Suspension coil spring replacement

ImranQ

twhitehousescat wrote: »

dont make spades like they used to :rotfl:

They don't make anything like they used to! When I was a kid my dad used to have a Ford Cortina. Solid. New cars are semi plastic.

twhitehousescat

ImranQ wrote: »

They don't make anything like they used to! When I was a kid my dad used to have a Ford Cortina. Solid. New cars are semi plastic.

back in those rose tinted days garage owners became millionaires doing welding for the cars FIRST MOT

AdrianC

ImranQ wrote: »

It is literally around double the price for one side!

It's literally double the work... bar the "putting the car on and off the ramp" bit.

It's one of those "If you have to ask" jobs. It's not something I'd be in a rush to be DIYing, and I really don't mind getting stuck into some hefty stuff.

Yes, parts are going to vary wildly in quality from the "own-brand"/no-brand-from-eBay rubbish that'll last a year if you're lucky, through to OE.

Jackmydad

ImranQ wrote: »

They don't make anything like they used to! When I was a kid my dad used to have a Ford Cortina. Solid. New cars are semi plastic.

They used to make them "solid" because they needed the largely redundant thickness of metal to allow for corrosion.
When I got my Mark 1 it was 15 years old. I virtually put a new front end on it.
OK if you can do it yourself.

I'd guess that most 15 year old cars these days have nothing like that degree of rust.
If they'd rustproofed the Cortinas properly we'd still be driving them around now.
And spring changes are a fairly easy job, but there's a lot of energy stored in those springs if anything goes wrong. Not a job I ever liked doing, and I've done most things to cars.

bartelbe

It is a relatively easy job, the risk is if you don't compress the spring properly and it escapes. They have enough stored energy to seriously injure or kill. However as long as you use the tools correctly, you should be fine.

seatbeltnoob

screwfix have spring compressors for £20. I did the struts on mine, left the springs on.


The danger of springs becoming loose and shooting off randomly is overstated imho. Get a good set of spring compressor, compress them evenly moving one side to the other, and check the the spring is seated at all times. Make sure you never have the end of the spring pointing at anyone at any time.


Or perhaps i'm not seeing the full dangerous of it as strut swap is relatively safer than a spring swap.


The mechanic is being silly by only doing one side, it will make your car dangerous if they just do one side, ths steering will be diffrent one corner will be much striffer than the other and cause all sorts of steering imbalance. They must be done as a pair.



I would do both springs and both struts. With equal quality part to the manufacturer or better. Naff springs and shocks are bad, You put them on and they feel worse than the knackered OEM springs you just took out.. what a waste of money.

hareng

ImranQ wrote: »

She seems to charge over speed bumps so I suspect that was one factor that contributed!

Does a coil spring manufacturer make a difference? I've seen prices of pairs from £16 to £100+.

Like saying never use the car it will break if you use it, misconception springs break at any time.


Theres springs and theres springs, some bad some good for a reason. Its highly unlikely an aftermarket producer will make to original spec so replace in pairs, even that will upset front rear balance.


Lastly they are easy to only need a jack and an assortment of sockets and spanners plus a spring compressor. Done them laying in puddles late at night with a torch.

Only problem may get is removing the struts and replacing without affecting camber (holes are large.)

ImranQ

Thanks for the input folks.
So in the end I ordered the following:

Compressor has pin locks and had good reviews.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2pc-Coil-Spring-Compressor-For-MacPherson-Struts-Shock-Absorber-Car-Tool-CT3692/223584134907


These springs also seem to be from a decent firm and have 5 yr warranty
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-KYB-Front-Suspension-Coil-Springs-RH3029-BRAND-NEW-5-YEAR-WARRANTY/173746668904

wgl2014

I would suggest giving any bolts that need removing a liberal spray of penetrating oil the day before, wire brush and then more oil. Depending on how long they have been in place for they can be fairly well stuck on.....

An impact gun will also make getting the top nut off from the strut.

I've replaced the springs on a couple of cars now, not difficult but as already mentioned there is potential for injury so just go carefully.

hareng

Imran both links look decent enough, hope it goes well.
Struts try wedging open the macpherson strut from its hub fitment, usually split on the inner. Taap the two bolts out with nut on saves damaging thread.
Cheap box spanner best for top of strut, some have allen key insert to stop rod rotating some hex.