My 2003 Skoda Fabia VRS failed its MOT the other day on a worn wishbone bush causing excessive play.

When I took the wishbone off I found out it was the rear bush where the wishbone slots into, that had worn.

The bush is contained in an arm attached the subframe, it can be taken off but needs alot more taken off before. Hopefully the bush can be taken out while the arm is on the car.

Has anyone done this job before, the bloke at the MOT place reckons its just a rubber bush with no metal insert and they just cut it out. Ive ordered a new bush that is being delivered tomorrow so will see how easy it will be to cut out.

Just wondered if anyone can give me a heads up before I go at it with the air hacksaw!

[Edited on 19/8/2008 by greggors84]

the big chunk of ali comes out after you get the anti roll bar out of the way .the end of the wishbone is a hex shape so make a note of where the bush sits so the new one goes in the same position . the plastic walls of the bush are quite thin so they smash out fairly easy but getting the new one in can be a pain,dont bother trying to press it in as they just crush and break the outer plastic part ,my trick is to grind a little taper on the edge of the plastic outer and knock the new one in with a big rubber mallett not a metal one. dont bother trying it on the car ive not done may of these but they are still quite young. i tried to do one with the bracket still on the car and there just isnt enough room to hit it squarely. you can get pattern bushes for under a tenner as the seat has the same set up

IIRC the Audi A3 has a similar set up but the bushes look to be heavier duty, they may be interchangeable .

I should have said that I think the wishbone set up is common across the Fabia/Golf/Leon(?)/A3 range.

The current bush has an audi badge marking on it so Im guessing its the same as the A3.

Thanks for the advice froggy. I need to get under the car properly to have a good look at how the ali bit comes out. Just need about 2 hours of no rain to dry the tarmac up!

[Edited on 19/8/2008 by greggors84]

get a gazeebo, £14 and jobs a good un.

I should stop being such a girl really!

We have a couple of EZ ups at work but I might get laughed at as Im the soft southerner up here!