Broken Spidan spring less than 2 years old.

I’m not a metallurgist but of the 3 ultra low mile a2s I’ve had in last 18 months all have had new springs fitted at some point so this is an age related problem rather than milage as of the 3 cars 10k 13k and 27k all three of these cars had some new springs inc one on rear ..These where obviously original factory Audi...?
 
16 month old Spidan 49527, R/H side. As above; not impressed and certainly not amused.

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Now ordered Sachs 998 405......just to see what happens in combination with B8 shocks.
 
As above, mine went this week. Fitted July 2018, <5.000 miles. Having the whole lot replaced with Sachs.

Cheers,
Hedge
 
I've not got an A2 but have experienced the same thing on some Spidan springs i fitted to the front of a 2010 Golf Mk6 GT.
Only about 20k miles covered on em in 3 years and both front springs have broken, both of them near the middle of the spring so very dangerous - car dropped at least 2 inches.

This happened when stationary, looks like left side went overnight some weeks prior and then right side went on moving off from being parked up - was my sisters car so she only noticed something serious with the loud bang from the spring shearing in two whilst she was in it.

Seems Spidan is now to be considered dangerous junk.
 
Just thinking aloud, when a coil spring is compressed, does it also twist/rotate at the top/bottom? If so, it's important that the top and bottom of the spring is free to move in it's mount. If it can't move, due to corrosion, seized top mounts etc*, then the spring itself will try to twist, which being hardened, will eventually lead to fracture.
Any sense in this theory?
Mac.
*Edit: Or poor finishing on the top or bottom face of the spring.
 
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FWIW, sudden coil spring failure is a modern vehicle phenomena.
Our works Merc Vito (54 plate, yet to reach 80k!) had a front spring let go while parked up and it dropped that corner a good couple of inches.
I have heard tales of relatively young cars found with flat tyres first thing in the morning, the broken coil having pierced the sidewall.
Everything is engineered down to minimum weight and I suspect with an eye on the profits to be made at main dealers through repairs and "maintenance"
Light, durable, affordable.
Or...
Fuel economy, durability, features (aka accessories)
Pick two.
 
Or brands relying on their old reputation for quality hoping people do not realise they are now buying rubbish. I have a black list of a few companies I will no longer even consider using their products.
 
All the old brands have now been bought and sold, they are now just labels.
Regarding springs, I bought OSS spec Sachs (with matching twin-tube HD dampers) for the rear axle so we'll see how they last.
Springs made in Netherlands, dampers in Germany.
 
Just thinking aloud, when a coil spring is compressed, does it also twist/rotate at the top/bottom? If so, it's important that the top and bottom of the spring is free to move in it's mount. If it can't move, due to corrosion, seized top mounts etc*, then the spring itself will try to twist, which being hardened, will eventually lead to fracture.
Any sense in this theory?
Mac.
*Edit: Or poor finishing on the top or bottom face of the spring.

They are not designed to move on the mounts - there should be no rotational movement of the spring itself relative to the bottom or top strut mount ( as its metal on metal...if there were it would make a horrible noise and grind the contact points down relatively quickly.
 
Same happened for to 18m after fitting a set of spidans. drivers side broken at the bottom.
I’d had new shocks and top mounts at the same time as the springs so nothing would of been solid.

It had been broken for some time before I fished it out, so had problems rusted somewhat since.

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Sent from the future
 
They are not designed to move on the mounts - there should be no rotational movement of the spring itself relative to the bottom or top strut mount ( as its metal on metal...if there were it would make a horrible noise and grind the contact points down relatively quickly.
When the spring changes length, the bar, which is what the spring is, will twist, and so change length. There must (imo) be some effect on the coil diameter, and, therefore movement at the spring to mount interface.
Mac.
 
This is a bit scarey. I did a complete front suspension refurb in the lock down. Used 2x front Suplex springs.?
 
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