Re: Coil spring snap on 406 Hdi

Dave Angel wrote:
> I have a 1998 406 Hdi estate and my offside soil spring has just
> snapped, luckily when I was pulling into a driveway at about 5 mph!
> RAC guy said that suggested that he could see no other damage to the
> tire or brake lines.  I am 'reasonably' technically minded and have
> the car sitting at home.
>
> 1. Can I remove the shock itself by jacking the car up and then take
> it to a garage to replace the coil?  Or just drive slowly to the
> garage (literally about 200metres away!) and get them to do it all (I
> don't know how big the job is).
>
> 2. Do I need any specialist tools to remove it other than spanners/
> tourque wrench etc?
>
> 3. Should I remove the other front shock while I am about it and get
> that replaced?
>
> 4. Can I buy the shock online?  My concern is that I might get stiffed
> by a garage and I don't want to pay a premium.  I have no idea how
> much they are...
>
> The car has 112k miles on it.
>
> Thanks in advance

Mine went the other day as I was reversing out of a parking space 
(fortunately at home). One of my neighbours is a mechanic so he replaced
it 
for me for £120. I associated the clonk as it snapped with the brakes 
sticking so I actually got about 200yds down the road before I twigged it 
was a bit more serious than that. It did melt the name off the inside of
the 
front tyre but apart from that no damage was done. The guy who replaced it

for me said he had to use hydraulic spring compressors becuase the 
replacement spring was so long and had to be compressed down so far. I
have 
no idea whether he was spinning a tale or not.


-- 
Malc
Do not use the area outside this door for a urinal