Broken Suspension Coil - Safe to Drive to Garage?

Eurocarparts, Had my rears done 2 weeks ago and after watching my mechanic I wished I tried myself first.

Put the car on axle stands. Use a jack under where the spring should be to take up the tension to reove the shock bolts and lower the jack again. Insert spring and then jack it back up to put shock bolt back in and thats pretty much it.
 
Lashout_UK said:
Dad's Merc did the same - fortunately parked on the drive, not doing 70mph on the A5 like he was 5 minutes prior. Front offside collapsed completely. Known issue. Mercedes wasn't interested. Corrosion had penetrated into a flaw in the spring casting after the plastic coating had failed. Not uncommon, though.
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My dad had the same, spring on his E Class failed rather spectacularly whilst driving however despite their initial reluctance, after a lot of threatening to go to local press and dump the car in front of the doorway etc. they replaced all the springs for free :p The car was only 6 months or so out of warranty at that point though.
 
DAnDan said:
So does anyone know where I can source a new spring?

I'm going to call some garages in the area to see if any stock them/can get them in, but I'm struggling to find an actual part number anywhere online for the exact spring I should be looking for.
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Check eurocarparts enter you reg And away you go
Easy to fit a spring in one of those
 
Orionaut said:
Crikey!

I've never seen that before!

Think yourself lucky you weren't doing 80 on the motorway! :eek:


That is definitely a no-go for driving anywhere! (As in be very careful even just trying to turn it around!)
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Definitely don't drive it!
I've had an airbag fail on a trailer before (the equivalent of a spring on an air suspension trailer) and it caused the truck to roll over! :eek:
 
traveyb said:
:eek: Wow that's scary but quite impressive. Surprised we aren't seeing some kind of redneck/Russian way of getting round it :D
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They'd probably just drive it, very carefully, to a garage and hope it doesn't flip over and explode.

I bet you could get it to the local garage without (much) of a problem :p

Looks like a fairly easy self fix though, no?
 
Mrjobby said:
I would replace both rears.
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Yes... do the pair.

Even if the other one hasn't fallen apart, it will be worn and you will notice the difference.

When you go over speed difference, the difference in performance between the new spring and old spring will have the car rocking sideways when you go over bumps... especially noticeable on a speed hump.

It'll be pretty cheap to do both... so get them both done... well worth the extra 30 quid for the second spring and 1/2 hour labour... won't cost you the earth.
 
That would be ok to drive a short way, but the rears are not hard to do if you have a few tools, if not find a mate who does.
 
Metal fatigue.

One spring will have held the weight of the car for years and become worn, maybe developed hairline cracks. A new spring will be nice and stiff, which will be highlighted when going over bumps.

A bit like women, come to think of it.
 
Springs do sag with age, but the spring rate doesn't tend to change unless there is physical damage to the spring. Changing the pair is ideal, but changing one won't cause the end of the world.
 
On a daily driver I'd just replace the failed spring.

Anything more upmarket or "sporty" I'd do the pair.
 
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