Broken rear suspension spring?
 

I've spotted something odd about our ZTT - it seems to be sitting a bit lower on the rear nearside than it is on the offside rear.

It has one finger clearance on the nearside between the tyre and the wheel arch above, whereas on the offside it's two finger clearance.

I have a nasty feeling that the spring has fractured.

How common is this problem? I need to take the wheel off when I get a chance - is the fracture usually obvious - and how much work is it to replace?

Thanks chaps!

Springs usually break at the bottom and it's hard to detect unless you remove a road wheel and inspect it.

Springs do break,common to all cars.Springs are recommended to be replaced in pairs if funds permit..Or if your on a budget,change the broken one.

If you remove the rear seat cushion,you will find the spring specification for when ordering a replacement.

Thanks Pab. I'll take off a wheel at the weekend and have a look. I figured that these springs would need to be replaced in pairs.

A bit annoying it must be said - the car appears to be in a phase of its existance when it is haemorrhaging cash :( The wife is threatening to get rid of it - which would be a great shame, as I can't imagine anything as capable or characterful to replace it with (short of a Landrover!)

Have just replaced my rear spring on my ZT, it had snapped in the middle and you could see it through the wheel.

guys is it okay to drive if both rear springs are broken off at the bottom like in this picture these are not my springs only similar visually, mine are in place still
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...8/SDC11645.jpg

My ZT's currently in the garage for all four springs being replaced. My rear springs had snapped at the bottom in a similar place to the ones in your photo but the coils hadnt moved apart or gone out of line so didnt drop the rear of the car. However it caused horrendous vibrating of the steering wheel and made the car a little unstable and a bit scary at times to drive. Car didn't feel like itself at all. So from my experience id say not too safe to drive on snapped springs.

Both my rears had snapped top and bottom coil on both. Only realised when I parked next to another zt and there was a real noticeable gap difference in rear arch. Car had gone through 2 MOT tests like this (different garages). Only noticeable difference is it doesn't scrape on and off my drive now.

Winter is coming and with it " broken Spring Syndrome", so, the question is, is this likely to happen to all MG and Rovers or is it age related. By that I mean, was there a time when Rover/Mg realised that this was a problem and changed the profile of the front and rear springs to cure this.

I have just found out both my springs have snapped at the bottom. Replacements arrived yesterday from Rimmers. I don't think this is a new problem as I do remember that my Mum bought one of the 1st maestro's and it had 2 broken springs in the 1st year.

Rover models are more susceptible to snapped springs (due to lesser coil diameter, so any weakness caused by corrosion takes longer to be a problem on MG springs, which are thicker) but it does affect both.
Rover springs are certainly cheaper and easier to find (especially for ZT-T rear items).