Worth replacing the unbroken front springs when replacing the broken back ones?

[Bilko]

I feel I know the answer to this question but…

Both rear springs on my E86 were found to be snapped when it went in for it's MoT last week. I've got a pair of Suplex springs to put on the back - car isn't going back in to have 'em fitted though for another 10 days. Mechanic asked if I was going to replace the fronts at the same time. 'No' was my initial reaction - they aren't broken. But now I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to fit new ones on the front too, then front and back would be on the same new springs + looking back through all the bills etc provided by the previous owner (another forumite) it's still on the original front pair - so have 74K miles in them.

Or am I over-thinking this and it'll make bugger all difference?

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Ride wise it's unlikely that you'll feel any difference by replacing a working spring for a new one with the same spring rate. If it's not corroded, you can leave it alone as they're not known for failing as far as I am aware. But if you do replace the front springs, might as well replace the dampers since the labour cost won't change at all and that will give you a noticeable improvement for not much more.

At 75k I'd probably replace all dampers. Mine at 84k.

 

[Zedebee]

If you’ve got any mechanical nous at all, then replacing the rear springs is one of the easiest “big” jobs you can do. Unlike replacing the fronts, which is a bit more involved.

To answer your question, the fronts don’t tend to snap like the rears, so probably best to refresh the whole front suspension set up when it needs doing. MOT will start to throw advisories at you.

 

[dhobbs]

Guidance on this sort of thing has always been replace as an axle set, suspension, brakes, tyres etc. So I wouldn't worry especially if the front springs are not broken.

 

[Rockhopper]

I swapped my front struts a couple of weeks ago. Absolutely no damping left on the originals yet it sailed through the MOT six weeks ago with no advisories. The new struts have totally transformed the way the car drives though.

 

[Mister T]

Honestly I'd leave the fronts. If they've never been touched before then the pinch bolts can turn into a total nightmare.

 

[bigwinn]

I'm minded that if it aint broke don't fix it...

 

[Bilko]

Thanks everyone. Plenty of food for thought there.

I think my plan will be to leave the front for the time being, but probably buy some springs anyway JIC. Ironically pre rear spring snappage it was the front I was more concerned about. The car got an advisory at its last MoT for excessive wear to the inside edge of the N/S front tyre, but none for any parts of the suspension so I’m going to fit new tyres and book a wheel alignment check at FCM in Bristol see what that throws up and hope the garage didn't miss anything.

That said, I am quite attracted to the idea of replacing all the dampers and springs for a (slightly) plusher ride, but not if I don’t have to…

Also like the idea of doing the rear ones myself (read that How to last week) and getting the garage to do the front ones, just can't help feeling that if I'm honest there's going to be a bit of a gap between the liking and actually getting off my arse and doing on that one.

 

[enuff_zed]

I'm minded that if it aint broke don't fix it...

I swapped my front struts a couple of weeks ago. Absolutely no damping left on the originals yet it sailed through the MOT six weeks ago with no advisories. The new struts have totally transformed the way the car drives though.

Whilst [ref]bigwinn[/ref] has repeated my usual mantra, [ref]Rockhopper[/ref] has highlighted the reality in my opinion:

No sign of issues with wifey's 2.5i front struts, but I changed them this weekend based on the state of the old shocks I took off the back.
As well as being a mismatched pair (one had previously been changed at some point) the only function they were fulfilling was to hang the hub on! No damping left and one was leaking too.
However, the springs were fine so the originals have stayed on. Handling is vastly improved as you'd expect.

To summarise for the OP, no I don't think you need to replace the front springs, but at the age and mileage your car is on, if you were to remove the front struts you may well find the dampers are shot.