Knackered anti-roll bar bushes

Lessbutbetter

ARB bushes are gone on the drivers front side. It gives a little knocking sound when i go over speed humps, or bumps on the road. it's up for it's MOT in a few weeks, and i've read they can fail you on this. Is this true?

Are these reasonably easy to replace yourself, with a bit of gumption and a few hours?

If not, what would a garage ask to replace this for me?

Thanks

mikey72

That's a yes or no question.
Some are easy, mine you have to drop the subframe, and usually drill out the bolts.
The good thing is the knocking noise on mine was the droparms, which are a 15 min job each side.

Hammyman

Lessbutbetter wrote: »

ARB bushes are gone on the drivers front side. It gives a little knocking sound when i go over speed humps, or bumps on the road. it's up for it's MOT in a few weeks, and i've read they can fail you on this. Is this true?

Are these reasonably easy to replace yourself, with a bit of gumption and a few hours?

If not, what would a garage ask to replace this for me?

Thanks

Yes they are a fail. Why haven't you already replaced them, they being a kind of safety critical item as on many cars they help locate the wheel?

Easy to replace. Depending on which bushes you either replace the bush, drop link or the whole bottom arm.

mikey72

Hammyman wrote: »

Yes they are a fail. Why haven't you already replaced them, they being a kind of safety critical item as on many cars they help locate the wheel?

Easy to replace. Depending on which bushes you either replace the bush, drop link or the whole bottom arm.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

You can do mine when they need it then.

swiftnick

Is the play excessive? By the sound you describe probably not. The golden rule for MoT testers these days is test to pass. Don't agree with most of it and I wouldn't drive my car like it, we just have to abide by the rules dictated by VOSA....

pendulum

I did mine and it's not rocket science, however I did have to get my angle grinder out. I probably could have made do with a £5 nut splitter though. Visit owners forums and you should be able to find threads about how easy (or not) it is to do for your specific model.

Hammyman

mikey72 wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

You can do mine when they need it then.

No thanks. I've had my fill of working on sheds..:p

mikey72

Can't argue with that.
You still taking yours to Kwik Fit for the oil changes?

Lessbutbetter

Thanks for the help.

I have found a few sites which explain in detail how to go about the job. I've been looking at the actual replacements and you can buy individually or as a full 18 piece kit. Some of the manufacturers are boasting about "impressive and confident ride, excellent noise dampening, sharper turn in", but surely a cheap set as opposed to a set from "polybush" [£386] would be fine. Is it not simply a piece of hard wearing plastic?

I think i'll be getting the £30 jobby!

It's an audi A3 by the way. I might ask the friendly neighbour if he's interested in helping next weekend, but before that im going to call the local garage and see how much he'll charge to do it.

Originally Posted by Hammyman Yes they are a fail. Why haven't you already replaced them, they being a kind of safety critical item as on many cars they help locate the wheel?

This only started on tue/wed of this week.

thanks

mikey72

Lessbutbetter wrote: »

Thanks for the help.

I have found a few sites which explain in detail how to go about the job. I've been looking at the actual replacements and you can buy individually or as a full 18 piece kit. Some of the manufacturers are boasting about "impressive and confident ride, excellent noise dampening, sharper turn in", but surely a cheap set as opposed to a set from "polybush" [£386] would be fine. Is it not simply a piece of hard wearing plastic?

I think i'll be getting the £30 jobby!

It's an audi A3 by the way. I might ask the friendly neighbour if he's interested in helping next weekend, but before that im going to call the local garage and see how much he'll charge to do it.



This only started on tue/wed of this week.

thanks

I've seen them at under £10 a side, but I'd avoid them, anything too cheap won't be good. Equally, I don't use polybush, it's only an arb after all.

Hammyman

mikey72 wrote: »

Can't argue with that.
You still taking yours to Kwik Fit for the oil changes?

Only did that cos it was the only place open and I knew the mechanic doing the job. I get mine serviced at the local Ford dealer usually - works out £2 more than an independent but I get the all important body inspection stamp at the dealers. At the mileage it has, its getting to the point its no longer worth getting the service to the schedule other than every third one which is a major so I might just get the £99 one. For that money, someone else can have the aggro of getting covered in grease and oil checking it over.

Not that I can really do it myself anymore with a shafted back - a fact that really narks me especially with a roll cab and top box full of tools sat in my garage.