Why do springs wear out

General BMW Discussion. Do springs wear out? Results 1 to 12 of Thread: Do springs wear out? Thread Tools Show Printable Version. I'm wondering, I have noticed my old is rolling a lot more than it used to. The problem seems to have presented during the last 6 months. It's not a strut problem, since I mainly notice it when going through roundabouts, when the car is settled into the turn. My mechanic says springs don't wear out, if they're not broken, they're fine.

But that doesn't sound very right to me, after all it's just a piece of steel that's compressed and relaxed thousands of times a day, it cannot be exempt from metal fatigue. Is there anything else that can cause increased roll? Worn bushings or a tired subframe? Most of the suspension is in mediocre condition, except for the struts and shocks.

It's on stock sports suspension. Im thinking its the shocks. Beofre I replaced my shocks, everytime I used to hit thise reailroad tack on a turn, my car would roll. Once I replaced just my shocks, the car is solid. Im just saying that maybe it could be the shocks :. Oh, and as far as I know, I think springs can wear out. I could be wrong tho. Originally Posted by xlDooM. You make a good point. The springs are intended to give an extra bit of lift in the back.

The extra lift is designed to prevent sag once the truck is loaded. As such, an empty truck should have a slight bit of rear lift, while a loaded truck should be flat. Slouching of any sort generally means suspension trouble. In some cases that involve issues with the suspension, the sagging will be more pronounced on one side.

This symptom would indicate that the coil spring at one end is more worn than the other. In any event, vehicle sagging is an issue that needs to be fixed the moment it comes to your attention, especially if the problem is obvious when the truck is empty. If you procrastinate on correcting this situation, the weight of the vehicle is liable to ruin the axle. When coil springs deteriorate and ultimately weaken a truck's suspension system, the brunt of excess weight is generally felt by the rear tires.

As the problem accelerates, the tires are liable to wear and strip long before you would otherwise be due for a tire change. Of course, if the tires become stripped, they need to be replaced immediately — as would the coil springs — before you have a blowout on the road. Tire wear can also be a slower and more subtle symptom of weakened coil springs.

If the springs wear down gradually, the weight distribution on the tires will slowly go off balance. Consequently, the tires will be pressed against the road at incorrect angles and slowly become misaligned. Keep in mind that the truck and its tires and suspension system are designed for specific weight balances and distributions. When the balance goes off, everything is impacted. Consequently, when tires bear odd distributions of weight, the rubber is liable to wear down in unusual ways.

The problem with misaligned and oddly worn tires can be especially dangerous if you regularly haul heavy loads across challenging stretches of terrain.

When the tires are rendered incapable of properly handling flat, even roads and highways, just imagine the impact of gravelly roads and hillside terrain on the rubber.

One of the great advantages of coil springs and shocks is that they limit the amount of noise your truck would otherwise produce along the underside if no suspension system were present. With all the pressure and tension between the weight of the vehicle and the axle and wheels, the truck would be noisy as well as uncomfortable to drive. A healthy set of coil springs and shocks are unlikely to generate much noise, if any at all. If your truck has become gradually noisier over time, it could be an indicator that the springs and shocks are due to be replaced.

The problem is liable to be noticeable when you drive over road obstructions and speed bumps, as these and other imperfections tend to make vehicles jump. As with other problem symptoms, the noise can start out subtle — perhaps even unnoticeable if you've grown accustomed to tuning out mild vehicular noise — but gradually become louder as the coils deteriorate.

Sooner or later, as the truck becomes less comfortable to drive due to its weakened balance and stability, you'll ultimately come to notice these problem sounds. In any case, excessive noise from under your vehicle needs to be examined the moment it comes to your attention. Even if the sound stems from other components and has nothing to do with the suspension, you should still inspect the issue immediately.

If the noise does, in fact, stem from faulty coil springs and shocks, the problem has likely advanced enough to make spring replacement an imminent priority. One of the most obvious and frightening signs of a bad suspension system is when abrupt and unintended vehicular movements of any kind occur.

When it comes to faulty coil spring symptoms, such movements typically manifest in the form of jumps. If the vehicle seems incapable of handling even the slowest encounters with speed bumps without bouncing excessively, you probably have a worn set of coil springs and shocks. If your truck abruptly bounces as you drive over bumps and road obstructions, even when you slow the vehicle down, the time has come to inspect your coil springs.

For a lot of truck owners, this problem gradually creeps up over time and is therefore not diagnosed until the deterioration of the springs has gotten serious. Consequently, the moment you discover this problem is when you must take action. A truck with bad coil springs is also liable to bounce when you drive over gravelly or uneven terrain. For example, when you drive on a rocky back road, the imperfections of the road will naturally be a bumpy experience for the tires. Due to the lack of sufficient suspension and shock absorption, the bumpy movement will travel up to the cab, where it will be felt by you and your passengers.

As the problem advances and the coil springs become less effective at absorbing shock and buffering movement between the axle and chassis, the truck might start to bounce each time you shift gears. If you can no longer shift up from first to fifth gear without the vehicle sending abrupt motions throughout the cab, it's probably due to coil springs in need of immediate replacement.

This can add up to almost 9 million cycles in 50, miles. Engineers will use terms like frequency and amplitude to describe spring construction. For the layman, these terms translate to how fast and how far the spring has to travel. Frequency and amplitude are tuned for ride quality, center of gravity and the sprung weight of the vehicle.

One spring rate might be great for controlling body lean, but it could be too hard to give a comfortable ride. To increase the versatility of the spring, engineers can tune the coils so it is progressive and change the spring rate when they are compressed or are put under certain forces. Changing the spring rate of a coil spring is not easy. Engineers can change the spacing and pitch of the coil to generate different spring rates.

They can also change the geometry of the spring by making it a barrel shape that affects how loads are absorbed. Also, how the spring is formed and treated can influence the spring rate. Progressive spring designs have one disadvantage — they can fatigue in specific areas.

When this happens, the spring can break. The other part of the equation is the strut or shock that dampens the movement of the suspension and spring.

A dampener is not a spring, and a spring is not a dampener. When a spring is compressed, it stores the energy and releases it. When a dampener is compressed, it absorbs the energy and changes it into heat. The dampener controls how the energy in the spring is absorbed and compressed. This means the specifications for the spring and strut are linked. It also means that when one component is worn, it impacts the other.

If you were rebuilding an engine with new heads and camshafts, would you reuse the old valve springs?