Suspension now snapped i am going insane

[plod]

First time one of my front ones went, I changed the complete strut

However when the second one went, I thought, hang on a minute, here is a car with problems with the front springs and i'm here fitting a second hand spring that "could" fail next week
Therefore, it felt it could be false economy and changed the pair for new

I do concur, that if funds are light, then paying £15 for a strut is hard to argue with, but IMO it's a stop gap situation ultimately


-8 !!! You were brave

[marty1979]

Hold on a minute, are we saying that these springs are almost 100% sure to go at some point, and being that some of the springs from owners have let go overnight whilst sat doing nothing, they are even more likely to go when the car's being driven, and could puncture the tyres That has me worried to be honest, that is a serious problem, I mean really serious. Imagine driving down the motorway and a spring goes and takes out a tyre I think I just lost some more hair

[steve_earwig]

It's not 100% certain that they'll go, it might help to keep the bottom spring seat clear of crud & maybe spray some waxoyl in there - it appears the breaks migrate from pits caused by rust. I also don't recall one going at speed and there's been quite a few. They usually seem to go when the car's parked.

[Archangel]

Possibly, I think they usually puncture the tyre though.

they do , mines just gone today about 45 mins ago ,ordered new ones on ebay from place in cheshire by me (24 hr courier), just will be waiting on damn spring compressor and hopefully weather stay reasonable

[lozz]

Hold on a minute, are we saying that these springs are almost 100% sure to go at some point, and being that some of the springs from owners have let go overnight whilst sat doing nothing, they are even more likely to go when the car's being driven, and could puncture the tyres That has me worried to be honest, that is a serious problem, I mean really serious. Imagine driving down the motorway and a spring goes and takes out a tyre I think I just lost some more hair

calm down fella, lol,
when springs are on there way out you get warning sighns, eg clunks and clangs,
dont panic im sure if your springs was on there way out you wouid know they was weak before they went,

[Archangel]

I didnt then but I know now , mine being sat on drive since last thursday before xmas not moving ; and going to do the waxoyl thing on new ones as a preventative measure ( thx steve earwig )

[jasper5]

Never known a spring to give a warning before they break, except when the top bearing has seized and you get the twang as the spring winds itself up.

One thing I thought of with 406 before I got rid of mine was the possibility of fitting the safety ledge that they fitted to the Berlingos and the Meganes after they had serious spring failures.....the bottom coil on the 406 breaking causes the whole spring to fly down onto the tyre/driveshaft, the modification to the Meganes and Berlingos prevents the spring flying down because there is a wide ledge under the bottom coil.
This modification comes in 2 halves and is bolted together under the bottom coil.
I don't know if this modification would fit the 406 but it looks very much similar to the Berlingo struts.

BTW my neighbour had a spring break on his Megane on a country lane at 40mph, the car ended up in a hedge.