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Lovert Mafukure
THERE’S a growing number of people needing roadside assistance on a daily basis because of suspension issues. One of our readers has had their springs collapsing on two occasions. There’s never a single cause but we will look at the most common.
Spring failure is common and mainly common on cars of European descent. Most of them would have suffered serious corrosion by the time they get sold. Chemicals are used on roads to get rid of or to melt the snow.
A salt solution gives water a lower freezing point so every winter roads are treated with salt to help with the ice on the roads.
Now as we may all know, salt is acidic and highly corrosive, not all cars there are treated before, during and after the winters.
All that salt that collects under the cars, if not washed off eats away the metallic parts of the car. Years later some of these cars eventually come here to Africa and some would have failed their fitness tests and are thrown away to Africa like Africa is a junk yard. Be wary of some of the cars you find very cheap online.
Not all of them suffer from the rust though, some owners are careful with their cars, keeping them salt free. We do find some very clean cars coming out of the UK. Some high end expensive cars do not rust that quick because well, they are expensive cars and a lot is invested so that they are not affected by rust.
All coil springs and leaf springs alike suffer the same fate and I know of a few people who have had spring failure on their cars and their cars just happened to be from the UK. Rust is not new, most of the cars if you look closely that come from UK are all the same, Mercedes Benz, BMW, VW, Mazdas.
They all have rust patches, it’s like rust is in their DNA. Some cars then come here with already weakened suspensions coupled with the state of our roadsand they just fail instantly or after a bit of exposure to the African terrain.
Given the state of the UK weather, components such as these do suffer a lot and are replaced a lot there, some eventually get weaker springs that may have come from the east and usually have a shorter lifespan.
From the factory springs have some coating that’s supposed to protect them from corrosive elements but due to stresses suspension components are exposed, they crack and tear with time, exposing them to rust.
There are tricks you can employ to avoid spring failure. First of all, inspection is important on imported cars, remember they are not new cars, they just have new owners. Spring failure is not so much of a problem on Japanese cars as it is on UK cars but they are not immune so always inspect such imported used cars for rust and replace corroded parts, it’s for your own safety.
Since we have established that spring failure is common on cars imported from the UK, it is wise to always change the springs when a car lands from the UK. One thing car importers need to be aware of is that the rust you see on cars from UK protruding through the fender wells, bonnet and boot linings as well as the doors is just a tip of the iceberg.
The moment you see rust on the fender wells, imagine the places you cannot see. The undercarriage and all suspension systems, they’d be worse affected by the rust and eventually things like springs give in first.
It’s also wise to get your car inspected before buying locally or importing from the UK. Ask for pictures and videos, if you can, before you spend your money on rust buckets.
If you are buying locally, what we call pre-purchase inspection in automotive circles is important for you as a buyer of a used vehicle. It might cost a few dollars but it will save you a whole lot in future in terms of safety and cost of repairing damage caused by such elements as rust.
Some cars are exposed to overloading like those involved in the mshika shika business. Overloading isn’t good for suspensions. Eventually components fail because they are strained beyond capability. Cars should always be used within their capabilities, overloading is not only against the law but it shortens lifespan on vehicle components such as these suspension springs.
The quality of the new parts we get nowadays isn’t that good and that is the reason why we have recurring suspension issues.
Whenever you replace your Japanese car parts, you are better off buying good using original parts than new generic parts.
We see these new parts dying out, breaking and leaving people stranded on the roads, so next time you replace parts be mindful of that. Till next time. Happy motoring!
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