Quote:
Springs seem to go on all sorts of makes now, and often on first moving off on a cold morning. In the Rover 75 MGZT club we say we are now in the spring break season.
It has been suggested that this is because the materials used embrittle in the low overnight temps and the initial strain of moving off probably with a bit of lock on is enough to cause failure. It has even been known for owners to hear a loud bang whilst cars are parked up when they giver out. Never had it on my prone to it ZT-T, but have on a Mondeo a few years back and last year on my Volvo, so perceived quality seems to make no differences. A mates Merc went last week also so your in good company Dave.
I am convinced that because this was unheard of years ago unless you hit something its down to poor metallurgy and cheapening down of quality.
The 75/ZT is a particular pain for breaking springs cos they often take the tyre with them - as do mkII Mondeos! One of my customers has 3 assorted 75s in his fleet and I have changed at least 4 front springs on his driveway because that's where they've failed and penetrated the tyre making the car immobile. Fortunately none have failed at any speed or going in a straight line.
I often look at the broken ends of springs, because I can and it's a sort of intellectual curiosity. These parts generally exhibit the somewhat crystalline structure effect that denotes metal fatigue over perhaps 3/4 of the section and the rest showing shear load. Quite a few that I have changed recently have only been on the car for 12-18 months or less and relatively low mileages, in 1 case, 3k/yr so salt and corrosion is not really a factor. This is what has made me give up using KYB springs. The slightly more expensive ones my factor is now supplying me with seem to be lasting longer but it's still a bit early to tell as I only made the change about 18 months ago. So i'm not going to make a recommendation yet!
Steve
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