On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 07:45:58 -0400, Imminent Vengeance <me@privacy.net>
wrote:

>George Macdonald wrote:
>
>> Depends where you live but that suspension system is prone to broken front
>> springs in the frost belt - the spring breaks just where it enters the
>> perch on the shock. Because of where the break is, you probably won't even
>> notice any difference in ride/handling but you might hear a "doink" when
>> you get out of the car on the side with the break; you'd definitely hear
>> the "doink... doink" when you jack the front up. The break *can* put some
>> side force on the shock which will wear it out quicker.
>>
>The only time I broke a spring on my '93 Accord, it was at the other end of
>the coil, at the top where it enters the strut mount. But I think this was
>the result of that corner of the car jumping a huge curb while swerving to
>avoid a bad driver.

The break often happens on a violent bump but the root cause is usually
weakening of the metal due to corrosion where water/salt gets through a
hole in the epoxy coating of the spring. The upper spring seat has a
rubber doughnut in it so there's no wear of the epoxy there. I've heard of
the upper end going but AFAIK the lower is more common because of epoxy
wearing away where it contacts the metal of the perch. If you live in a
"corrosion area" it's worth checking springs for nicks in the epoxy...
which *can* be caused by some of the (cruder) tools used to compress the
spring, e.g. when swapping shocks.

--
Rgds, George Macdonald