Has my front shock gone

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
Hi all

I was just taking pictures of my arb bushes to see if they were knackered when I came across a problem,

Just as I took my front left wheel off the suspension dropped about 3 inches, so far the jack was at the max to get the wheel back on.

Also does my arb bushes look knackered

568a92eb-7150-4fc8.jpg


568a92eb-7167-f698.jpg


Hope the pics come out as I'm doing this from iPhone
 

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
The height looks ok when the wheel is on, just the dropping of the whole thing when I took the wheel off

I get some bad creaking when breaking and some over bumps and also a funny noise when turning left
 

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
Droplink looks ok to me, but to be honest I'm not 100% know what to look for, no oily shock,

568a92eb-8335-ed41.jpg
 

gazrhys

Active Member
Oct 24, 2008
321
0
Manchester
mmm only other thing that springs to my mind is maybe top mounts best to go see a garage where they can check all the bushes and suspension see if there is any problem .
when you say the wheel dropped do you mean the suspension srung down like it was stuck or something??
 

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
Popping into garage tomorrow for them to have a look,

I jacked the car up as normal until the wheel was about 2 cm above floor, took wheel off and then the whole bottom part eg hub area dropped a further 6cm, was a struggle with jack at full height to get wheel back on, maybe it was just stuck and when I took wheel off it freed up
 

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
I thought that from the picture, might have been the flash, felt it and seemed ok, will check tomorrow in the daylight
 

gazrhys

Active Member
Oct 24, 2008
321
0
Manchester
Popping into garage tomorrow for them to have a look,

I jacked the car up as normal until the wheel was about 2 cm above floor, took wheel off and then the whole bottom part eg hub area dropped a further 6cm, was a struggle with jack at full height to get wheel back on, maybe it was just stuck and when I took wheel off it freed up

just what i was thinking could be something or nothing but good your getting it checked
 
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
If you're only jacking up one side, the anti roll bar governs the wheel drop rather than the spring or the damper. The fact that your bushes are that bad suggests that it's not doing what it's meant to, and therefore you're getting the drop that you're seeing. Even the sudden drop could be the ARB dislodging itself and letting things go.

It'll also be responsible for all the creaks, groans and general bad behaviour. I would be very surprised if your shock absorber was in trouble, unless you can see a leak.

When I had trouble with my anti roll bar and had it disconnected, my jack also couldn't lift the car far enough to get the wheel off the ground. I had to do a very bad thing and jack up the wishbone to get it into the air, then use an axle stand to support it while I finished the job.

And yes, that CV joint needs a new boot!
 

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
Thanks Slimy

All makes sense, Think I'll change the bushes straight away, only 4 quid each from ecp so not bad.

Just whether to do it myself or get the garage to do it.

Thanks for everyones help
 

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
A local garage said they need to drop the sub frame and redo tracking, is this correct for changing arb bushes
 
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
I believe that is the textbook way of doing it, although when I was looking into it I found Powerflex use a split bush, which doesn't need the roll bar removing. Undo all the bolts, cut the old bush off, fit the split bush round the bar, bolt it back up again. It's fiddly, but a whole lot easier than dropping the subframe.

Roll bars make no different to tracking at all, that's to do with them dropping the subframe. If you can do it without dropping the subframe then you don't need to worry about tracking.

Edit: Just noticed you've already priced up ECP versions. I don't know whether they're split or not, might actually be easier to cut them if they're not.
 

SCupra

Active Member
Aug 19, 2007
136
0
Ok the guy that told me all that was a ex seat mechanic, I guess it was the text book way.

He said I'd prob need a new arb as well.

The ones I picked up from ecp are split so that should be ok, the garage down my road said they would do it, said it is fiddly but would be done within a hour, and won't bother with dropping the subframe.

Will pop it to them wednesday to do.
 
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
Why on earth would you want a new ARB? They're f**king monstrous, solid lumps of metal!! I can't imagine you ever needing a new ARB, unless your existing one is bent or you want an uprated one.

Droplinks yes, bushes virtually guaranteed, but not the bar itself. He's talking out of his bottom. :)

That hour sounds about right, I'd give myself about three to get it done but I'm not a mechanic so I'd expect a garage to be able to work three or four times faster.
 

rs-tuner

Active Member
May 5, 2010
321
0
stoke-on-trent
Why on earth would you want a new ARB? They're f**king monstrous, solid lumps of metal!! I can't imagine you ever needing a new ARB, unless your existing one is bent or you want an uprated one.

Droplinks yes, bushes virtually guaranteed, but not the bar itself. He's talking out of his bottom. :)

That hour sounds about right, I'd give myself about three to get it done but I'm not a mechanic so I'd expect a garage to be able to work three or four times faster.

On some vag cars the arb has mountings on to hold the bush in place these mountings break off the bar and the bush escapes. The only cure is to fit a new arb and bushes.

But the Leon is not affected I think it's the Ibiza chassis cars that have that bar.
 
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