Broken springs

[hammerman]

Well,after 173k miles,i finished work fri,got in the car to come home and car wouldnt move and a horrible noise from the front.After some poking around found the front left spring had snapped at the bottom,dropping the car by half an inch or soo.Luckly we renewed the green flag rescue that morning,after not having it for 2 weeks!!!!
Gave up trying to compress new spring myself,so got my works workshop to put new strut spring etc together.But now after trying to put it back together i have found that after locating it in the strut housing with the top dowel,the drop link bracket on the strut is facing the wrong way I spose i will have to compress the spring to try to turn the strutand spring to line the bracket up?
Still,at least its bodged back on so i could get the car to the safety of my drive(parked on road 2 doors down road)That was untill i lowered it off the axle stands and the right hand spring broke
Still,the inside of the tyres are fine & looks like my abs sensors & gaiters are unharmed.It never rains but it poors

[steve_earwig]

So it's gone back in the hub bass-ackwards? Oops! I suppose it's logical that the side nearest the kerb would go first as it'll pick up more crap from out of the gutter but the driver's side going so soon after really pushes home the recommendation to replace both springs when one goes as the other won't be far behind it.

How are the bearings? Can you see why the springs broke? Are there cracks spreading out from a rust pit or are there no signs of corrosion?

[Welly]

That's a bit of bad luck

It's not the first we've had recently either.

[hammerman]

The bearings & tops look in excellent condition.No sign of rust or any cracking on the springs or where they snapped.They have both broken in the same place at the bottom where the spring narrows(silly design)The new springs and struts with shocks were £145 from gsf with my 10% discount.
I recently had to put new struts on my wifes Yaris.It took me 2 hrs to do both.This job is a nightmare compared to that

[steve_earwig]

That's both theories out the window then So it's just down to metal fatigue where the spring narrows too quickly. Maybe I should just order up some new ones now

I'd think the biggest problem is the springs are hellishly long when they're off the struts.

[Welly]

It's funny but in all the years I've had cars (and I've had some real shitters) I never had a single broken spring or drop-link or bushing or anything, in fact you'd never give a moments thought to what was going on down there but in recent times these suspension issues are very frequent.

I had two springs go on the 406, her indoors had one on the Arsetray, and the Volvo has had pretty much the whole lot changed.

Is it the roads or is it down to cheap materials and cost-cutting?

[steve_earwig]

Is it the roads or is it down to cheap materials and cost-cutting?

Yes. I'm the same as you, these things have never been a problem before in many years of motoring - wheel bearings, track rod ends, worn out bushes you expect as the cars age but broken springs and these stupidly fragile drop links failing on fairly young cars just doesn't make any sense to me.

[Welly]

Funny you should say wheel bearings as they were about the only thing that would let go in the 80's/90's but then went away as the technology got better but guess what everyone complains about on the Volvo forum these days?...............

[scotty73]

better but guess what everyone complains about on the Volvo forum these days?...............

Post office Queues?

[Doggy]

Heating allowance under threat?

[steve_earwig]

You kind of set yourself up for that Welly

It's gotta be sussy components, innit.

Or the size of the print on labels getting smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller

[hammerman]

Well,all done & put back together.Although it seems to sit higher now at the front.Almost like a 4x4!!But going out tonight the headlights seem a bit higher on the road but nobody was flashing me.
If anybody has a spare few mins could you take a measurement from the top of the tyre to the bottom of the arch please & post.
Cheers

[hammerman]

Well,all done & put back together.Although it seems to sit higher now at the front.Almost like a 4x4!!But going out tonight the headlights seem a bit higher on the road but nobody was flashing me.
If anybody has a spare few mins could you take a measurement from the top of the tyre to the bottom of the arch please & post.
Cheers

[lozz]

Cars always/normaly sit higher for a while after springs have been Re/newed /replaced,
it will level off mate,

[Welly]

There's lots of ride height measurements here...........viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3822&hilit=ride+height