Broken springs

[hammerman]

Thanks for that welly.Will do some measuring to see how mine compares,bearing in mind i have 16" alloys & new suspension,if i`m somewhere near those figures i`ll be happy.

[hammerman]

Well,mine seems to be high on the front as i thought.Just under 700 mm in height.The head lamp aim seems higher too,but nobody has flashed me.
I will have to strip all the suspension again as i think i will need to replace the strut top bearings.Even though the old ones looked fine & i put some copper grease on them,i`m getting some spring noises as discussed in the other posts on here.
I can get a whole pair in a kit on ebay for around £60.Or £75-£100 EACH else where.

[craigx]

One cause for a broken front suspension spring could be the top bearing on the suspension leg going tight. If you feel the steering going a bit stiff this bearing could be at fault. When you move the steering the spring try's to twist one way or the other, causing a snapped spring. My offside spring broke and I changed the spring for a new one, six months later the same happened again. This time I changed the whole suspension strut, the steering went lighter and no trouble since then.
Craigx

[hammerman]

I still need to do my strut tops as the steering is a bit tight sometimes & i can still hear the spring moving a bit..Sometimes its fine,others its not.Did`nt think about the tops when i replaced it all.Money is very tight at the mo though.Need my cambelt doing in the next 5k miles,which will soon come around as i`m doing 500 miles a week for work at the mo.

[hammerman]

Welcome to the forum by the way

[hammerman]

My new strut tops & bearings have arrived.£58 for the pair on ebay.They seem so smooth in their movement.Just need to find time to replace them now.

[hammerman]

Well,fitted 1 new top bearing today.It took 20 mins to remove the whole strut this time.Used my compressors to compress the spring & removed the old strut top.Only trouble was that the new strut tops are in 2 pieces while on the old strut top & did`nt have the bearing ring.The old strut top/bearing was siezed,could`nt turn it at all by hand before removing it.I could`nt compress the spring any more for fear of my compressors snaping(they were bending)so i fitted everything loose on the car & jacked up the swivel hub untill the strut went through the bearing hole,then put the nut on.Then i removed the strut again & gave the new bearing a bit of a tap so that it sat correctly in the spring holder,the assembled it all back on the car.Even with just one side done the steering feels better & no more spring noises from that side.Will get the other side done tommorrow.
You can see how far a new spring needs to be compressed in the photo,which i s why i got the workshop to do them in december.But diy compressers are ok to dissmantle the strut if the spring isnt broken.Although having 3 or 4 compressors would be better.
You can see how rusty & had it the old tops were.The bearing ring was seized solid.Had to use a hammer & chisel to remove the bearing ring.

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[hammerman]

Got the l/hand bearing done today.Had to top up gear box oil afterwards The bearing was rusted & seized solid in the top mount. Steering feels better now,but still quite heavy when stationary,unless i rev the car a bit,then it goes lighter.Prehaps the pas pump is getting weak???
As you can see from the photo the pressure/tension the spring compressors take.I think i might get some new ones next time .I hate them

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[rwb]

Look at them spring compressors Frightening!

[Ares]

Is this a common thing on 406,this springs going snapping like twigs?
What are signs of spring going to break.
I hear some people say here,that random stifness of steering wheel etc etc.
I want to be sure if i need to replace those blasted things,my car,going over holes sounds like someone is smashing with metal plates,altought,my car is lowered by
previous owner.

[hammerman]

My steering has always been a bit stiff.Untill the spring snapped while parked at work,i had no idea anything was wrong.The old springs were hardly rusty,& where it had broken,it was a clean break with no signs of stress etc.
My strut brace arrived today.Just fitted it,took 10 mins.Will be interesting to see if i feel any difference.

[Doggy]

I noticed a definite difference with the strut brace, (on this car).

Also with new strut top bearingson the previous one. I changed the front dampers while I was at it, as I'd had an advisory on one, that really made a difference.

[Ares]

So,there isnt any sings of this,until you sit on tyre

[hammerman]

I noticed a definite difference with the strut brace, (on this car).

I noticed a difference straight away too.Sooo much tighter on the front now Feels much better.Also just replaced the track rods today & feels even better now.Although judging by my rear arb bushes,i wonder if the front need doing Next for the front will be lower ball joints.But they can wait for a while now as the front feels sorted now.
Also the front ride height has settled too now,to around 690mm,from just over 700 when i fitted the new struts and springs.