Opinions on snapped springs please...

[daschmoo]

Alright all

I'm absolutely gutted... took the van in for a 6 month service today and the garage have discovered that both nearside springs are snapped

What's particularly gutting is that we're meant to be going away for a few days tomorrow ... then I have my usual Loughborough to London commute in it for work on Monday next week before a weekend away in it at V Festival Weston Park. The garage can't do the work until at least next week so I have to decide what to do regarding our trip away and my shift at work.

So what I would like are your opinions as to what I should do...

A - have a miserable few days at home and then sleep in a cardboard box at work while the garage have the van next week to get it ready for V

B- drive very carefully and not overload the van but go away anyway, do work as normal and then pray to the Van God that the mechs can repair it on Thursday next week ready to go away to V on Friday.

C - another solution???

Any advice would be much welcomed

Also - how much time (in work hours) should a garage be taking to fix this as they are quoting me 6-8 hours which seems a bit extreme?

[armyphil]

buy the springs and do it tommorow its not a hard job to do honestly

[PoloSi]

I second armyphil, will be alot more satisfied with the work afterwards and have more beer more V festival!

Simon

[daschmoo]

Thanks for the vote of confidence regarding my mechanical abilities.... but I really don't think I have the necessary nohow or skills to do this myself - I really wouldn't know where to start!

What has occurred to me is that I was contemplating having the van lowered slightly in the future so maybe this would be the time to do it as I need to buy 4 new springs anyway so might aswell go the whole hog and get the lowering kit sooner rather than later - is this MUCH more expensive?

As it stands at the mo we are going to go away (unless you guys really think that is a bad idea) and just pray that driving carefully with minimum weight will buy us a few miles out of the van. The way I see it is that I would still be driving around oblivious to it if it hadn't been in for a service! Have mixed feelings about it but staying at home won't get it fixed any sooner so we think it's worth the risk.

[armyphil]

be warned though if the spring happens to come out, it will cause a world of pain in other parts, endangering other road users and its illegal to so if you have a accident you may not be insured! Due to the fact that the vehicle would not pass an MOT

[PoloSi]

If you want to get them done quickly without too much money, someone has got a set for sale on the forum:

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=55654" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Simon

[Rozzo]

where are they broken? i drove mine fer a while with the very bottom coil of a front spring broken with no problems but then i was confident it didn't affect the handling and it couldn't come out. the rear ones only take minutes to change but the fronts are a bit more difficult.

[fullsunian]

The only difference between now and last week is that you now know about the springs, you could of been driving around with them like that for months so what difference is another week going to make. There are loads and loads of folks out there driving round with broken springs, we see them every week. Only time there any trouble is on stuff with mc pherson struts when sometimes the broken end of the spring cuts the tyre.
I'm not saying drive it...but the only difference is you now know about it...your call.
IAN

[Mocki]

just forget they told you till next weeks over....

i just did i recon 10,000 miles with a busted rear...... they take 5 mins to swap when you have one

fronts take about a hour tops.

[matt]

if you bob up to Derby we can change the rear in seconds

Theres one in the shed of poo you can borrow

we can look at the front and decide weather to attempt it or not

Gadders is not far away from me
and he recently changed his...

in fact he's on the rock n role atm
and bet he'd bob over for a few pints plus petrol ££££

[nicwolverine]

I'm a complete amatuer and took all 4 springs out and lowered my bus by cutting them down in no more than 3 hours so the garage is cashing in.

If you got an angle grinder or can borrow one you may not even need to buy new springs depending on where the crack is. just cut both springs to the same length and boom slammed bus

[matt]

I'm a complete amatuer and took all 4 springs out and lowered my bus by cutting them down in no more than 3 hours so the garage is cashing in.

If you got an angle grinder or can borrow one you may not even need to buy new springs depending on where the crack is. just cut both springs to the same length and boom slammed bus

ohhh, sloopy

"ducks and Runs"

"awaits fall out"


Meanwhile welcome to the Club

[nicwolverine]

ohhh, sloopy

"ducks and Runs"

"awaits fall out"


Meanwhile welcome to the Club

thanks for the welcome.

like i said depends on where his crack is, i took only a small amount (about 1 revolution) off my springs but now it dont look so airy under the arches and the springs are still quite secure, will wait to see what the mot man says though

[Cruz]

I'm a complete amatuer and took all 4 springs out and lowered my bus by cutting them down in no more than 3 hours so the garage is cashing in.

If you got an angle grinder or can borrow one you may not even need to buy new springs depending on where the crack is. just cut both springs to the same length and boom slammed bus

How rough is the ride now?

[The Bobdogs]

I have a complete set of standard springs sat in my shed that you can use for free until you decide to get the lowering springs fitted!
And I'm in Luffbra!
Regards
Andy.