Too many broken springs. WTF is going on

[Tafia]

Wifey's car (Mondeo) failed MOT due to a broken rear coil spring which was not obvious as it had broken right on the end.

Then my neighbour told me his car ( BMW 3 Series) had broken two front suspension springs.

Then another neighbour said her Ford Fusion had broken a front spring which caused her to leave the road and enter a hedge.

Brother in law told me today his Fiesta failed the MOT due to a..............broken spring.

His daughter was put in a ditch when a front spring on her Corsa broke and slashed the tyre!

WTF is going on with springs these days? Is it all the "traffic calming " rubbish on our roads? Some rumble strips around here ( Flintshire)) almost remove the fillings in our teeth. Most irritating are the ones we have to endure as we are leaving a 30 limit.

Any one else have spring troubles?

[andyquantum]

Local taxi driver said the same to me a couple of weeks ago. That, and he goes through 3 windscreens a year. He put most of it down to the 2 mile straight of 13 speed bumps that leads into our village.

Personally, having been in the car with him I'd say he could do better if he slowed down for them, but thats just me

[Darkslider]

No idea, but in my experience a broken spring always makes itself plainly obvious in terms of clunking, ride height and suspension performance. It always baffles me how people can drive around for up to twelve months without realising, much less let it get to the stage it gives out completely and punctures the tyre/sends the car into a ditch.

But you're right, the appalling state of the roads today may have something to do with it. Or the sub standard manufacture of springs, who knows.

[downthepub]

I just changed the rear spring on my BMW a couple of weeks ago. HJ reckoned it's because European springs do not have the ends tapered, unlike those manufactured in the Far East. How true that is, I don't know...

[spaximus]

Spring sales are up year on year. Mainly down to poor road maintenace and speed bumps.

[stormrider2]

i had to replace my rear offside spring because it had broken and my mum had to change both front springs because they had broken too. the condition of roads is getting really bad in places. speed bumps are getting out of control too, theres hundreds of them in almost every town around here

[muppets_mate]

Darkslider said:

in my experience a broken spring always makes itself plainly obvious in terms of clunking, ride height and suspension performance.

Not always I'm afraid. Happened on my ex's car and none of the three symptoms you describe were apparent.

Darkslider said:

the appalling state of the roads today may have something to do with it. Or the sub standard manufacture of springs, who knows.

I agree with you, I believe it is a combination of poor road surfaces and people not slowing down for speed bumps/traffic calming.

[sniff diesel]

I took an E36 apart for spares the other week and found a broken spring on the back. A friend has needed one on his 04 reg Signum too, the garage charged him £289 as they replaced both rear dampers aswell. Sounds a bit steep to me.

[John D.]

muppets_mate said:

Darkslider said:

in my experience a broken spring always makes itself plainly obvious in terms of clunking, ride height and suspension performance.

Not always I'm afraid. Happened on my ex's car and none of the three symptoms you describe were apparent.

My last service a couple of months ago found a snapped rear spring (Clio Cup). Had'nt felt a thing, no idea how long it had been like that (well, I can recall catching a little air once or twice )

[jimmyb]

Its those stupid bolt on style speed bumps that are the problem. You know the ones they are plastic and every time i go over some slowly my audi slams down onto it even at 3-7mph in car parks. It seems to be better if i go over faster but then my car takes a proper hammering and it will damage the suspension so for now i am simply waiting till I slam my car down on one again and something actually breaks.

[jamiebae]

I've just spent a few hours changing a broken spring on an MR2 - it had snapped off half a coil at the bottom of one front spring with no apparent symptoms until MoT time when it failed.

[Targarama]

Bro just had 2 new rear springs on his 3 series coupe and one was broken (150k miles though). Wallowed badly on the old ones, but that might have partly been down to age.

[Wattsie]

Front right spring broke on my Mondy a few months back... I noticed it straight away. After a fast journey, admitedly

But two days after it had gone, had it fixed. Don't know how you can not notice it after more than a day TBH...

[sniff diesel]

Targarama said:

Bro just had 2 new rear springs on his 3 series coupe and one was broken (150k miles though). Wallowed badly on the old ones, but that might have partly been down to age.

Quite common on the E36's due to where base of the spring sits collecting water letting the lowest coil rust and eventually snap.

[BLUETHUNDER]

Three broken springs on a A class in 12 months.Car lives in a speed hump and traffic table enviroment.

[Kentish]

Had a rear spring brake recently on my Roadster, not the end of the world though as it was treated to a new set of sports shocks and springs to lower it 30mm

[durbster]

If you buy an electrical item such as a TV, it should legally work for 12 months or you are owed a replacement. Surely there is there a similar rule for something as important as springs? I don't mean a dealer warranty, but a manufacturing warranty.

[Toltec]

I had a Sierra, borrowed from my dad while between cars, fail an MOT on two broken rear springs.

It handled better on the broken ones

[Thudd]

Hardly surprising given the speed everyone seems to go over speed bumps.

I regularly receive abuse for slowing down to go over them.

[The Black Flash]

I had one go on our nissan a few months back. Bloke in the garage said that he's fixing roadsprings (on all makes of car) all the time, which surprised me.