Hi my car has just failed its first mot in just over 4 years on a broken coil spring things are tight at the moment so i would like to know if it is a difficult job and if some one with little car maintenance experience could do it???????

Hi my car has just failed its first mot in just over 4 years on a broken coil spring things are tight at the moment so i would like to know if it is a difficult job and if some one with little car maintenance experience could do it???????

Hi, is that a front or rear spring that has broken.

Hi, is that a front or rear spring that has broken.

Hi. its a rear coil spring

As long as you have spring compressors changing the springs on the back should be a simple job. I changed the bump stops on the back which was dead easy.

Obviously you'll need a proper jack and axle stands.

Rear coil springs are the easier ones to change, if you don’t have a set of spring clamp don’t worry as you can do it with out them. But be careful.

It all depends where the spring has broken and the most common is approx few inches from the end of the spring, then spring clamps won’t be needed

A brief description of the job is:

1 jack the vehicle up and place on an axle stand.

2 remove the wheel

3 remove the lower bolt to the shock absorber

4 also remove the top bolt for the shock as well but as long as the shock absorber is supported and stopped from opening further you wouldn't have to remove it.

5 with a bit of persuasion you will be able to remove the spring

6 fitting the new spring as well as a new mount, you may have to apply pressure to the end of the axle arm to make enough room for it to fit in place.

You must ensure that it is in the correct position once fitted i.e. ends of the spring located correctly with the rubber mounts, compare this to the other spring

This is not gospel on how to fit them only a quick brief, but im sure others will give there opinions on how to do it and with what is wrong with the way I have suggested.

Rear coil springs are the easier ones to change, if you don’t have a set of spring clamp don’t worry as you can do it with out them. But be careful.

It all depends where the spring has broken and the most common is approx few inches from the end of the spring, then spring clamps won’t be needed

A brief description of the job is:

1 jack the vehicle up and place on an axle stand.

2 remove the wheel

3 remove the lower bolt to the shock absorber

4 also remove the top bolt for the shock as well but as long as the shock absorber is supported and stopped from opening further you wouldn't have to remove it.

5 with a bit of persuasion you will be able to remove the spring

6 fitting the new spring as well as a new mount, you may have to apply pressure to the end of the axle arm to make enough room for it to fit in place.

You must ensure that it is in the correct position once fitted i.e. ends of the spring located correctly with the rubber mounts, compare this to the other spring

This is not gospel on how to fit them only a quick brief, but im sure others will give there opinions on how to do it and with what is wrong with the way I have suggested.

thanks for your help. i wanted to change both springs as this is what ive been advised to do. so it sounds like i would need a spring compressor to change the other one.