Bowed front road spring on a sl129.

[Quick Silver]

I have just upgraded the head and foglights on my SL129 and generally spent an afternoon's tlc with some spanners and noticed that the front O/S road spring was bowed when the car was jacked up but regains its normal shape when off the jack ,tried the N/S front road spring and it is its normal shape ie straight whether the car is jacked up or not . The O/S spring was replaced 18 months ago because it was broken on about the last 2 inches of the spring at the bottom .

There are no breaks in any of the springs, the car is level , it drives ok and it has only just passed the MOT .
It doesn't look right but cant see any problem other than the bowed shape when the O/S front is jacked up .

Anybody any ideas as to why this should be as its puzzling me now.

 

[television]

I would not worry about that,,when a spring is allowed to expand it can do that

 

[Quick Silver]

I would not worry about that,,when a spring is allowed to expand it can do that

Thanks Malcom , I can take the worry beads off now , but why is the opposite side not doing it .Is it beacause one spring is newer than the other and maybe has a little more tension on the new one . I know generally that you should replace road springs in pairs but my Indie said why spend money when you don't have to .

 

[television]

If the car is the identical height both sides when on level ground, the spring could be a different make and have different properties,, this is why they should be replaced in pairs, the free lenght could be different, but at the same time have the correct qualities

 

[brianbrian]

I like to change item's in pairs , its cheaper in the long run as you will have to change the other side some time or other unless your selling the car. Hope this helps