What are the symptoms of broken springs?

pdk42

Member
 Leamington Spa
What are the symptoms of broken springs? I'm guessing ride height would drop, but would there be any obvious handling changes - esp if it's the rears?

Thanks!
 
In my experience (1 Z4 & 1 Vauaxhall) almost none
In each case it was only the 'tail' that had snapped and was sat in the 'cup'
With the Vauxhall I could hear something rattling - drove me nuts for a few days until I found it
The Zed, it was found at MOT - never noticed a thing!
 
Agreed - my 3.0 went in for part ex and broken spring was discovered - didn't have a clue of a change to be honest and had passed an MOT 1.5k before hand.
 
when mine went on the drivers rear. i had no obvious handling problems. the reason i noticed it was that i developed a weird clunking sound (which was the bt of spring) and when i investigated that i noticed the wheel to arch distance was different side to side.
 
Both my vauxhall and ford I heard a crack similar to when discs and pads are stuck. The vauxhall was still boring to drive whereas the ford I looked at the spring straightaway and stopped driving it.
 
When mine snapped I heard it. Like a big stone hitting the underside of the car and a bit of a twang noise. Got home and looked through the 108 spokes and saw the clean snap on the very end of the spring.

The ride height is very susceptible to uneven ground, and can be off by 10 mm side to side and be within OEM tolerance, so best bet is to jack up car and remove the wheel, then you'll see the spring. Typically the very top or bottom 2 inches snaps off.

If you have 108 style or similar alloys, then get a torch and look between the spokes, you'll likely see the spring, whether intact or not...

Not a big deal if you find one snapped. Very common!
 
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