Here's a DIY guide on replacing the Fabia front wishbone bushes with Seat Cupra and Powerflex alternatives.

This is a fairly involved process and should only be attempted if you are a fairly experienced DIY bodger like myself .

Please read and understand the guide before commencing as the hardest part of the process is the reassembly and at this point the car will be impossible to move if you can't finish the job.

Parts required:

1 Set Powerflex bushes - Part No PFF85-601

2No Seat Cupra Console bushes - Part No 6LL407183

1 Tube VW Special lube for fitting Console bush - Part No G 294 421 A1

6No Bolts for Balljoints - Part No N10127707 (VW Part No)

2No Bolts for Front Wishbone Bush - Part No N10141801 (VW Part No)

Note:- The bolts were purchased from a local VW dealership as none were in stock at any local Skoda dealers.

Tools required:

Tool to fit Cupra bushes into Consoles (See below for Details)

Jack and Axle stands

A strong socket set

A senior hacksaw

Mallet

Large screwdiver

Torque Wrench

Ratchet strap

Making your Bush fitting tool:

This consists of an M12 x 150 long high tensile set screw, 2No M12 washers and 2No M12 nuts. These are readily available from your local hardware shop or Fixings supplier.

You will also need to get a friendly local engineering shop to make the large spacers for you. I managed to get all 4 spacers made in return for a 20 bottle crate of Stella.

The spacers are 8mm thick with a 12.5mm dia hole in the centre. You will need 2No @ 61mm dia and 2No @ 71mm dia.

Procedure:

Jack up the car and support it on the sill jacking points with axle stands.

Remove wheels and engine splash guard.

Remove the 13mm nuts on the lower ball joint.

Pull the hub outwards and slide the lower balljoint out of the wishbone.

Remove the 18mm bolt from the front of the wishbone

Slide the wishbone out of its front mounting.

Remove the wishbone from the rear console bush. This is best done by rotating the wishbone to the 6 o'clock position a few times while maintaining forward pressure.

A view of the old console bush.

To remove the old console bush I found it quickest to cut partially through the outer nylon casing with a hacksaw blade threaded through a void in the bush. When the casing is partially cut you can tap a blunt screwdriver between it and the console and the nylon will split. Tap the bush out from the rear.

Clean the inside of the console with WD40 and a Scotchbrite pad.

To Remove the front wishbone bush from the wishbone you will first need to cut off the rubber flange from the rear side of the bush with either a hacksaw or knife.

Fit a large socket over the remaining flange and a smaller socket on the cut side of the bush and using your M12 set screw, pull the bush out of the wishbone and into the socket.

Bush removed.

Fit the Powerflex bushes into the wishbone as described in their instructions.

Fitting the Cupra bush into the Console.

The bush should be fitted with the flush side towards the back of the car and with the hexagon hole flat at the top and bottom. (See the fitted pic)

Lubricate the console and the bush with the special lube, place correctly aligned, into the console and tap it gently with a mallet to start the fitting.

Put a large spacer at the rear of the console and a small spacer at the front of the bush. Thread the M12 Set screw through the spacer, bush, console and spacer and fit the M12 nut at the rear. Make sure there is plenty of oil on the thread.

Start to tighten the nut and check the bush is still aligned with the console.

Carefully tighten the nut and bolt until the bush is pulled through the console and is flush at the rear.

New Cupra bush fitted.

Refitting the Wishbone:

Lubricate the hole in the Console bush and the hexagonal spigot on the wisbone with copious amounts of the special lube.

Place the wishbone into the bush and start the fitting with a few taps of the mallet.

Place the ratchet strap around the rear of the console housing and round the Powerflex bush at the front of the wishbone.

Ratchet the strap to pull the wishbone into the console bush. It will be difficult and a few more taps with the mallet may help the process. The wishbone is correctly fitted when 3-4mm of the spigot protrudes at the rear of the console bush.

Hinge the front bush into its correct position, as shown in the pic above, and fit

a new 18mm bolt. Torque to 70Nm and tighten a further 90 degrees

Refit the lower balljoint back into the wishbone and fit new 13mm bolts. Torque to 20Nm and tighten a further 90 degrees

Refit the splashguard and wheels and lower the car to the ground.

Get the tracking checked as soon as possible.

I hope this helps someone out or at least helps you to make the decision to tackle the job yourself or get the proffesionals in.

Edited 13 August, 200817 yr by vrsfab

Just a couple of observations, if you remove the lower swivel at the ball joint then the camber/caster should be as was, get the tracking checked should maybe read get a full four wheel realignment carried out. Also the Seat dealers seem to offer a fitting lubricant to aid the fitting of these bushes - but good guide - I hadn't thought of using a strap to pull the TCA onto the new bush, also maybe try to get high strength machine bolts for the bush removal/fitting tool. One point to remember is that the swivel mounting bolt holes are over sized to allow them to be used to set the suspension up correctly, I sprayed mine with yellow paint to make accurate refitting possible when I replaced my broken road spring(s).

Cheers rum4mo,

Valid points. I wish I knew about the Seat lube, the wishbones were an ar5e to get back in.

I believe the holes in the wishbones were only oversize on the early cars. The holes on my Vrs were almost size for size.

Good stuff! Now i dont pretend to know much about this sort of thing so i have a question. I recently had wishbone bushes fitted front and rear, so would i have had the console bush changed too?

I have handling problems since being fitted but have had 4wa done. (octy vrs by the way) thanks.

nice guide there mate! Wish it had been about when I tackled this myself....

Just a minor comment - you do need lubrication to fit in the bushes, but oil remains there and can allow the bush to rotate out of alignment later on - there's a proper Skoda lube available, but I used washing-up liquid..

Cheers

Bas

Good stuff! Now i dont pretend to know much about this sort of thing so i have a question. I recently had wishbone bushes fitted front and rear, so would i have had the console bush changed too?

I have handling problems since being fitted but have had 4wa done. (octy vrs by the way) thanks.

I don't think the Octy has the same setup as the fabia, so I can't really answer your question, sorry

excellent guide. I'm sure it'll come in very handy to members.

Sorry but is that bush carrier arm cracked? Dave

Sorry but is that bush carrier arm cracked? Dave

No it's not cracked, just a high quality VW casting.

I believe the holes in the wishbones were only oversize on the early cars. The holes on my Vrs were almost size for size.

Well I thought that as well but Haynes, based on an early Fabia strip down pointed this out, so when I later bought the Polo Haynes book it was just copied across and the Polo by 2003 should have had the smaller holes. I've only ever considered that you can remove and fit these parts "as was" if they are dowelled in place or the bolts have shoulders and the arm a captive nut - as far as I can make out this is still not the case, so slight but significant misalignment can take place. I just have always had bad experiences when removing lower balljoints for reuse - so would be inclined to avaoid removing them - but it would mean that the pre "job" alignment was retained - if indeed that was still okay. Could be that VRS get better TCAs.

Hi thats brilliant and gives me the confidence to tackle mine, just one thing what size is the large socket used to extract the bush as I dont think I have anything above a 22mm or 24mm.

Thanks.

Oh and could you tell me again why the cupra bush is favoured over a full powerflex set up (less harsh?) Thanks again.

Hi thats brilliant and gives me the confidence to tackle mine, just one thing what size is the large socket used to extract the bush as I dont think I have anything above a 22mm or 24mm.

Thanks.

Oh and could you tell me again why the cupra bush is favoured over a full powerflex set up (less harsh?) Thanks again.

I know what the Ibiza Cupra bush is - its a solid version of the normal voided one. The Powerflex set up, was, as far as I know, a stiffener insert that was forced in to make the voided bush sort of solid - but to use it you really need new bushes - so why not just fit Ibiza Cupra ones by themselves. Also, it has been said that the Powerflex voided bush inserts tend to sneek out when you are not looking.

Other point, socket sizes, I can't answer that one but as you will need to get hold of the Powerflex TCA front bushes before you do this job - you should be able to work out what sizes are needed as the main dimensions of these parts will be the same, and if you then chop off carefully the front and or rear "stepped" section, then you should be able to carefully hack out what is left - maybe give it a fright with a blowtorch to "light" the rubber then push it out with a large screwdriver or something else - that always seemed to work in the past for me (on other cars) and does not create a lot of heat - but maybe a bit of smoke (cough cough!).

Thanks for that

Now just a socket size needed (rather than grovelling in snow with a tape measure!)

Thanks for that

Now just a socket size needed (rather than grovelling in snow with a tape measure!)

I edited my posting - but snow? surely its better to sleep in front of the telly and drink beer when that stuff is around - I suppose its still Winter! (Summer is just round the corner - but which one?)

One other thing, as I can't put my hands on the stuff at the moment, when you nip into your Seat place to buy the Cupra bushes, just ask for a tube (or something) of the assembling grease. I didn't know about this but the guy said "do you want some assembling grease as well" I just pleaded ignorance and said "yes". Curiously, the indep specialist that fitted my bushes for me (fitted one in reverse!!!) used goldish stuff - could be coppaslip when he replaced the wrongly fitted bush - buy maybe its best to use the right stuff.

Ah, seen that now and yes quite obvious when you think about it.

Would normally do the beer and telly thing except having a month off after xmas new year my birthday and a weeks holiday!

Thanks again

And more! Yes maybe thats the stuff to go for, think its Bas above who says too much oil in there and it could go out of alignment. Mind you didnt he use fairy?? Might just spit on it

Just need to book the mother in laws drive for a day (cos I know it will take me all day) she dont mind reminds her of hubby and keeps the cats amused.

The large black socket is 1.5" bought when I had Rover V8's and a man needed a proper socket set . Using one of the spacers and an offcut of largish tube would be ok.

Where are you based? If you leave a deposit you can borrow the gear.

Ah, seen that now and yes quite obvious when you think about it.

Just need to book the mother in laws drive for a day (cos I know it will take me all day) she dont mind reminds her of hubby and keeps the cats amused.

Ah well I just hope the weather is better - a bit like it seems it was when vrsfab took his pictures!! Still got white stuff here where the sun has not sorted it!

The large black socket is 1.5" bought when I had Rover V8's and a man needed a proper socket set . Using one of the spacers and an offcut of largish tube would be ok.

Where are you based? If you leave a deposit you can borrow the gear.

Thanks for that and the kind offer of tools.

My Dad is an engineer and I'll be asking him if he can make up some spacers for me and think he's got some "man sockets" too.

If that doesn't work out I might be in touch

run4mo, I definiteley fair weather mechanic, especially when its not actually broken

Why did you use powerflex front wishbone front bush? Are they better than the Škoda ones?

I'm sure the answer to this is "Yes"

Powerflex bushes are made from polyurethane not rubber and they keep their properties longer than rubber.

It's not just Skoda bushes that aren't so good it's common practice on the majority of car brands to uprate these parts, both for performance and an "as new" feel to the car.

I have yet to do this to my car but can relate to the symptoms reported often on here and look forward to getting it done, hopefully in the next few weeks.

Hope that helps

very good guide on replacement bushes for the fabia, just one question I have just phoned powerflex and they say that the part numbers quoted on here are for 02-05 models

I have a 01 model fabia 1.9sdi, doe's anybody know if these newer parts will fit my model

same question about the cupra console bush

just found this site after a google search, very good info

cheers

les.

The cupra ones will fit fine. I've also got an 01 SDI, I got them fitted a month ago.

Done my bushes using this guide, got the tools made up as per the instructions in this post & they worked a treat. Alot of people say this job is beyond them, personaly I found the whole process not too bad just as long as you take your time & a methodical approach.

Cant help you on that one Lesb, but I did think that they were all the same under the skin irrespective of year apart from the Mk2 model.

Thanks for your help guys, all parts ordered today.

cheers,

Les.

Just to let you all know this oil burner runs on 100% home brewed Bio-Diesel

no power loss, very clean Low exhaust emissions at its Mot.

unlike my wife's MG-ZR 2.0TDI, it hates the stuff. :confused:

Finally got round to doing this at the weekend, thanks to this guide it all went relatively hassle free

I would say definiteley get a high tensile bolt for the cupra bush pulling in tool cos all I had was some studding from screw-fix. A pack of 5 studs and bolts which I managed to bend, thread and shear :eek:

I would reccomend Basil's washing up liquid as this seemed to be way more juicy than any grease I tried (my parts man had not heard of any fitting compound)

Only driven a short way but it feels much more precise thru' the corners, more stable on the brakes (312's fitted) and less knocky on the bumps :thumbup:

Thanks to everyone who contributed towards this guide its the most hardest work I've done on a car, ever, but was worth it.

Briskoda rules