Tyre Protectors

[T-Cut]

Originally Posted by bendrick

About 5 years ago an acquaintance of mine had a front spring go through his tyre on his 75 whilst travelling at 70mph in the outside motorway lane.

This event, or something very similar was reported on the forum around that time. Thankfully 90% of 75/ZT spring fractures occur as the car is just starting off, often with the steering on the turn and in cold weather.
There are now literally dozens of threads describing members' experiences of spring fracture dating back well over a decade. Springs are most vulnerable during the winter months. Early reports from MGR indicated they were aware of the low temperature effect and actually advised service depots to avoid getting brake cleaning sprays (which are very volatile) onto the springs to avoid the chilling effect. Microscopic impurities/fissures on the metal surface, combined with road salt also exaccerbate the problem. Whether this is down to the 'cheap' imported steel used these days or that springs were rather heavier built in the good old days is a matter of conjecture. However, MGR's recall was definitely the result of a batch of sub-standard springs being fitted to a large number of vehicles. This is why the recall covered a specific VIN range. Be that as it may, all makes of car are subject to similar spring beakage rates, so fitting these tyre protection gizmos is a no-brainer really.

TC