George Macdonald wrote:
> 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.
>
i've seen brand new springs with such nicks. bad [neglectful] handling
handling at the factory. as you say, corrosion pitting starts & that
causes a stress riser that initiates fatigue. it's the fatigue cracking
that kills the spring.