Suspension Muck Up

[wikka]

Hey all,Im Phil .new here,good to meet you,..recently bought a focus 1.6 51plate,bog standard 97k,.£500,.nice car(needed a tyre),.anyway a month of nice driving and then got in car one morning,.pulled away clang bang bangity bang,.a broken spring,broke at top so was able to drive ok but was always worried what 'could' happen,.sourced MONROE sp2457 coil springs(fleabay) £30 a pair.To cut along story short,moneys tight,so foned a young lad who works for a decent company as a mechanic,and he was able to do the job,.Went back to pick car up,looked a little high at front parked on incline,but got in drove around for 5 mins,seemed different,but no clanging,gr8..so driving home i noticed some weird steering issues,twitchy,random,unstable,.realised i could feel and hear everything on road,then onto the speedhumps F**K ME!!! it was like dropping the car onto the road from a foot in the air,..got home thankfully.Car looked incredibly high,atleast 4 inches higher than it was,lol..so i foned young lad back,but was saturday night and no answer,.text him with my concerns,.next day he text back,he said that putting the suspension back together is basically idiot proof and the springs must be wrong!! even tho he also said the springs had the right amount of coils?! QUESTION 1,.if an aftermarket front coil spring is being used,and everything else is remaining original(as far as i know), is putting the suspension back together the same as using original springs? or does the spring have to seat/align somewhere else? QUESTION 2 is it possible to rebuild suspension so it all goes together,looks right but is clearly wrong? QUESTION 3 Are MONROE sp2457 springs compatible? QUESTION 4 if they are compatible and it turns out that somehow the springs i bought even tho labelled as sp2457,turn out to be wrong am i the unlukkiest man alive ? i was lookin at another forum in the hope for an answer and saw terms like clocking,tophat and aligning spring with notch(this was relating to aftermarket dampers/springs but keeping original strut mounts,i believe),.as you can probably tell im not a mechanic,can change pads,drop-links, fuses and bulbs,.Any HELP/ADVICE/QUESTIONS would be gr8,coz im in another !Removed! place and only 4months of the years gone.,many thanks x

[stef123]

It sounds to me like you have the wrong springs. It is very simple and almost idiot proof refitting the new springs really - something a mechanic should not be able to get wrong.

You will be able to see if the spring is seated correctly

[wikka]

thanks,.i cross referenced the compatible cars on the eBay shop before i purchased them,they seemed to be compatible from 1999 1.4L upto 2005 1.8 dti,(which seemed quite a span).so i assumed they are a pretty standard part..iv contacted the shop on eBay to get confirmation,and to ask whether they had any springs boxed wrong or similar..

[wikka]

okay got a reply from the shop where springs were bought,they say 100% without question the spring is right and compatible with my car..so assuming they know what theyre talking about,where does that leave me? a friend who knows a little bit more than me said its all abit weird as the spring only affects preload and height and if anything the car would sit lower(im not clever enough to understand how or why this would be,.?) he says its sounds like something not seating or somethings missing,but hes not in my locale to pop round and look..8/

[jeebowhite]

To be honest, it could be if the rear springs are worn down they are dropping the car down, but the front are keeping to the new spring height and have it where it should be?

To be honest though, like stef said, there really are very few ways in which the spring could be fitted incorrectly, if any at all! but the other "issue" is that you may have aftermarket lowering coils on their from ages ago and the new are factory, or vice versa, perhaps these are seen more of an upgrade on ride height rather than the standard?

[wikka]

ok,thanks for your answer,..could i ask this,if the broken springs were lowering coils would they be approximately the same size size/length as the new springs,same amount of coils ? or would they be shorter/longer/more coils/less coils? because the lad who did it said they were very similar,visually, given the old ones had near 100.000 miles use.sorry,i should add to this,there is very little 'bounce' when attempting to push down on a corner,rock solid may best describe it,.almost like the entire setup is fully extended.attempting to turn the steering is very hard with the car turned off,much more than usual..

[karlos1987]

My guess would be the shock absorber. Has that been checked?

I've lowered my car on springs only and still get a slight bounce each corner.

I would definatley be looking into the shock mate.

Sent from my C5303 using Ford OC mobile app

[wikka]

thanks for ur time karlos,.the situation is both sides m8,.would this be likely,although not impossible,..? or is one side causing other side to 'act' the same? and come to think of it,.if my shockabsorbers are fully extended what would have caused that ? OR are they being forced fully shut,either way little give,..what would happen if top of shock wasnt attatched or not quite situated correctly ? i would say looking again the bottom of the spring seems lower than originally was,and the spring is more evident,wheel arch further from tyre,...

[karlos1987]

thanks for ur time karlos,.the situation is both sides m8,.would this be likely,although not impossible,..? or is one side causing other side to 'act' the same? and come to think of it,.if my shockabsorbers are fully extended what would have caused that ? OR are they being forced fully shut,either way little give,..what would happen if top of shock wasnt attatched or not quite situated correctly ? i would say looking again the bottom of the spring seems lower than originally was,and the spring is more evident,wheel arch further from tyre,...

It may be a case of over time the shocks were leaking then all of a sudden sized. You would be very unlucky for them both to size at the same time. But not impossible.

I would say fully extended for it to be sitting high.

I would think if the shock was not attached properly at the top you would get some sort of loose metal knocking sound.

I can't see how the springs would not be sat in the correct position because they sit in there 1 way. Even if it was not right close to the 'guide' it would not sit that high.

If you take your wheel off and support the car on axel stands. Either try jacking up the suspension slightly whilst watching the shock. If no movement I would be inclined to replace them.

Sent from my C5303 using Ford OC mobile app

[wikka]

thanks bud

[martyntdci]

pics?

[AdeMk1]

I've had this & similar problems before.

I'd put money on you have been given springs for a Diesel as they have a higher spring rate due to the Diesel engine weighing more.

Had similar problem putting Petrol rated springs on a Diesel making it lower than it should have been.

The struts are practically idiot proof to put together in the right order.

Try cross referencing the part numbers and seeing if they match up for a Diesel Focus, if so the seller has supplied the wrong springs for your car.

[AdeMk1]

Ok, just had a quick search and it seems they are indeed for the Diesel...

http://www.niparts.com/MAC/E0BDF5/MONROE/SP2457.html

[Stoney871]

There's your answer then.

As stated, diesel springs are more robust/stiff to allow for heavier diesel blocks.

Less give would result in the harsh ride over bumps and definitely mess with the ride height and steering feedback.

Did the seller accurately describe the springs as for a petrol car or was that never mentioned?

If that was not stated in the advert then you have grounds for a refund or at least a swap for the correct kit.