broken front spring- help/info needed

[samisnake]

drivers side front spring snapped today. coloured dots are red (could be orange), white and blue.
cant seem to find the replacements though. no white/blue/red(orange) on etka, but there are some with that combo but extra colours.

ok.
looked up the sachs catalogue, and for my model they give 2 options- with and without sports suspension. no idea whether mine has sports suspension. the oem equilivants of those 2 parts do not match the painted dots at all!

so basically, im not sure which springs i need.

might it be worth going for bilstein springs??? not really looking to lower it or add coilovers tbh, and cheap would be ideal as will be fitting them myself.
cars a 2011 1.4tfsi 3dr sport

 

[samisnake]

bit of an update for anyone with the same setup in the future reading this, oem springs are a bit tricky to work out.
turns out i do have sports suspension (on a 'sports' a3, whodve thought)

closest variants i came up with were 1K0411105AL. same colour dots. seller on ebay who i believe is a vw dealer based on their listings has them, so messaged him. replied with a lot of useful info such as those springs are fit on the 8p convertible,which matches info on etka, but have a different load rating than the 8p hatch. not sure if thatd affect the handling but hey ho. thats about £84 delivered.

theres also the 1K0411105AT and 1K0411105DA which could also be compatible based on cross referencing aftermarket springs with the oem PN. not enough info to be sure, so dont wanna risk buying the wrong part.

the aftermarket is much easier to work out.
sachs 998 411 come out to around £82 on amazon, or £88 on misterauto. kyb RH3356 can be had for around £70 delivered.


think im gonna go with the sachs with new top mounts. will update the thread when i eventually get round to it

 

[Tempz]

Following with interest. I may be replacing springs on my 2009 1.4tfsi sport 5dr. Ideally genuine ones but they do seem so hard to get hold of.

 

[samisnake]

Following with interest. I may be replacing springs on my 2009 1.4tfsi sport 5dr. Ideally genuine ones but they do seem so hard to get hold of.

What colour dots are on your front spring out of interest.

Would be interesting to see how much a dealer would charge for the springs, can't say I've tried. Saw a post on another forum talking being charged 150ish for a pair. At least you'd get the exact ones but that's a bit rich for my blood.

Sachs are an oem though, not sure who the oe supplier for the a3 is, but the parent company of sachs also own the trw, lemforder and boge brands so they could well be the manufacturer of the original springs.

To remove the shock from the hub knuckle, elsawin mentions use of the tool #3424. Luckily can get a copy of it on ebay for a few quid.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/263433522181
Other posts mention using a chisel or the like instead but for that price ill just order that

 

[ab1702]

If youve got Facebook go on there and search for *** online, the guy is a top bloke and sells from a dealers at trade prices with delivery and all genuine parts

 

[samisnake]

If youve got Facebook go on there and search for *** online, the guy is a top bloke and sells from a dealers at trade prices with delivery and all genuine parts

cheers for that, they look like they do decent deals. saw castrol edge 5w30 for £20 delivered on their instagram page. mental. ill message them now and update the thread when i find out

 

[Nessy]

To remove the shock from the hub knuckle, elsawin mentions use of the tool #3424. Luckily can get a copy of it on ebay for a few quid.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/263433522181
Other posts mention using a chisel or the like instead but for that price ill just order that

For not much more you can get the Hazet tool, it’s number 4912-1 (there’s also the 4912-2 suitable for Renaults etc) .
I bought mine from Amazon a while back in case I ever needed to dismantle the front hub...it’s currently £7.60 on there and being Hazet will last a lifetime .

 

[samisnake]

found the moment on the dashcam when the spring snapped, around 14secs in. was loud, so the driver parked it up not long after

 

[samisnake]

got a price back from *** online.
2x springs £176
top mounts £123

total with bolts is £306

looks like sachs it is for this, although their prices on certain things are very strong

 

[Tempz]

@samisnake that’s pricey. Are them springs exact match of yours then? Dot colour etc

 

[samisnake]

@samisnake that’s pricey. Are them springs exact match of yours then? Dot colour etc

yeah it is pricey.
the springs from *** online would have the dots, yeah, the sachs springs you check their part catalogue to get the part number you need. youll see they have different part numbers based on whether your car has sport suspension or not, engine size, sportback or 3dr etc.
https://aftermarket.zf.com/go/en/sachs/catalogs/pdf-catalogs/

part number for a 1.4 sport sportback is 993 052 if its an automatic, or 998 411 if its a manual.

ive put in an order on autodoc.co.uk. its a german company, so the parts can take a week or so to arrive, but the prices are much much lower than you can get for the same parts in the uk.
ordered the sachs springs, with skf top mounts and bearings, as well as new nuts and bolts

 

[Tempz]

Ah cheers man that catalog is very helpful can’t access it on mobile though.
Do they stock s line springs too?

 

[ab1702]

Ah cheers man that catalog is very helpful can’t access it on mobile though.
Do they stock s line springs too?

S Line springs are usually just Audi or TPS or you could try the guy on facebook at *** online for dealer parts.

You’d be better off though getting eibach pro springs. They are about 5mm lower so not much difference but they are more comfortable, slightly better handling, can be put on stock shocks and are cheaper.

 

[samisnake]

11 days from ordering to delivery. Quite a while so no good if you're in a rush, but the savings are great if you can wait.

Got 8 quid topcashback tracked so total will be 100 delivered. Everything is as ordered, well pleased.

Also bought a torque wrench from amazon, and 2 axle bolts from a skoda dealer and a 24mm 12point socket for the axle bolts. Just waiting for a set of offset spanners to arrive.

 

[samisnake]

so a couple days ago i got started. went to undo the axle bolt, and my breaker bar ended up looking like this

quick trip to halfords and bought a 24" bar. this time the bar breaks them loose with ease. pack up the tools as its getting darker.

last night, go to asda underground carpark and attempt it again. get to undoing the drop links, and the middle of the thread where you put a spline bit is rounded.

so now gonna take it to my nans on my next long weekend, and cut the drop links off.
gonna order new lemforder ones and might as well do the track rod ends while im there.

 

[samisnake]

finally done.

after another attempt at doing it myself, i faced the fact that i couldnt do it.

the cv joint was stuck on the hub, and not wanting to risk being stranded, i left it.
a friend recommended a mechanic he went to school with, and id get mate of a mate rates.

cv joint issue werent an issue for him, he just knocked it free.
the top mount on the drivers side was a bigger issue though. one of the nuts on the top mount had seperated from the rubber so was spinning freely.
in the end he grinded it off, so not something i wouldve wanted to do.

both sides done, so car is sitting high atm until the springs settle. handling is back to how it was before, but needs tracking soon.

total cost for 2x sachs springs, 2x skf top mounts & bearings 2x skoda axle bolts and 2x vw drop links including fitting was £197.

 

[Tempz]

Good job mate, at a good price also.