just moved a fiesta mk 5 v reg ,not turned a wheel for 4 weeks and i heard the usual boing noise of a front spring breaking.
The interesting thing on this occasion is if you look at the roadspring it was actually corroded halfway across the break and you can just see on the shiny part to the right the bit that was holding it togrther prior to the boing moment.
I think this is the 3rd 2000 year road spring ive had break in the last 12 months now and they cost £25 a piece plus all the hassle.
Could you imagine selling the thing and the customer drives it 3 feet prior to the front end dropping.
the photos from the camera was only £18 so no moaning mind.
tinyurl.com/22qlrc
tinyurl.com/25q4z3
(there are no bugs you can open with confidenty) :-)
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Perhaps all from the same place bb? Where are mass market springs made?
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David Bailey's job is safe anyway... :)
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David Bailey's perhaps, but soft focus is used quite a lot in run-of-the-mill fashion photography... has bell boy got a secret side he doesn't talk about? :o}
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Whats he done, dipped that lens in his bovril?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Even I'm only just old enough to remember David Bailey!
--
L\'escargot.
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I'm beginning to get a complex now, this is the second thread that's inferred I'm getting old!
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>the photos from the camera was only £18 so no moaning mind.
they saw you coming, you woz robbed mate.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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ive got a cupboard full of £1 throwaway cameras so havent felt the need to spend as much as nearly £100 on a new digiwas one yet and anyway i use this for my autotrader adverts so its got a kind lens ;-)
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Perhaps I'm misinterpreting the picture, but it looks like the corrosion had covered a significant proportion of the working section of the spring. This is quite unusual, because it implies that the crack had been there for a long time before the remaining section had been overloaded. Or, has BB been eating all the pies?
Was this failure closer towards the end of the spring than a normal failure?
Number_Cruncher
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I've had the same problem on my 406. The O/S spring broke in 2002 at 4 years old, and yesterday the same spring that I replaced (genuine Peugeot part) in 2002 broke again yesterday. I am not amused!
Apparently the model that I own, a 2.1td, is known for this! Last time Peugeot customer services did not want to know, "well Sir, there are an awful lot of speed humps now aren't there etc etc" and I wrote to the Vehicle Inspectorate after getting advice fron HJ, and they wrote back saying that they were aware of the problem on this model, but that they only broke as the vehicle was moving away from standstill, so were not deemed to be dangerous. I replaced both springs in 2002, but don't know if I can be bothered to do them both this time. I may just wait for the other to snap in its own time.
I have also hasd an O/s front break on my Cit C3 at 3 years old. Is this problem problem across most makes, or just French cars?
Reggie
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i blame poor materials at source
probably they use old fiats ladas etc for the steel
or it could be built in obsolescence if only one man owns all the spring making factories in the world/europe
i find it interesting that the price of springs has doubled in ten years but bottled beer is cheaper than cave water with a posh name
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I've come across a few broken springs in my time and usually when you look at the break you see some corrosion, so either the spring was not properly formed or it started to crack during use.
I once had an Alfa and a front spring broke. Put a new pair on (Alfa part) and damn me but six months later one of those broke, sitting in a car park too, and the top half jumped sideways and put the sharp broken end through a nearly new Michelin tyre!
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>>the top half jumped sideways and put the sharp broken end through a nearly new Michelin tyre!
The thought of that happening on the move doesn't bear thinking about.
Both the rear springs were found to be broken on our 1998 Clio when it was being serviced at 4yrs old. It had passed an MOT in our village garage the day before.
The springs had both broken in the same place (quite near the top) and looked *very* clean. I was shown it with the rear axle dangling on a wheel free lift and I?m very suspicious that may have snapped them.
Of course, this was in the days of 1 yr warranties ? dealer replacement cost was best part of £200 for what can only be a 20 min job and the dealer laughed at the suggestion Renault would pay. I thought that this must be a common fault as the dealer had a dozen springs in stock (but never had anything else I asked for).
Anyway, called Renault Customer Service and had a very reasonable discussion with them and within 15mins the dealer rang back to say Renault would pay full cost.
I?d actually paid for a 5 yr w?tee on the car but didn?t want to use it as I stood tot (and in fact did) get the £600 cost back if it was unused at 5yrs.
I do recall reading a theory that springs might break because they?re held on a conveyor by a piece of wire wrapped around the top coil while they?re painted ? the part that?s covered by wire doesn?t get painted and corrodes.
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This was the subject of a recall by Citroen for the Picasso at least. The "fix" was to bolt a cup around the bottom of the spring to hold the spring in place if it broke and so prevent the broken edge going into the tyre. I assume this would also affect other makes as presumably makers buy springs from the same suppliers - probably on the cheap.
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Had front springs on my 51 plate Citroen Xsara Estate go without warning overnight. Were fine one day, then the next when I used the car they were broken, the creaking noise giving it away. I was lucky they didn't pierce the tyres.
Typically this happened the day before I was due to drive long-distance to see a friend I'd not seen in 25 years, for his 40th birthday party, so I had to cancel the trip :(
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