Ibiza Mk4 wishbone bushes...

[mjstokes85]

Got mine done yesterday, turned out to be a more expensive job than I thought. I bought the bushes from Awesome GTI, my local garage said they would fit them, 2 hours for about £100. Got a call mid afternoon, to say whilst taking off the old bushes the Anti Roll Bar Link on the drivers side had snapped and they had ordered a new one which cost me another £18 and 2 hours work at £100. So all in all 4 hours at £200 plus VAT plus 18 quid for ARB link and I am £260 quid plus the £24 i paid for the bushes out of pocket. Front end is so much sharper now though, I can turn in to corners and the car doesn't even bank or slide and the steering is much more responsive, but the downside to this is a much harder ride with lots more vibration from the engine felt. The garage said it was a nightmare job to do but assured me that they would last. If I had had the originals put back on they said they would need changing once every year without fail.

 

[Fl@pper]

did i read that right ? 2 hours labour just for fitting the anti roll bar link ?

even whilst the car is up and stripped out to do the bushes anyway?

gotta be taking the pi$$ surely ??

 

[mjstokes85]

Well to do the bushes and the link, they said they had to remove the whole sub frame to fit the bushes as the solid ones have no play in them they are difficult to fit.

 

[DEAN0]

did i read that right ? 2 hours labour just for fitting the anti roll bar link ?

even whilst the car is up and stripped out to do the bushes anyway?

gotta be taking the pi$$ surely ??

Completely agree - the ARB links take around 15 mins a side and thats starting with the car on it's wheels.

I would expect that the arb links were undone anyhow whilst doing the bushes.

Sounds like they miss quoted and decided to hike the price.

 

[RUM4MO]

Completely agree - the ARB links take around 15 mins a side and thats starting with the car on it's wheels.

I would expect that the arb links were undone anyhow whilst doing the bushes.

Sounds like they miss quoted and decided to hike the price.

I thought at first that it must have meant the ARB was now needing to get replaced, but with a parts price of £18 it must have only been a drop link - so I'd have to agree with DEANO! Its a pity that there is now a lot of noise, my wife's Polo 1.4SE was okay after that job was done - are you sure that the exhaust has not been moved over a bit and is now touching the subframe at times? One other job that you will now need doing to avoid excessive tyre wear, will be a complete front to rear alignment (calling it four wheel realignment seems to annoy some folk!).

 

[mjstokes85]

If the exhaust has been moved and is touching the sub frame is there anyway I could move it back myself? And I think they did underestimate the job to be honest, most other garages said it's a 2-3 hour job, yet the garage I went to thought it would only take an hour!

 

[DEAN0]

If the exhaust has been moved and is touching the sub frame is there anyway I could move it back myself? And I think they did underestimate the job to be honest, most other garages said it's a 2-3 hour job, yet the garage I went to thought it would only take an hour!

Before you start trying to move the exhaust around - do one other check :

Runing next to the steering rack (across the car) are a couple of small diameter pipes - they should be in clips to keep them in place.
After nearly every service at the stealers - these pipes had come out of their clips and would rattle on the steering rack at various speeds.

Simply clipping them back in place cured it.

I have also used small zip ties on them now so they don't come out again.

 

[kidinspace]

Update - cupra bushes fitted

C.U.P.R.A Bushes!!! (P/N - 6LL407183)

Whooo Hooooo!

Had them fitted them last night, the other ones had only been on since September and where both completetly stuffed.
Also changed the ARB bushes too as these where fairly well worn too.

Pros:- car handles a lot better - less body roll, no knocking/banging/sqeaking/rattling when driving over anything that is flat smooth tarmac! They only cost £20.70 - the "updated" standard bushes cost £18 ish no contest there then!

Cons:- The ride is noticiably firmer, more engine vibration, they are never ever going to be removed - took huge amounts of effort to get them in due to the fact the outer case of them is made of metal... You have to put them in the right way round or else the wishbone won't fit...

I'll add a photo of them fitted later on.

.G.

 

[Blanco92]

I may be fitting the Cupra bushes to mine on Sunday. Depends if my dad has time off work to give me a hand!

Which way actually is the right way round? I know you've sort of said they only go in one way, but which way is it?

Cheers!

 

[RUM4MO]

Well, to start with, looking at these pictures, you will see that there is a recess at one end - at end MUST be at the front or the peg part of the TCA will not get in far enough and if forced will squeeal like a pig after a day or two. Next, the actual orientation of "a flat" with respect to the horizontal, take a look in the Haynes repair manual as I think that it is shown there in a diagram - if this is wrong and different from the other side then there will be different "pre-load" on the suspension so it will not feel perfect - and if its too far away from where it needs to be the constant "loading" of the rubber will make it fail earlier than it should. Remember to use a suitable lubrication on the outer aluminim skin as the console that it gets pushed into is also aluminium - a very bad combination of press fit bits!

 

[RUM4MO]

C.U.P.R.A Bushes!!! (P/N - 6LL407183)

Whooo Hooooo!

Had them fitted them last night, the other ones had only been on since September and where both completetly stuffed.
Also changed the ARB bushes too as these where fairly well worn too.

Pros:- car handles a lot better - less body roll, no knocking/banging/sqeaking/rattling when driving over anything that is flat smooth tarmac! They only cost £20.70 - the "updated" standard bushes cost £18 ish no contest there then!

Cons:- The ride is noticiably firmer, more engine vibration, they are never ever going to be removed - took huge amounts of effort to get them in due to the fact the outer case of them is made of metal... You have to put them in the right way round or else the wishbone won't fit... .G.

I'm surprised that you are describing one of the cons as firmer ride - I'm an old bugger and thought that the only change (from when the car was new - Polo 1.4SE) was pros which called what I think you mean as sharper turning due to a more confidant feel from the front. What engine is in your car - as you can see my wife's Polo was petrol?

 

[Aimez]

I got powerflex and cupra bushes fitted 6 months ago as car was making horrible squeaking noise, my local garage also fitted ARB link which as said takes hardly anytime at all!

 

[kidinspace]

I may be fitting the Cupra bushes to mine on Sunday. Depends if my dad has time off work to give me a hand!

Which way actually is the right way round? I know you've sort of said they only go in one way, but which way is it?

Cheers!

Basically the recess goes to the front or else you don't get the wishbone far enough in to get everythinig to line up properly.

What engine is in your car - as you can see my wife's Polo was petrol?

1.2 Petrol, I only really noticed the engine vibration when I went to pull away in 2nd from a r'about I felt more of a vibration than I ever did before.

The only other "con" I can add to my list is now that my suspension doesn't make any noise everything else in the car rattles.... reall need to get a new boot trim as it is pretty bad!

.G.

 

[MrNorma]

Scary watching Colin at work aint it. He knows his stuff though. Not a massive difference in the updated bushes to the cupra bushes now.

 

[kidinspace]

Scary watching Colin at work aint it. He knows his stuff though. Not a massive difference in the updated bushes to the cupra bushes now.

I know, he is really clued up though!
There isn't much difference between them now, my reason for putting them in is that i very much doubt i will ever be changing them again.

.G.

 

[RUM4MO]

1.2 Petrol, I only really noticed the engine vibration when I went to pull away in 2nd from a r'about I felt more of a vibration than I ever did before.

The only other "con" I can add to my list is now that my suspension doesn't make any noise everything else in the car rattles.... reall need to get a new boot trim as it is pretty bad! .G.

That is strange as I thought that it was only TDIs that got the increased noise after this mod. Yes I know what you mean about other rattles, my wife's Polo needs the rear bump stops changing as they have "fallen down" which seems to be a normal occurance, few new rattles from the dash + front suspension - maybe drop-links though they seem okay (cheap and easy to change) or ARB bushes (again cheap and easy to change).

 

[techie]

and new ones in

 

[Blanco92]

Basically the recess goes to the front or else you don't get the wishbone far enough in to get everythinig to line up properly.

Just as I thought, cheers!

 

[RUM4MO]

Ah, note that techie's pictures show the correct style of tooling being used - ie tooling that gives a degree of "guidance" (from the small end fixing bolt hole) when pulling the new bush in so that you don't end up jamming it as you try to force it in "off axis"

 

[Blanco92]

Ah, note that techie's pictures show the correct style of tooling being used - ie tooling that gives a degree of "guidance" (from the small end fixing bolt hole) when pulling the new bush in so that you don't end up jamming it as you try to force it in "off axis"

I bought one along those lines:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370255727624&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT