Broken Rear Spring

[chandler32]

Evening all,

I changed my tyres over to the summer ones this week (finally!) and noticed that the rear drivers side coil is snapped quite near the top:

Looking at the ride height there is very little difference to the other side and its not making any clunking noises. The question is, do I need to change it asap or can it wait? It may well have been like that for a while but the MOT is due in June although they may not be able to see with the wheel on.

Any thoughts?

many thanks

[FROSTYBALLS]

Have a look at: http://www.partinfo.co.uk/articles/109

[Konrad C]

Change it as soon as possible. That is what I would do.

It may not seem any different, but if for instance you were involved in an accident that was not your fault, insurance companies may not want to pay out on a defective car. Also if the Police were involved, it may go against you. This is regardless if you were in the right or not.

You know the fault is there (as well as the forum) so get the spring changed.

I did notice how rusty the spring is around the break area. It may be wise to change the other side too - inspect all four corners.

[garethpaul]

The MOT will pick up on it for sure. If they cannot see it with the naked eye, they have use of all manners of inspection mirrors to get in the tightest of gaps.

A broken spring is an instant MOT failure as it would be considered potentially dangerous to drive.

Along with possible handling/braking issues - one scenario could be as the spring is now not located in its seat properly, it is free to turn. This could dislodge the broken end which could go through your tyre causing a blowout at 70mph on the motorway (not nice) or fall to the road and bounce up into a following cars windscreen, again a not very nice ending. I wouldn't like that on my conscience.

Personally, I would take the others advice and get it changed ASAP.

[BigMo82]

I agree, for me anything around the wheels/brakes is a must to get sorted.

[chandler32]

thanks for all the responses. Its booked in with the local independent garage to change both rears for £265 inc VAT. The springs look to cost around £60 online but I don't fancy doing this one myself, plus I'd have to buy the compressors...

Regards

David

[Druid Boy]

Good decision. It will give you peace of mind as well as safety/legal compliance. May even save you a bit of tyre wear along the way.

[garethpaul]

I replaced my rear shocks myself - basically the same procedure for changing a spring.

I've got a copy of the Autodata CD, and I think that quoted 4.5 hours labour time per side which I thought was a bit excessive.

So, I started one Sunday morning expecting to spend all day at it, but was finished by late morning even with a couple of tea breaks in between.

I got the spring compressors from Screwfix as they seemed quite substantial with the dual hooks with no chance of them slipping off: http://www.screwfix.com/p/coil-spring-compressor-kit-2pcs/45986

The things that took the longest time for me was cutting off the ARB drop link nuts due to rust.

I also had to modify the new shocks in that there is a bracket attached to them with a hole in it that the brake line goes through. I had to cut a slot in this so that I could slide the brake line into it without splitting it and having to bleed the brakes.

Looking at your photo, it appears that yours would be easier to change than on my old Corolla as there is just the single through bolt at the bottom holding it to the hub area, and there will be the three nuts at the top mount accessed from within the boot area. There doesn't appear to be anything else attached to it. Undo those with the wheel raised off the ground and the whole unit should just pull out.

It's your call and if you don't feel confident then get someone else to do it, but personally I would save the money and do it myself.

Where did you get your price of £60 from, and was that per spring or for the pair?

Eurocarparts have some Sachs springs for just under £100 the pair, but have a 20% discount code (WEBSAVER20) at the moment taking it to £78

[+robster+]

Get -35mm springs all round

Will look and handle a bit better