My Series III's just failed its MOT in spectacular style - but most expensively on needing new front and rear springs. The best quote I've had so far is about 550quid to do the replacement - so was wondering.. is this something I should consider doing myself?
Not really an 'experienced mechanic' but do have a Dad with all the tools! Any hints / tips / suggestions? I'm assuming a weekend to do the front and a weekend to do the rears, or is that a little optimistic? Is the work its-self relatively straight forward?
Youre in the wrong place to be asking that question!. :)
What aspect of the springs did it actually fail on?.
It is a straight forward job, its just tricky as you have to undo/remove a few stubborn bolts, and the springs are fairly heavy.
You should be able to do it all in one weekend, assuming it all goes well.
All you have to do is seperate the axle from the springs (4 u-bolts), and then remove the bolts at each end of the springs). then you just need to swap them. When I've done them in the past, ive been lazy and bought new u-bolts and spring bolts so that i could just cut the old ones off.
The bolts at each end of the spring go through bushes in the chassis. You may find that it is worth (or you need to) doing these at the same time as the springs. this may take you more time, but its not a complicated job!
I replaced mine last year in a day (a very long one).
The job should cost you less than £200 if you fit original spring and replace all the U bolts and shackle bolts, my U bolts were removed easily but I believe they can snap.
If you need new shocks and bushes add up to £80
The biggest problem is seized shackle bolts and the weight of the parts if working alone.
I didn't need to replace the chassis bushes as they were all in tiptop condition surprisingly. If you need to replace then consider using poly bushes (c. £40) for ease of fitting if nothing else. Some people have strong views on poly bushes (pro and con). Do a goggle search on removing the bushes as it can be difficult.
I found that 2 sets of axle stands and ideally 2 jacks although it can be done with less.
You could upgrade to parabolic springs, gas shocks and poly bushes + nuts and bolts for about £500ish.
New OEM spring improved the ride of my S3, however I'm sure parabolic would be better.
The springs themselves can be bought from about £16-£20 each if you check around suppliers. The job isn't much fun if the bolts have siezed into the shackles. Not even worth trying to undo the U bolts just cut and replace. A set of new will only be £20 ish for the whole vehicle. It's worth using a
3/4" drive socket set and a big piece of scaffold tubing to get the bolts undone. If you can undo them without using too much heat, then reuse, if they're awful, then replace. They're quite expensive though, maybe £4 a bolt sometimes. Re-assemble with loads of copper grease inside the bushes on the threads. If the bushes look shot, then post again for a quick explaination on their removal, involving heat and a hacksaw blade....
You'll need to fit new bushes into the new springs. Best way to do this is with a long threaded bar some nuts and some big washers. Get a length of threaded bar maybe M12 some normal nuts (not nyloc) and a few thick wahers about 40mm outside dia. Put a wee bit of grease on the bushes and use the threaded bar to pull them inot the hole, by tightening the nuts up, washers either end. Don't hit the bushes with a hammer!! The above way is much easier and much more successful. If you try and drift them in they will get stuck part way and end up bent too.
Remember the springs are handed, the drivers' side have a couple more leaves to compensate for the engine/box position. If you can't easily tell, just put them down upside down and the higher one of the pair is the driver's. The springs are symmetrical front to back (is doesn't matter whick way round they go). I don't mean front to rear, you might have problems putting a set of rear springs at the front, involving some welding!!!
All the best Andy Once you've fitted the springs, keep the U bolts and shackle bolts loose for a while to let the vehicle settle. Going for a drive slowly along a bumpy track helps here, though careful not to loose any of the nuts. We're only talking half a turn loose here too!! Once the springs look to be sat level, tighten up.
Springs are not expensive.. Less than 50 quid for the four..Might as well do polybushes while your there. Less than 80 quid max .. Just your time then. Can buy parabolics and es3000 dampers for 300.. The 550 quote seems rather high unless they mean welding i suppose.
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