Front Nearside Shock Absorber

[gavster]

Hi All,

I have a 2001 Sport+ which has served me well for the past 6 months.

Last week I approached a kerb at less than walking speed and heard a loud 'clunk' from the nearside front wheel area. Upon removing this wheel I found that the spring had broken towards the bottom of the coil. It's nice at least to be able to identify what's gone wrong. In view that the car was very cheap, and I don't plan to keep it forever, I'm wanting to keep the remedial work as low cost as possible (without creating an unsafe car).

I've got a couple of Q's;

- The damping unit itself appears fine, the coil itself has sheared. Is the coil only ever replaced, or is a whole unit (including absorber) needed? Is it even possible to fit a coil to an existing absorber?

- It appears that the advice is for shock absorbers to be replaced in pairs. Whilst I appreciate this may be best practice, is this really necessary?

- What do you see as a fair price to get the appropriate absorber/coil replaced and fitted, per side?


For info I've attached a pic of the failed coil.

Any advice / observations much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Sam]

its fine to just replace the spring as long as the damper isnt leaking, you should replace both springs on the front though.

 

[gavster]

its fine to just replace the spring as long as the damper isnt leaking, you should replace both springs on the front though.

Thanks.

If a garage replaced both springs, what do you think a fair price would be (inc the parts)?

 

[rowdy-GTi]

Get new top mount bearings for the struts, as they'll be shot. 1.5hrs labour? I imagine most garages will charge around £150-£200 for a job like that. It will need the front alignment checking afterwards, so make sure they do that.