Spring snapped twice!

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Burnerman

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I have a Peugeot Bipper van, 67 plate, 47000 miles. It's possibly the most uncomfortable vehicle I've ever owned, SWB and a pay load of over 600kg so it does bounce around a bit.
Had a general look over it today - it's well maintained but not pampered, as they say.
Anyhoo, I found the offside front spring had a chunk out of it - snapped in two places, which has to be unusual......curiously, I'd seen a chunk of spring lying in the road nearby about a fortnight ago and wondered who the unlucky individual was :unsure:
The van ride height wasn't affected.
Job for tomorrow then! At least it's warm outside. If I can access the spring tops without shifting the wipers and front scuttle a la Berlingo it'll be a bonus.
Have a good evening everyone
John :)
 
Yep my Megane est rear spring snapped, either shocking state of our roads or le frogslegs making them out of cheese
 
Job done, nothing out of the ordinary apart from having to remove one wiper arm to give me access to under the plastic scuttle and the two strut to hub bolts being ferociously tight.....they have around 15mm of exposed thread that doesn’t help very much.
I wanted to replace the strut top bearing but they weren’t available so I split that ( it’s a non caged ball race around 70mm diameter) and it was rough to turn. New grease sorted that.
Lesforjors spring, £33 delivered and a ridiculous 4 hours graft.....talk about slow!
John
 
I think European made spring's are carp. In the 6years I had a VW Golf I had 5 break at different times. Both fronts once at different times and rest on the rear - 2 at once with third later on.
 
Diver Fred said:
I think European made spring's are carp. In the 6years I had a VW Golf I had 5 break at different times. Both fronts once at different times and rest on the rear - 2 at once with third later on.
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I've replaced both rears, over the years. I try to buy Swedish ones. I also replaced a rough strut top bearing once, it was just rough, and you could feel the clicking at the steering wheel. I understand it not an MOT fail.

Springs tend to break at a weak point, where rust has gained a hold. I try to remember to blather mine with oil and grease, when I take a wheel off and have time.
 
That's a wise move, Harry. But is it not the case, generally, that all manufacturers have purposely downgraded the quality of springs over the last few years or so? Not sure where I heard this but it might have been the high-priest of clickbait, Scotty Kilmer.
 
I don't think so. Cars have got heavier and roads have got worse. Also, manufacturers are making their springs work really hard, because they’re going down in diameter to save space in the rest of the car, which puts the stresses up in the springs. A lot of them are now "rising rate" - which, again, puts the stresses up. Someone told me that more and more manufacturers were going to cold-formed springs to save money. I don't know if that makes a difference?

Broken springs were rare in my youth - they would sag, rather than break. But now, it does seem a very common problem.
 
One of the reasons why I'm against a two year MOT test - if in fact it's still being considered!
I hadn't a clue that I had a broken spring, until I found a piece on my drive but that could have come from almost anywhere.
I may have mentioned before but on one occasion with a Peugeot 406 estate, the broken spring had slashed the tyre, cut through the brake flexy, chopped the ABS wire and finally speared the CV joint boot o_O
At least I was spared that!
John :)
 
Burnerman said:
I may have mentioned before but on one occasion with a Peugeot 406 estate, the broken spring had slashed the tyre, cut through the brake flexy, chopped the ABS wire and finally speared the CV joint boot o_O
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Mine had a recall issued, to fit a 'spring protector' on the front, to attempt to avoid that. Just a steel dish, with a peg of steel sticking up, which slotted around the bottom of the strut and bolted up into place. How effective, I have no idea, I've never had a front spring let go. Nor a rear one, since I last replaced one.

The suggestion is, that springs are more likely to snap when they are cold, just as you set off on a journey - probably why you found the bit of spring on your drive.
 
Not unknown for springs to break whilst parked, including at supermarket car parks, or overnight.

The spring protector Harry refers to are a good idea, even if the spring breaks they generally stop the spring doing other damage as mentioned.

The idea of a spring breaking and damaging tyre and brakes whilst driving is scary
 
carmanmemoranda said:
Not unknown for springs to break whilst parked, including at supermarket car parks, or overnight.
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I was washing the Vdub Golf when I heard a loud crack/bang - just like a gunshot - looking around after I dropped on the floor I noticed the car was shaking slightly.
After a while and not seeing or hearing anyone or anything I looked around the car to see if there was any damage. Couldn't see anything so didn't worry anymore.
When we went out in the car later on turning the steering there was lots of noise and it was difficult to turn - more so to the right than the left. Stopped the car and had a feel around the spring cups on the front suspension to find a 3/4 turn of coil spring in the cup.

So yes I agree they can break at anytime, even when stationary.
 
My old Megane (piece of junk) spat a chunk of broken spring out as I was driving, offside front, threw it into the kerb on the other side of the road, fortunately low speed and no other cars about and no other damage, fair play to the Polish mechanic who'd set up a very ad-hoc garage close by and was replaced for about £40 in about 2 hours.
 
Diver Fred said:
I was washing the Vdub Golf when I heard a loud crack/bang - just like a gunshot - looking around after I dropped on the floor I noticed the car was shaking slightly.
Click to expand...
Do you live in downtown L.A. ........................or Manchester ?
 
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