Broken suspension

They recomend that you replace the springs in pairs as over time they lose some of thier bounce

& if it's not bouncy then you don't need to change the shocks, spring compressors aren't expensive.

It is not bouncy. I have just rung a garage and he reakons it is one hour at 32.50 so that is a lot easier that doing it myself I am afraid. He reakons one from a breakers would be a false ecconomy, but I do not need to do both sides. That seems to me like a bargain for the south (Berkshire).

Looking at those photos since I have posted them I noticed that there is a lot of corrosion on the broken side and none on the good side. I have to assume that this means that the broken wheel is locking up under breaking, it happend a while ago (I use the car every day) and that I have not noticed what I have to assume is a signifigant change in handling. Worries me a bit.

Hugh

It is not bouncy. I have just rung a garage and he reakons it is one hour at 32.50 so that is a lot easier that doing it myself I am afraid. He reakons one from a breakers would be a false ecconomy, but I do not need to do both sides. That seems to me like a bargain for the south (Berkshire).

Looking at those photos since I have posted them I noticed that there is a lot of corrosion on the broken side and none on the good side. I have to assume that this means that the broken wheel is locking up under breaking, it happend a while ago (I use the car every day) and that I have not noticed what I have to assume is a signifigant change in handling. Worries me a bit.

If you're referrring to the corroion on the brake disc, it is not significant, it's just where water has got on the disc recently and will disappear the first time the brake is applied. It does not mean the brake is locking up. Have you been hearing tyre noises which might suggest this?

Your not noticing a change in handling demonstrates the fallacy that springs must always be changed in pairs. For racing and for extreme high performance use this may be the case, but for everyday motoring it's not necessary. Of course this does not change the fact that if one has gone and they're both the same age, the other *may* also fail, but primarily the claim is used by those who are selling them and would obviously like to sell you two rather than one.

Steve

It's primarily used by the rest of us as the 2nd set will normally oulast your ownership of the car, so not having the other side fail & all the associated hassle is worth the price of a spring & 45minutes labour.

Dave has brought this to us :

Because one spring has snapped does not mean the other will do similar. The rear passenger side gets most of the water and the bounce as you drive over drain covers. It could also have been faulty when fitted.

Fit just one and may find it sits a bit lop sided, but it may or may not settle down to level in time.

I am reffering to the corrosion on the brake disk. What makes me think it is locking up is that the good side is clean but the broken side is dirty. I am not worried that it is a problem itself, just that it is a sign of how little weight was on that wheel.

I shall get just the one side changed, 106 GBP all inclusive. Better than I had expected.

Thanks for the input.

If it's locking up it would still remove the rust before it locked up. Disks rust very easily, ten minutes after rain on that side will do it. It doesn't look bad, not pitted or anything so it's probably just been hit by a shower. If the brakes were seized I'd expect to see it totally covered in rust so I suspect it's just a bit of rain on that side since you last drove it. Check it after your next trip and see what it's like though to be certain.

I am reffering to the corrosion on the brake disk. What makes me think it is locking up is that the good side is clean but the broken side is dirty. I am not worried that it is a problem itself, just that it is a sign of how little weight was on that wheel.

The weight on the wheel was exactly the same as before it broke, minus a few ounces for anything which broke off.

Steve

No it won't. The weight ends up distributed between the two diagonal pairs, if you reduce the preload on any one spring or diagonal pair then the other pair take up the load.

"shazzbat" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

No. It's just that that caliper's partially seized.

Dave presented the following explanation :

The rusty side may just be because the wind was blowing the rain onto that side of the car - on the other hand it might mean that the caliper is seixed on the rusty side and you have little or no braking effect on that wheel.

broken suspension in chemistry, mixture of two substances, one of which is finely divided and dispersed in the other.i can only describe this much but i have not much more knowledge about it.

Thank you for your useful contribution.

Chris