I think that spring design has something to do with it, where they seat is usually a smaller coil diameter than the middle of the spring, so there isn't as much spring area to spread the force, this also has the disadvantage of should they break higher up, the spring can slip of its seat, with the possibility of going through tyres and brake lines.

 

The springs on my Ford are over twenty years old and still complete.  One make of car that I've never encountered a broken spring on is Jaguar.

I'll try to get the broken springs back from the garage on Tuesday. 

Car will need a service in about 2k miles so I will be talking to Sinclair's about this!

And mainly down to the state of the roads in the UK, doubtless.  Roads (and infrastructure generally) falling to bits, whilst all the politicians are interested in is 'glamour' projects like new roads/railways etc.  Build new ones, and allow the existing ones to become unusable - except by tractors!

 

Ahh.....the joys of living in a 'low-tax' economy.  You pay lower income tax than you used to, but everything about you is falling to pieces (including the NHS) and it costs you far, far more than you saved in tax to pay for everything (like car suspension repairs and private health cover) that would once not have cost you anything at all.

 

Rant (as they say) over.  The Scandinavians have far more economic sense than we do - I need to move to Sweden, Finland, Norway or Denmark!

Byee!

Most European & Chinese spring manufacturers just crop the ends of the steel rod prior to forming the spring.

This can cause a weak spot at the first coil of both ends of the spring, and it's the spring ends that take the contact load.

 

Japanese and Korean spring ends are cropped then flattened or crimped for about 10mm (similar to drop forging) to strengthen the ends.

This changes the molecular structure of the steel and strengthens it prior to heat treatment

 

As with most things nowadays, its down to cost saving.

 

Graham, it would be interesting if when you get the old ones back, to see if the if they failed at the ends or  the first coil, and if the ends had been crimped. 

 

Any way, spring is here and the daffs are out! 

Edited 7 March, 201412 yr by Liobian

I broke both front springs on my previous car, a superb, at about 4 years old, and one of my wifes Fabia front springs broke 2 years ago at 7 years old sending a part of the spring out at high velocity when she was driving along. Fortunately it didn't hit anything.

 

Mind you we are infested with speed humps and potholes in the area of East Leeds where we live. Unfortunately it is difficult to identify a specific hole to blame the issue on and claim back from the council!

I broke both front springs on my previous car, a superb, at about 4 years old, and one of my wifes Fabia front springs broke 2 years ago at 7 years old sending a part of the spring out at high velocity when she was driving along. Fortunately it didn't hit anything.

 

Mind you we are infested with speed humps and potholes in the area of East Leeds where we live. Unfortunately it is difficult to identify a specific hole to blame the issue on and claim back from the council!

Take your pick (and pic), and blame that particular pothole.

.

 

Rant (as they say) over.  The Scandinavians have far more economic sense than we do - I need to move to Sweden, Finland, Norway or Denmark!

I think you will find that they pay a lot more tax than we do!

 

The last time I had a broken road spring was in 1963 - the single front transverse leaf spring on a 1953 Ford Prefect. 

Edited 8 March, 201412 yr by Norry

I think you will find that they pay a lot more tax than we do!

 

The last time I had a broken road spring was in 1963 - the single front transverse leaf spring on a 1953 Ford Prefect. 

They do pay a lot more tax.  But they get a lot more back from the state, which more than makes up for it.  Think, for example, no university tuition fees, free (or very cheap) childcare to enable mothers to work, better pensions, better healthcare, roads that aren't falling to pieces......the list is endless.

 

Low taxes are a con - it's more than made up for by having to pay for things that used to be free.  And Scandinavians are much happier than we are, too - look at the World Happiness Index:

 

1  Denmark

2  Norway

5  Sweden

 

And trailing badly:

 

22  United Kingdom

Bye bye then.

They do pay a lot more tax.  But they get a lot more back from the state, which more than makes up for it.  Think, for example, no university tuition fees, free (or very cheap) childcare to enable mothers to work, better pensions, better healthcare, roads that aren't falling to pieces......the list is endless.

 

Low taxes are a con - it's more than made up for by having to pay for things that used to be free.  And Scandinavians are much happier than we are, too - look at the World Happiness Index:

 

1  Denmark

2  Norway

5  Sweden

 

And trailing badly:

 

22  United Kingdom

ABSOLUTE RUBBISH UNLESS HAPPINESS LEADS TO SUICIDE!!

Look at the latest suicide rates.

Figures relate to annual suicide rates per 100,000 people :

Finland. - 17.3

Sweden. - 11.0

Norway. - 10.9

Denmark. - 9.9

UK. - 6.2

...and there's those nasty Lib Dems trying to raise the tax thresholds again to make all those low paid workers unhappy :( .

WTF has this got to do with broken springs!!

The tiny garage at Three Holes has not changed less than one road spring a week for as long as he can remember.   All makes, all models. all ages.

We don't have a particular propensity to pot holes, the roads just slide back into the fen.

Some of the local forestry tracks are better than the roads, around here!

Having been driven up Pikes Peak (Myherin) on last weekend's Mid Wales Stages - I'd agree 100% with that!  OK, so PP was built as access for the wind farm rather than forestry specifically. But the point is the same compared to public roads.

ABSOLUTE RUBBISH UNLESS HAPPINESS LEADS TO SUICIDE!!

Look at the latest suicide rates.

Figures relate to annual suicide rates per 100,000 people :

UK. - 6.2

That's because in the UK we can't afford the vodka and the supermarkets 

will only sell you 2 packs of pain kilers at a time. 

Never had a snapped spring on anything other than VAG and Ford here.

You've clearly not owned many BMWs then BossFox :-)   Very common on mid-90's on E36 and E46 3-series, or E39 5's. Slightly less common on more recent models, but that may only be because the latter haven't had chance to get so fatigued yet.....?  Normally the rears, which snap off the lower coil, leaving the spring still sitting happily in the cup.  To the extent owners don't even realise the ride height has reduced by a few mm. Until MOT time - just like Graham.  The only good aspect is that swapping in a new coil on the Beemer is a doddle :-)

Edited 10 March, 201412 yr by FlintstoneR1

Car now returned with a new MOT certificate. 

Springs had broken on the bottom coil, both roughly the same.

Photos to follow.

 

Garage said that they have 3 more cars booked in this week for broken springs.

Mr Paranoia here. What symptons, if any, did you notice Graham please?

Mr Paranoia here. What symptons, if any, did you notice Graham please?

 

None what so ever.

No noises, even over speed bumps or cornering and no noticeable drop in ride height or cornering ability. 

My 2004 Touran has had both rear springs replaced. On each occasion I had not realised the breakage or noticed any change in ride height. Both went at the base. A mechanic friend, service manager at an Audi main agent fitted new, about £50 each I believe inclusive of fitting, so not expensive for the service given. He said it was obviously a problem on this vehicle platform, as VW had nearly 600 in stock.

 

Colin

And the photos:

 

As can be seen, just the bottom coil and both roughly in exactly the same place.

 

Collected the car to the comment "Well that was easy to do, but I wish you'd told me you didn't have locking bolts, I spent ages looking for the key!"

Accounts lady asked could I come back Monday to pay the bill!! Oh it is a joy living here.

 

Now what can I do with these?

,,,,Now what can I do with these?

 

You're usually rather more cautious than that, Graham ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are we still taking our own beer to Bob's Corner?

In the words of that great Birmingham comedian and his parody of The Magic Roundabout,.................................................

You've clearly not owned many BMWs then BossFox :-)   Very common on mid-90's on E36 and E46 3-series, or E39 5's. Slightly less common on more recent models, but that may only be because the latter haven't had chance to get so fatigued yet.....?  Normally the rears, which snap off the lower coil, leaving the spring still sitting happily in the cup.  To the extent owners don't even realise the ride height has reduced by a few mm. Until MOT time - just like Graham.  The only good aspect is that swapping in a new coil on the Beemer is a doddle :-)

 

+1

 

I went through two sets of rear springs on my 2002 E46.

 

The bottom of the springs were always sat in water that had accumulated in the cups and they rusted.

 

Looking at Graham's pictures his springs are also heavily corroded right where they've snapped...

Edited 11 March, 201412 yr by silver1011