Auris hybrid broken rear spring

[TonyHSD]

Hi everyone, 

rotating the tyres today I had discovered not only the tyres are going bad but also a broken spring on the rear right wheel. It’s the upper end where the spring mounts to the body and seat on the rubber insulator which seems has collapsed. What do you think , is it broken indeed or just the insulator somehow has collapsed on its own? Last two pictures are from the left side which seems alright.
All comments welcome. 
Thank you. 

[Parts-King]

It's broken by the looks of it, not uncommon to be fair, genuine about £75 ish, non genuine can be a struggle to get hold of on these models. PM for with your reg number if you want a price on one

[flash22]

Looks like the last 50-60 mm is missing - due to the mileage do them as an axle pair otherwise you will be chasing your tail

https://lagabasen.com/visa-produkt?part=G-42182214

just a quick look on the epc 48231-02B40

[flash22]

Second thoughts/look - it does look right, tho the top rubber is done for

[TonyHSD]

13 minutes ago, flash22 said:

Second thoughts/look - it does look right, tho the top rubber is done for

Do you think the spring is ok not broken ? It looks a small peace missing and that’s why the rubber insulator has collapsed. The weather is not with me today and it’s raining, can’t do any work for now. I am thinking one second hand spring or perhaps two new and all rubbers . I found KYB at good price for the springs and will need to have 4 oem rubber insulators eventually. Oem springs a bit step in price. 

[flash22]

The end of the spring looks flat to me from what i can see, also look at the link i posted

[TonyHSD]

Lol, definitely is broken. I just found pictures from 16th of march when I had the tyres swapped winter with summer. It looks way better. 👍 I think the other side may gets to the same condition soon. Here pictures from March 2022. 

[Stivino]

It's broken alright and that's why the rubber isn't sitting properly. 

[xrhstosgr]

Good morning Tony I'm impressed by the corrosion you have, but it doesn't look like it's going to break. If it was broken, as I read from interlocutors, wouldn't it change its position?

[AisinW]

It is in decent shape although some of the coating/paint are gone on the spring.  I am not from snowy are and have no clue how bad when we need to replace spring from rust.  In my opinion, changing rear spring is very dangerous job without proper equipments and safety measure. I will just keep driving it because of pretty hefty price to replace them as long as it has no structural damage.  Rubber cracks are normal as long as the metal does not grind each other.  Sand, and coat it with Zn-anodized paint primer, and spray enamel durable black paint on the under body that has been cleaned and sanded really well. 

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

The spring is broken the last 3cm peace at the very end since while the rubber cap has collapsed. The car drives as usual and I couldn’t feel any issues, it might been like that for some time because of the rust on the broken end. The easiest repair was to buy and replace with same exact spring from salvage car, unfortunately these cars are too old and all donors available are in worse condition so I ordered 2 new KYB springs and 4 rubber insulators. I didn’t go for Toyota oem as those are a bit too expensive.
Now I am thinking, should I just replace the shocks too? 🤔 Or perhaps check them when springs are off and if too weak will order some new shocks and swap them next time. I can’t go for very big or long time consuming jobs as I need the car for work., all needs to be well planned in advance. 

[AisinW]

I usually just buy all things that we may need. It saves time and if we do not need it we can return it within 30 days in most online stores like Autodoc. Just use Paypal and you have 10 returns per year for free by Paypal. KYB shocks and springs are great and very close to Toyota Parts quality since it is indeed OEM supplier. I found KYB piston quality is better than Gabriel or Monroe for similar price. Bilstein is also really good. Shock takes only 1 hour, spring can take few hours because you really need a good jack and lift. It is really hard and dangerous without lift and tall jack that usually use to support engine or transmission. Shock is relatively cheap, I found it is about €20 each from TRW which is ZF group that also makes Sachs shocks. TRW is also OEM for BMW and they are good. 

[TonyHSD]

Thanks. I got two shocks Sachs ordered too. I will be working on my drive way and the car will be lifted on jack stands both sides and I will use the hydraulic jack to play with the torsion beam, working one side at the time. It should be an ok job. Will take some pictures. Perhaps next weekend. 👍

[TonyHSD]

While waiting for the parts just walked around the car and noticed the right side is lower than the left side and has less wheel arches space , it seems the broken peace of the spring made it softer and the car weight is showing. Here some photos: 

 

[TonyHSD]

Little update here, 

been a busy day for me working on the spring case. Got the springs out and treated the torsion beam and the area around against rust. Tomorrow will paint everything while waiting for spring insulators from Toyota, the aftermarket ones are not good and will return them. The KYB springs looks fine and exact specs, I am fitting these and will keep the old shocks as they seems to be in perfect order, only tiny bit of rust but has been treated too. 😉👌 here pictures before and after 👍

[TonyHSD]

Ok, after 3 days job has been completed. Obviously it wasn’t only 2 springs replacement as this is very easy job except the shock bolts that were rusty as well as some other areas around. I decided to rust treated the bad spots under the car rear including rear axle and shocks. Here how it looks . Aftermarket springs were also colour coded to complement the oem rubber cups and to give dealer like job done, not diy -er 🛠🔧🪛😂

[Cyker]

Missed a prime opportunity to fit some coilovers!!!  

But seriously thanks those are some great detailed pics - So clear too! Also, it's a bit weird but my brother's Mk1's rear springs failed in almost an identical manner at about the same age! I wonder if that's a Toyotaism that needs to be checked when the car gets to about 12-13 years old?

[TonyHSD]

7 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Missed a prime opportunity to fit some coilovers!!!  

But seriously thanks those are some great detailed pics - So clear too! Also, it's a bit weird but my brother's Mk1's rear springs failed in almost an identical manner at about the same age! I wonder if that's a Toyotaism that needs to be checked when the car gets to about 12-13 years old?

Thanks. 
Parts King said that this is common with Toyota cars, first time happened to me on any car but seems like I had been keeping this for longest which might be the reason why I had never  experience any spring issues before. I didn’t go for oem springs although I bought KYB which are the suppliers for Toyota springs therefore maybe they are same quality. The new ones are made in Czech republic. The rust is the thing that shortens the life of everything metal. 

[Derek.w]

Common to lots of car from verious manufacturers

First the coil protection coating splits then the weather time and solt play there part then its weakend and snapped.

The top rubbers are at the end of there life also I seam to rememder a spefific orientation for the top rubber.

At least you were able to sort it.

[Parts-King]

Not just Toyota cars, lots of others too, I just had to get a rear pair for a Honda Jazz, the particular springs were genuine only, £120 EACH 

[AisinW]

I never had problems with spring since 2002 but I was in FL where we never see salt on roads.  

Corrosion is the main problems in older Toyota, especially body on frame SUV and truck. Since Prius2, the undercover is really good. Plastic really helps rust issues because plastic in  the underbody is really durable.   Now I have snow 3-5x a year but I always pressure wash the underbody everytime snow came.   The rust is minimal, only surface rust on the braces, control arms, wheel hub, brake disc, and exhaust. The body is perfect. 

[TonyHSD]

Definitely the rust is the culprit for broken springs on many cars. I can see my front once has also developed similar rust spots and the shocks are all covered in surface rust. I am thinking of treating them like I did to the rear with the rest of the components that has rust but are actually in good condition to try to extend the life of them and the whole car. Let pass the heatwave first and then I will make my hands dirty again, got some kurust and spray paint leftovers 🛠🪛👌

[AisinW]

Thanks Tony for the info. It helps us pay attention on that region during inspection and pressure washing. 

I used steel wire brush or chisels for some hard rusts. My struts are bubling and I strip all the paints under the spring. The Zn spray primer holds about 1 year before some spots need to be touched up. I will paint it once  have time with Black enamel spray. I did not do that before because i thought I am going to replace the struts. But, now I am convinced that the struts are still good internally for many more years.  No leaks, still firm but the paint job is not that good in KYB struts. 

My Sienna 04 stilll have original struts at 230k miles when I was in FL, but the rear shocks are shot at about 150k miles/12 years. Although cosmetically the paints are still good.  

[Derek.w]

I use rust treatment and a tin of Hammerrite.

Dont forget to remove stones and poke drain holes clear in top pans (upper spring seat) that the spring locates against.

Please dont paint the rubber itself.

[Saxmaniac]

This stuff is a little pricey but for an extremely tough paint POR15 is made to "paint over rust" (I don't think that means missing out preparation!) I've used it from time to time and it's so tough you dare not get any on the flange of the paint tin or you will be totally unable to open tin again! I'm going to experiment with Fluid Film on mine and see how that keeps away the rust underneath. I'll squirt it into box sections and all over underneath including behind plastic shields. I'll let you know what it looks like in a year