Broken coil spring '07 V70 136K

[OliPhant]

Hey Everyone,
The front, driver-side coil spring snapped (while parked). Broken end went straight into tire. I replaced the fronts, and am relieved it did not fail on the highway...

I'd value any perspectives on the quality, life-expectancy, etc of coil springs on the V70. Of course I'm thinking of replacing the rears for peace of mind, but at 136K it seems early to be replacing springs.

Thanks. OCS

[scot850]

Nope. This unfortunately is not an unheard of issue with both the front and rears on P2 cars. We had to replace the rears about 7-8 years ago when our 06 X70 only had about 100k miles on it as it was broken. When I redid the fronts, I did them as well.

Neil.

[cn90]

The coil springs in P2 last some 180K-200K miles.
You never know the P O. replaced the struts with some Chinese junks...

PS:
- The 1998 bmw 528i coil springs lasted 190K, I replace them on a preventive basis.
- The 2007 Honda Odyssey can, coil springs broke inside garage at home, at 55K miles. Wife said she heard a loud noise in garage. I went to garage and saw nothing, then once I reversed the van out, I heard the noise.

Coil spring is a crapshoot...keep checking forums, no matter what car you drive. If it is broken at the bottom near the perch ---> usually no issue. If it is broken in the middle, it can be serious at 70-80mph, tire punctured ---> loss of control of vehicle, which can cause injury or death.

Life is an unknown quantity...

[vtl]

They almost never snap in hot dry climate. Do happen in New England, with its salty winters and a few months a year of going below and above freezing point daily.

My third set of struts (first was factory) is too rusty for my taste, I'm going to throw in the fourth set of suspension, in a 20 y.o. car. White stuff on the roads in winter is not snow here around Boston, it's salt.

[OliPhant]

Thanks everyone. Much to worry about here…

[DavidE7]

Spring snapping is relatively random. The springs have painted on color codes for different spring force and rates that can be hard to find a matching replacement or pair of replacements. Heavier cars with third row seating and other options get stronger springs. Put the broken surfaces under a strong microscope to see if there was a mechanical, steel grain structure, or contamination fault that spread through the metal - fault analysis is an interesting engineering discipline. I have had three broken springs on the vehicles I care for, one rear on a friend's 2007 V70, second rear on my 2004 XC70, and front on 2001 V70 close to the end that I didn't see until I was replacing the struts. Both rears happened before the car was acquired and were missed by me in the pre-purchase inspection. Spray the springs with Fluid Film or Wool Wax to reduce rust risk. Those two coatings are good at staying liquid and sealing any chips but they will be washed away over time so they need to be re-applied every couple years. The powder coating on the springs seems to fail because of stone chips that spread once salt water gets under the coating.