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Can anyone advise me on what would cause both suspension coils to snap at the same time? This happened to me when I was driving my children to school last week. The driver's side coil pierced the tyre and I am told that I very narrowly avoided what could have been a tragic accident. This is our family car and neither my husband or I drive irresponsibly. I have no recollection of hitting anything that would have damaged the coils and now feel very uncertain about continuing to drive this car given doubts about safety. While the garage agreed to pay for the £600 repair despite the fact that the warranty had expired, I have to say that I found even this suspicious. This was mainly because garages are not prone to volunteering to work for nothing (in my experience anyway) and that depsite asking, the faulty parts were not all returned to me. (I was expcting four bits of coil - I got two). I was advised by a passing Samaritan who stopped to help me with what looked like a simple burst tyre, that the coil had been pressing against the inner rim of the tyre for some time and gradually wore it down. The garage deny this and say they both spontaneously snapped. Any advice anybody?
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www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=74...2
Shows that coil failure is becoming more common.
even my mum (65 next week) who drives a 15,000 miles KA had a rear spring go and pop the rear tyre.
a lady in the village had a spring go on her citroen but luckily the car was involved in a safety recall for the very same problem and she got new springs and tyres for free.
the modification involved fitting a plate under the spring, so if the new springs broke they wouldn't burst the tyres...
paul.
you where lucky to get the work done for free...
I once bought a 205 SR from a main peugoet dealer for £7000 it was 18months old, and 2 days later it rained....well it turned out the sunroof might have been better of open as it let in as much rain water open as it did closed. I went to the dealer, who said no its not covered by any warrenty as the sunroof had been fitted by the previous owner. lucky for me I had bought the car (first and only time on finance) and said I wouldn't pay a penny until it was fixed....1hr later it was water tight....
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given that the car now has new springs its probably safer than anything else out there...
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If the broken spring had been rubbing the tyre for some time, then it's most likely the broken piece is laying in a gutter somewhere. This probably also applies to the other side.
If one side had been broken for some time without you noticing it (as is apparent) then the same probably applies to the other side.
Why do you think they both snapped simultaneously? Did you hear a double 'twang'?
I'd be grateful the garage is paying for the replacements.
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Too fast over speed bumps can be the cause of this and as one fails the load on the other side increases considerable and crack that snaps. I have a raised platform speed bump 200 hundred yards from my house and see 1/2 to 3/4 turns of springs lying in the road every few days. Pugs are renown for the busted spring to puncture the tyre, bad news that one. Glad you are all safe. Regards Peter
Edited by Peter D on 13/05/2009 at 16:41
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To be honest I thought the tyre had just burst (one of them). It was the guy that stopped to help (there are a few of them left!) that told me that it wasn't quite as simple as that and that the coil had very visibly snapped and pierced the tyre. One end was stuck in the tyre.
The garage called me later to tell me that it was both of the coils that had snapped. They were adamant that the problem was not related to a noise we had been complaining about and that both coils had snapped that day. We were simply unlucky. I just find this explanation totally unconvincing - if they did snap that day, something must have caused it to happen. So what was it? And could it happen again? Honestly I don't drive like something out of the Dukes of Hazard ...
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HAVE A LOOK AT THE LINK I SENT.
it seems to appear that the coating they put on the springs starts to come away from the spring causing rust, this then leads to the springs to fail...
paul.
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Thank you - the link was really most helpful. Guess I'm going to be appear very knowledgeable about suspension coils by the time my husband gets back from sea!
Thanks again, Julia
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Happened to me on an '03 Corsa (single spring, not both). Fortunately was going v.slow at time, there was a heavy thunk so went round the corner and parked up. Could smell burning rubber. Looked at the car and couldn't decide if it was lop sided or not. Drove a bit further to properly level ground and had a look, offside front was definitely lower. Had a look at the front coil and sure enough it had snapped and gouged a big groove in the tyre sidewall. Didn't burst it though, but tyre was a gonner.
The tyre wouldn't have had to turn many times for a gouge to be made, remember that broken spring would be very sharp and act like a chisel on the tyre, scooping out the rubber.
Independent garage said they never used to replace any springs, but since the advent of speed bumps it had become much more common. Road salt also contributes as previous poster said.
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While we are on the subject the other weekend I did a service on a friends '53 plate Corsa and noticed that the front off side coil spring was broken on that. It was only because I paid extra special attention to them that I found it as it had lost about 1/3 of a turn of a coil and the jagged piece was pointing away from the tyre. Incidentally it was all still in place so it wasn't as if it was protruding out as such. The car in question has only done 26000 miles from new.
Am I surprised, no not really. Am I disappointed in the quality/longevity given the young age and the low mileage, yes certainly.
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It does seem to be common now, but it's not a very new thing. In 2002 both rear springs were found to be broken on wifey's 1998 Clio.
This was in the days of 1 yr warranty and the dealership laughed at the suggestion they shouldn't have broken. They had quite a few in stock, which indicates that even then it must have been a regular occurance - they never had anything else in stock I wanted!
Anyway, I called Renault customer services and had a very friendly chat with them. I said I was particularly concerned that it really wasn't apparent that they'd broken and that many people could be driving Clios in a dangerous condition. I very gently suggested that maybe they ought to recall every Clio II sold in Europe to have their springs replaced.
15mins later the garage called me to book the car in and said Renault would be the whole cost.
Edited by Bill Payer on 29/05/2009 at 01:05
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It does seem to be common now ..........
The more that communications improve, the more that failures will become known about. That doesn't necessarily mean they're becoming more common though. I partly blame internet forum members for this propagation of doom and gloom!
Edited by L'escargot on 29/05/2009 at 10:14
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Happened to me after going through a pothole too slowly.
The spring was only two years old and not corroded.
Part of the problem is potholes and road humps, and driving over them at slow speeds, the defection is totally out of kilter with the suspension rates and puts enormous strain on them.
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So what's the correct speed to negotiate a pothole? ;-)
Incidentally, why 'pothole'? In France they call them 'hens' nests' (nids de poules).
Yes, I'm finding life a bit confusing at the moment...
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It does seem to be common now .......... The more that communications improve, the more that failures will become known about. That doesn't necessarily mean they're becoming more common though.
There is an element in common sense in what you say but having worked in the motor trade for the last 13 years, I reckon that coil spring failure is more rife now than at any other point that during these years. I think most people 'in the know' would agree ith me too.
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>> It does seem to be common now .......... The more that communications improve the more that failures will become known about. That doesn't necessarily mean they're becoming more common though. I partly blame internet forum members for this propagation of doom and gloom!
>>>>>>>you will be pleased to know ive had a spring replacement non week this week
so to speak.................
Edited by bell boy on 30/05/2009 at 14:58
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