Springs - sand down and paint or replace?

[Yugguy]

So, the springs in question are on the missus Yaris but the question is a general one for any car I guess.

Had an advisory on the mot just gone regarding rust on the rear springs. Having a look it's just surface where the paint has flaked, even the MOT bloke said there was no rush to replace them.

They are easy to remove, is it worth just sanding down and repainting with some Hammerite type stuff?

 

[LostKiwi]

Depending on price I'd just replace them next year....

 

[Droverunner]

I have never seen an advisory for this. I'd get some black Hammerite Waxoyl and brush it on having lightly removed loose flakes. Better than paint for this situation. The only proviso is sometimes paint flakes and or rust shows at the point they may break in the future. Particularly if it's in the first turn of the coil from the bottom this is a possibility.

 

[Yugguy]

Interesting -it is at the first coil from the bottom where the rust is.

Replacement does make more sense but my inner DIYer wants to sand and paint.

I guess though as either way I'd have to remove them I may as well change.

 

[Droverunner]

It is not a certainty but breakage in that first coil from the pan it sits in is the most common break position I've seen on the dozens I've replaced. I'd always assumed this is where it gets "work hardened" the most and eventually snaps... perhaps in conjunction with rust pits starting the fracture. I don't think painting will delay this process and on anything other than a show car no need to have them shiny.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Rather than sanding I'd suggest you have them media blasted and the repainted. That way you won't remove metal which could set up some skin stresses down the line.

 

[Droverunner]

TBH a pair of Yaris springs only about £30-£40 so not really worth restoring if you are going to take the trouble of compressing and removing.

 

[Yugguy]

Cheers. Reads are easy on the yaris as they are separate to the shocks.

 

[turbopete]

personally, wait till they NEED to be replaced (ie they break) then replace them. anything else is rather pointless, IMO

 

[Yugguy]

Hmm. I've had a broken front spring rip through a tyre on a dual carriageway so I think I'll change them before that.

 

[LostKiwi]

MOT man was of the opinion it will last a year (otherwise it would have been a fail) so change it next summer.

 

[Submariner1]

It is not a certainty but breakage in that first coil from the pan it sits in is the most common break position I've seen on the dozens I've replaced. I'd always assumed this is where it gets "work hardened" the most and eventually snaps... perhaps in conjunction with rust pits starting the fracture. I don't think painting will delay this process and on anything other than a show car no need to have them shiny.

Mums C270 cdi, failed an MOT with only 17,000 miles @ 13 years old.
One of The springs had sheared on the last lower curl where it sits in the rubber bush, the other had a crack starting ... both looked like new until this last bit of the spring and both were very rusty.
Due to the low mileage they even brought them out to show me.

As you can imagine I was thinking .... Oh yeah a mercedes spring broken!! And the other cracked at that milage!!!
They said its quite common as the last bit virtually sits in a cup of water. And the old ones with very low mileage are particularly susectible as the water never gets thrown off by movement.

Problem you have in painting, as I discovered with Hammerite, if the rust is near a wear area hammerite takes at least a month to dry out. So it would wear off exactly where it is needed.

Maybe that POR stuff dries quicker???

Moral of the scenario is give your car some stick

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Obviously a known problem, my advice is to clean off what rust you can and apply a liberal dose of waxoyl every year

 

[Frontstep]

Whats up with leather gaiters and denso tape ?

 

[Droverunner]

First mention I've heard of Denso tape in decades!

 

[Frontstep]

Good stuff works well.
Ghastly sticky stuff, though I suppose it needs to be.

 

[daveenty]

Just thought I'd add a comment to this.

As an advisory item on a test, my first thought would be that the tester is covering himself on a "just in case" basis.

However, if you're worried about it, and I would be because I'm a nightmare, then get them changed. By the time they're off, stripped and painted, you could have just bought a new pair to put on. My front ones on my baby 190 have a few rusty spots on them, which I'll clean up and paint. The rears have a good few more and will get replaced. Just because.

Around £70 for replacements, I'd want at least that to blast and paint the old ones, with no guarantee that they'll last.

 

[sonic]

Whats up with leather gaiters and denso tape ?

Still got some in the garage from antenna rigging.

 

[Droverunner]

Ha ha... one new wrapped roll here from my past life that now pays my pension.

 

[Yugguy]

Cheers - I can get decent ones for not too much so next spring I'll just swap them out.