[Steering & Suspension] Broken Front Spring

[Matt Haigh]

Lots of noise from NSF corner this morning only to find that the spring has broken.

Citroen Select Extended Used Car Warranty confirmed that they will cover it, Citroen Assistance arranged recovery to nearest Citroen dealer. Citroen Assistance actually use the AA and provide a service which includes up to 3 days hire car through Enterprise if I need it. 

Car was picked up and on its way to dealer within an hour of my first call, all very efficient so far Citroen, thank you.

(The AA man said that its quite common, not just Berlingos, other makes/models as well)

[Solent]

Glad it is being sorted, how old/miles out of interest?

[DaveH]

Snapped a front one on mine last week (58 plate B9,80k miles), just coming off my drive !
I reckon theyre made from tempered string these days !

[Matt Haigh]

10-plate, 48k miles, also reversing off my driveway, its a very gentle ramp.
Blaming my wife, she was sat that side!

PS shape of the Berlingo spring means it just drops down, very little/no risk of damaging the tyre.

[CourierJim]

My offside front coil snapped in half as I drove onto my drive (which was lucky). My van had quite a few miles under it's belt (circa 280,000 miles) at the time, and I went on to notice that about 4" of coil had already snapped off one end of the nearside spring as well!

I ordered replacements from Euro Car Parts and was sent the wrong springs, so ordered the right springs from a Citroen main dealer at a cost of around £170. They are simple to replace if you have the right kit (spring compressors and a torque wrench). I did it on my own, and replaced both strut top swivel bearings at the same time.

I think the citroen springs are maybe on the weak side, but the number of road speed humps around nowadays doesn't help!

[ffrenchie]

I think the citroen springs are maybe on the weak side, but the number of road speed humps around nowadays doesn't help!

I've repaired springs on Vauxhall, Ford and Japanese cars as often as I have Citroen or Peugeot. They don't make their own springs same as they don't make their own brakes and electrical components. I think there is not as much safety margin designed into some parts these days to save on a little bit of weight for the be all and end all economy figures everyone seems to be chasing.

[g0tbi]

My front offside has been noisy for some time, finally last Tuesday whilst reversing a large bang, it was the spring!


My Citroen Berlingo 2013 1.6d, how does one attribute model typ in citroen speak, to my car, mk 1, GSF etc etc, I have never understoodm the type allocations, and what my type should be, we have always had Citroens

Re the spring, do the Guru's recommend a pair of springs, or can I get awy with changing the broken one, I am also told I need a top kit??


Stuart
Kinver
Sth Staffs

[cancunia]

If you only replace one spring, the spring rate or spring stiffness will be different on each side. Normal wisdom is to replace both, but you'll double the labour costs.
Will you notice the difference? Depends on how you drive.

The top kit is probably worth replacing at the same time as it's only a few pounds more for the extra part and the labour costs should be about the same.

[Romahomepete]

Worth noting that car manufacturers dont make their own springs they buy them in. For economy the end of the coil is not tapered like they used to be which means evvery time you hit a bump or a pothole the sharp end of the spring hits the coil above eventually causing stress fractures. Bad engineering just to save a few coppers.

Peter