I have to replace the rear bushes on my Mk-4, apparently a common fault. I’ve been advised by some to go with Poly Bushes and others not too. Having done some research a company called Performance Bushes come recommended. Does anyone have experience using these?
I got the dreaded knock and went with the performance bushes around 15 months ago. My mechanic charged £75 labour and was extremely complimentary of the quality and of the tool that came with the kit.
Zero issues. No qualms at all with recommending.
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Many thanks that’s good to know. Sounds like you have a very good value mechanic too, my local garage has quoted 2 hrs - £250. Seems everything is double these days though. Thanks for sharing, I’ll go ahead with them.
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Still though, all things considered, in total far better than Mazda’s 2K + or so job for both sides!!
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Too true 
Only a few years back they were about £700 a side inc labour. Now about 2.5K for both, even more. I mean, come on. At 1.4K all in, granted that’s a lot of money, but if you’re an ‘OEM man’, and given they are apparently sorted post 2022, you might think ok, I’ll do the Mazda ones. But £2.5K+, silly money for essentially a set of bushes!
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Just curious about which bushes in the hub you are describing that knock? The rubber bonded ones, or the bearing covered ones. And what are the changes after 2022? Going to ‘clock’mine when the suspension arrives
The spherical bearing ones. An improved part was apparently done in '22
I did this job yesterday using the Performance bushes kit. A quick drive around the local roads afterwards I can’t hear the rattling I had before. Not a definite test as to whether these bushes have fixed that, a longer test drive needed.
Easy enough to do, follow the video x 2 (upper and lower bush removal/fitting) once you’ve done one side the other is a breeze. The lower bush is more time consuming to get at, follow the video for that.
Are my original bushes goosed, I can’t tell they have a good deal of movement in them (so have the new ones) and I can’t see any splits or perishing. Time will tell of course but at over 10 years old it seemed a worthwhile job to tackle.
These are all the old original bushes.
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When I replaced the bushes on my car the original top bushes were less worn than the bottom ones. However it would have been foolish to just replace the bottom ones whilst the car is apart and the old top ones could well wear more rapidly when new bottom ones have been fitted.
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Just to provide a little more info on the Performance Bushes kit….
A short test drive the other day after fitting wasn’t really enough to tell if they have fixed the problem. I had rattling from the rear when going over rutted road surfaces. Whether the boot was full or empty it didn’t matter as I thought it was related to being light on the rear end.
Well new bushes fitted we went on a trip up to the Peak District today, gave it a good workout. It’s like driving a different car, a new car even, so smooth over the rougher roads, no knocking or rattles from the rear, success 
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