rear wishbone bushes has ripped clean through, causing sloppy handling and making the car 'wander' at high speeds. My ARB was creaking like a dying toad due to the silly plastic sleeves rotating on the bar. There was nothing wrong with the ball joints, but they'd done 100k and I thought I'd just do them while I was at it! Being a lazy git, I decided to replace the entire wishbones with new OEM ones from GSF. They are made by Lemforder (WebCat 3) and are identical to the ones from Skoda. They even had the correct VAG P/N on them. Those puppies came in at £90 all in for the pair. The rest of the bits came from Skoda.

Here are the new Lemforder wishbones, Skoda ball joints and all new bolts/nuts:

Here's the right hand side done. I also changed the ARB bushes for the newer type with the 17mm void:

Here are a couple of shots of the new ball joints fitted up:

This shows the new 17mm 'S' ARB bushes from Skoda. I removed the old plastic sleeves by cracking them and then sliding them off the bar. Then cleaned up the bar a bit with some emery cloth (didn't need much as it was so smooth anyway). I then slopped plently of copper-slip on the bar/bushes and refitted:

This just shows the finished result and where I supported the car while doing the work:

Everything came apart and went back together pretty easily, and I'm really happy with how much tighter the front end of the car is now. I've finally cured all the creaks, knocks and rattles that the car had when I bought it! Only took 2 years.....

I was very careful and took my time to position the ball joints in the wishbones in the exact same position as the ones that came off, and made sure the bush holes were perfectly central in the subframe. It seems to have paid off so far, as the car holds straight while accelerating, braking and cruising at high speeds. No dodgy characteristics at all. I'm still going to get the geometry checked at Awesome though, just have to wait until I get the time to pop over.

All-in a very satisfying job, and I recon I've saved a fair bit of money going DIY again.

[cheezemonkhai]

Can I ask were these the ones you had problems with or are these a new set of wishbones?

[billy2981]

Very nice mate,

looks good, looks like the Drive Shaft is new aswell as the ARB?

billy

[chicken_eyebrow]

That all looks seriously tidy mate, I guess I should check mine at some point, I'm never happy with my suspension always think I can hear funny noises Had the ARB replaced last year but if I had the money I'd do the wishbones and all the bushes as well.

[vRShafz]

top job Bodge

[Bowders1]

Bodge nice Job,

I notice your centre subframe is getting rusty around the area left and right to the dogbone mount. This seems common on the Octy. I repainted my subframe as was starting to do the same, so the winter months would not be damaging to it..

[Bodge]

What's all this about then! I posted this back in June!! Talk about delayed response!

cheezemonkhai - I've not had problems with wishbones before, the old ones were the original ones, and I only changed them because the bushes were totally shot and I don't have a press. These wishbones are OE and have been great so far. Not touched them since, and zero suspension noise even with the coilovers now fitted.

Billy - Don't be fooled by my use of silicone spray to make things look new!! Original shaft and roll bar, just cleaned the dirt off and rubbed silicone spray over them to shine them up! I was surprised how clean they were under the dirt too.

chicken_eyebrow - That's exactly how I always felt. I'd sometimes get an odd knock or something that would make me paranoid! So now I've just changed it all! The Weitecs sealed the deal, and now I know everything is as it should be (OCD?!). The suspension was surprisingly easy to work on.

Shafz - Cheers!

Bowders - Cheers also! You're right about the subframe, I did notice the surface rust when I did the job. I guess the salt off the road settles on the lip where the two pressings are welded together and then it starts to eat in. I'll have to wait for the summer to wire bush it down and paint some hammerite on it. It's only surface rust for now, but the tin worm will probably come crawling eventually! Annoying that they didn't galvanise the subframe. Guess it's thick enough to last 10-15years so they don't bother.

[vRShafz]

sorry to revive an old topic, but how you getting on with them wishbones?

i need to change mine and i think its easier for me to get a set of wishbones aswell

would these be any good? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230356581039&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[karlbar2k]

they are oem so there should be no problems. I did mine around the same time with parts from BMF (Bridgend Motor Factors) and also no issues.

[gmaster]

Flip me! thats cheap for a pair with balljoints too!

[vRShafz]

Flip me! thats cheap for a pair with balljoints too!

thats what i thought, saves messing about getting bushes out....just a quick swap

they adamant they are OE quality in description aswell

[Guest westallc]

looks like a proper bargain

[2SkodaFamily]

Hi

Sorry I know this is an old thread but it was linked to again in a recent thread.

Stupid newbie question coming up......

In your 3rd and 4th photos showing the wishbone mounting bolts, how do you torque those up if you can't get a socket on the end of it? :S

Thanks,

Martin

[Bodge]

Do you mean the balljoint nuts?

The balljoint to wishbone bolts can be done up from below with a torque wrench, as the nuts are captive on that plate. Or do it like I did, and assemble them onto the wishbone while off the car.

The balljoint nuts are a little trickier! To be honest I didn't torque mine up, I just used judgement and did it by hand. You might be able to get on the nut with a crowsfoot attachment on a torque wrench if you want to. The proper way to do it is to remove the driveshaft, then you can use an allen key to hold the balljoint stud, while torque-ing the nut with a crowsfoot or similar. I just got a feel for the torque from the other bolts, and did it up by feel using a spanner. Hope that helps!

[octydan]

Nice one Bodge. I had the same components changed on mine recently. New Arms with ball joints, Audi TT bushes, new ARB bushes. Makes a hell of a difference to the feel of the car. No slack in the steering, no play etc.

Edited 15 November, 2010 by octydan

[2SkodaFamily]

Nice one Bodge. I had the same components changed on mine recently. New Arms with ball joints, Audi TT bushes, new ARB bushes. Makes a hell of a difference to the feel of the car. No slack in the steering, no play etc.

:envy:

Edited 15 November, 2010 by 2SkodaFamily

[octydan]

:wonder:

[furry]

is it just me or shouldn't the bolts for the ball joints be fitted downwards not upwards as if they come undone this stops them falling out!! general engineering practice to do so!!

just done all mine as well and fitted mine downwards

[Bodge]

is it just me or shouldn't the bolts for the ball joints be fitted downwards not upwards as if they come undone this stops them falling out!! general engineering practice to do so!!

just done all mine as well and fitted mine downwards

It's just you! Ha, no I do know what you mean. I just fitted them how Skoda fitted them. That's exactly how the originals were fitted, and how the Skoda workshop manual shows how to assemble them. I'm assuming there is a reason.

It's the same rules for building a race car though, with regards to pointing bolts downwards. Something I've had to abide by and scrutineer in the past.

They've been on there for 1.5yrs now, and not had a single problem since fitting, so I'd recommend all the parts....

[2SkodaFamily]

Bodge - do you know if it's possible to get new bushes in with a home-made press (i.e. bit of studding and a couple brackets) or does it really require a proper press to do it?

There's people at work who would press new bushes in for me but I'd have to take the wishbones off first, making getting to work a bit tricky!

Thinking of changing the bushes on the driveway as this would be cheaper than changing the whole wishbone. Unless I took an extended lunch break..... :wonder:

[2SkodaFamily]

sorry to revive an old topic, but how you getting on with them wishbones?

i need to change mine and i think its easier for me to get a set of wishbones aswell

would these be any good? http://cgi.ebay.co.u...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Did you (or anyone else for that matter) try these cheap wishbones and if so, how did you get on? Would it be an idea to buy the wishbones but then get OEM bushes put in them?

[mountie66]

Did you (or anyone else for that matter) try these cheap wishbones and if so, how did you get on? Would it be an idea to buy the wishbones but then get OEM bushes put in them?

y not get poly bushes and do them alot better and will last a whole lot longer

[2SkodaFamily]

y not get poly bushes and do them alot better and will last a whole lot longer

Will I need to use a press for poly bushes?

[Bowders1]

Will I need to use a press for poly bushes?

No, i did not use a press either for my Audi TT bushes I used a vice and various size sockets

[2SkodaFamily]

y not get poly bushes and do them alot better and will last a whole lot longer

Have you seen how much two sets of poly bushes cost?