Hi all,

I knew that these were a design flaw by Ford, the front suspension on the Mk6 (and maybe the mk7 as well) have a design flaw, water sits in the top of the dampers and rusts through the lower coil of the spring. I have just had one of my front springs go on the driver's side, I believe they are original shocks and springs @ 116k miles.

I was lucky as mine snapped whilst parked up rather than driving, the coil came completely off the damper and was wedged against the tyre - very dangerous if I were driving,

Just wanted to flag this up for anyone out there with a mileage over 100k but still on the original springs etc - get them changed asap.

Ford did a fix for this, if you went to Ford to get it repaired they fitted a larger 'cup' so the spring didn't fall down and hit the tyre, mine went on my mk6 fiesta but luckily the spring hooked itself on the edge of the cup so I could drive it to the garage, my sons mk6 facelift Spring broke & wedged against the tyre so the AA cut the spring off and followed him to the garage 'slowly'.

10 minutes ago, Russ said:

Ford did a fix for this, if you went to Ford to get it repaired they fitted a larger 'cup' so the spring didn't fall down and hit the tyre, mine went on my mk6 fiesta but luckily the spring hooked itself on the edge of the cup so I could drive it to the garage, my sons mk6 facelift Spring broke & wedged against the tyre so the AA cut the spring off and followed him to the garage 'slowly'.

Thanks for the comment, looks like mine still had the old design, hopefully the new dampers will be fine, I called the AA out to recover mine - they fitted a space saver thinner wheel which was enough to clear the spring and tyre to be able to get it loaded onto the back of the truck - mine had a full sized spare.

1 hour ago, m1tch said:

Hi all,

I knew that these were a design flaw by Ford, the front suspension on the Mk6 (and maybe the mk7 as well) have a design flaw, water sits in the top of the dampers and rusts through the lower coil of the spring. I have just had one of my front springs go on the driver's side, I believe they are original shocks and springs @ 116k miles.

I was lucky as mine snapped whilst parked up rather than driving, the coil came completely off the damper and was wedged against the tyre - very dangerous if I were driving,

Just wanted to flag this up for anyone out there with a mileage over 100k but still on the original springs etc - get them changed asap.

Had exactly the same happen to both fronts on my Mk 6.

It's not only over 100k either...  I bought one last year on about 50k (cant remember exactly) spares and repairs because it'd shot a spring through the front tyre.

They aren't the only cars with this issue though, same happens on quite a few cars, and with the smaller coils at each end makes it lethal when the spring does snap, amazes me they can even use springs like that with so many potholes and speedbumps around nowadays!

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It's not only over 100k either...  I bought one last year on about 50k (cant remember exactly) spares and repairs because it'd shot a spring through the front tyre.

They aren't the only cars with this issue though, same happens on quite a few cars, and with the smaller coils at each end makes it lethal when the spring does snap, amazes me they can even use springs like that with so many potholes and speedbumps around nowadays!

That's true Tom.   Mine was 7 years old and had done 50653 when both front springs went.

Thanks for these comments guys, I think mine were on the original springs and dampers, have managed to get 1 side replaced yesterday, still have the other side to do - I have noticed that the car is riding much higher now (but even on both sides) - I am thinking that the springs might have snapped a while back and then its only now that its come off the damper platform.

Its also a real faff trying to get those dampers into the pinch clamp in the hub - why can't they use 2 bolts at the bottom of the dampers like everyone else!

The new springs may just need to settle, give them a few days and the height should drop a bit.  Old springs 'sag' as well though so would expect a bit of height difference.

Most cars I've changed them on have only have the single pinch bolt, only the Vauxhalls and Saab (basically a Vauxhall!) that have had the 2 bolts that I can remember lol.

3 hours ago, m1tch said:

Thanks for these comments guys, I think mine were on the original springs and dampers, have managed to get 1 side replaced yesterday, still have the other side to do - I have noticed that the car is riding much higher now (but even on both sides) - I am thinking that the springs might have snapped a while back and then its only now that its come off the damper platform.

Its also a real faff trying to get those dampers into the pinch clamp in the hub - why can't they use 2 bolts at the bottom of the dampers like everyone else!

It will ride high for a while as the new springs haven't been compressed. If you put an old used Spring beside a brand new one there is around 3 inches difference due to behind compressed. The new springs will eventually 'drop/settle' over time.