Driving to garage with broken front coil spring

[yellowbentines]

I was rudely awoken by the crack of a broken spring on my trusty old daily commuter Skoda Superb mk.1 this week as it sat on the drive!

It's booked into my local garage a 6 mile drive away, they don't have a recovery truck or trailer. I'm thinking of driving it there - 5/6am when the roads are quiet, take it easy at 20mph, it's all through 30mph limit roads anyway.

I'm thinking I may just unbolt the bottom of the shock, let the broken spring fall out, and bolt it back on. I'm then driving on 3 springs (which it is currently anyway) but no chance of a broken spring fouling anything.

Would you, it's not ideal but there's no great risk if I'm driving slow and steady and the wheel isn't fouled by the arch or a broken spring, is there?

Any experiences of doing this - positive or negative?

[GreenV8S]

I had two springs fail in exactly the same way in the past six months.

If you completely remove all remains of the spring you should be left running on the bump stop on that corner. That ought to be safe from the point of view of damage to the car and you could drive it a few yards to get it onto a trailer/flatbed, but the car is certainly not roadworthy like that. The sensible answer is to get the car recovered to the garage.

[Madrabbit]

A work colleague had a spring break on his Picasso in the car park at work. The spring came out of it's seat and the broken end went through the inner side wall of the tyre. He knew nothing about it until he tried to drive home. He just made it out of his parking space and the car would go no further luckily.

[blueg33]

Spring broke in the wifes Leon Cupra, she drove around for a week or two before she noticed (actually I noticed as soon as I drove it).

I reckon 6 miles will be ok, missed whether it was front or rear though - rear probably ok, front less so.

Now I can see its the front. I reckon 6 miles is ok though.

Edited by blueg33 on Friday 4th May 15:05

[cuprabob]

6 miles will be OK.

Make sure the garage fits new strut top mounts and bearings when they replacing the springs.

[GreenV8S]

cuprabob said:

6 miles will be OK.

Very much depends how the spring has broken and what state the remains are in. Both of mine left the spring digging into the tyre and grinding noises while moving the car. Even if it seems to roll OK now, you'd need to be certain the remains of the spring are securely located before moving it. Even if people have got away with driving on broken springs it doesn't mean it's generally safe; if anything shifts, it could lead to a catastrophic failure. I'd recommend removing the broken spring completely if you need to drive further than a few yards. I don't think it is reasonable to drive on public roads with a spring missing.

[Pothole]

GreenV8S said:

cuprabob said:

6 miles will be OK.

Very much depends how the spring has broken and what state the remains are in. Both of mine left the spring digging into the tyre and grinding noises while moving the car. Even if it seems to roll OK now, you'd need to be certain the remains of the spring are securely located before moving it. Even if people have got away with driving on broken springs it doesn't mean it's generally safe; if anything shifts, it could lead to a catastrophic failure. I'd recommend removing the broken spring completely if you need to drive further than a few yards. I don't think it is reasonable to drive on public roads with a spring missing.

So to finish your recommendation, the OP should do what?

[justinio]

Pothole said:

So to finish your recommendation, the OP should do what?

Breakdown cover. Recovery truck to the garage.

Personally, it's only 6 miles. I'd risk it for a biscuit.

[Pericoloso]

This might be obvious but the springs are what stops the car from scraping its belly on the road.
Driving with one removed is not recommended.

Conclusion......Do not drive it 6 miles.

How much is a local tow trucker going to charge for a 6 mile trip ?

[GreenV8S]

Pothole said:

So to finish your recommendation, the OP should do what?

GreenV8S said:

I had two springs fail in exactly the same way in the past six months.

...

The sensible answer is to get the car recovered to the garage.

[stevieturbo]

yellowbentines said:

I was rudely awoken by the crack of a broken spring on my trusty old daily commuter Skoda Superb mk.1 this week as it sat on the drive!

It's booked into my local garage a 6 mile drive away, they don't have a recovery truck or trailer. I'm thinking of driving it there - 5/6am when the roads are quiet, take it easy at 20mph, it's all through 30mph limit roads anyway.

I'm thinking I may just unbolt the bottom of the shock, let the broken spring fall out, and bolt it back on. I'm then driving on 3 springs (which it is currently anyway) but no chance of a broken spring fouling anything.

Would you, it's not ideal but there's no great risk if I'm driving slow and steady and the wheel isn't fouled by the arch or a broken spring, is there?

Any experiences of doing this - positive or negative?

It depends where it is broke, how much is broke and design of the spring platform as to what risks there might be.

There may be almost none, or there could be high risk.

I'm sure millions of cars are driving about today with broken springs and the owners will be blissfully aware, it's very very common.

But with reference to the Picasso mentioned, some French cars do seem to have a dangerous design that encourages broken springs into the tyres.

[yellowbentines]

Thanks for all the replies.

I wouldnt have driven it without removing the remains of the spring, its broken high up enough for the remains to fall below the bottom seat/mount on the shock.

However, on closer inspection the belly of the undertray is about 2 inches from the ground, so Im not risking it.

Car booked in with a different garage that can recover.

P.S. picking up on one of the comments above, why would I need a new top mount and bearing?

Edited by yellowbentines on Friday 4th May 18:09

[paintman]

If there's nothing wrong with the existing ones then I'm wondering that too.

[stevieturbo]

yellowbentines said:

Thanks for all the replies.

I wouldnt have driven it without removing the remains of the spring, its broken high up enough for the remains to fall below the bottom seat/mount on the shock.

However, on closer inspection the belly of the undertray is about 2 inches from the ground, so Im not risking it.

Car booked in with a different garage that can recover.

P.S. picking up on one of the comments above, why would I need a new top mount and bearing?

Edited by yellowbentines on Friday 4th May 18:09

Top mounts and bearings can also be common failures, but if they are fine, just leave them alone.

Although when pulling things apart and putting them back together, quite often idiots put them back together wrong which is another avenue of failure of top mounts and bearings