Hi. I had an advisory that my rear suspension springs are corroded so I'll need to replace them. Does anyone know if there is any difference between original Alfa part number 60613563 and the Sachs equivalent which is 996758. Alfa item is £110 inc vat and the Sachs equivalent is £57 ish from Mr. Auto. Sachs is a pretty reputable brand so I imagine it's the same thing with an Alfa sticker on it but do any of you have experience of this?
Are you 100% sure it's just the spring that's corroded?
It's not at all uncommon for the spring pan to corrode.. It has a drain hole that's meant to let water pass through it, but this can get blocked up with crud being in the wheel well... Water pools in the pan, pan rusts through, spring/shock assembly collapses in dramatic fashion and destroys a tyre at the same time!
Doesn't sound too good. The chap at Bianco Alfa said that it was the spring. However, it may be that it was the MOT tester that actually spotted it (Bianco don't do the MOT test themselves). The chap at Bianco said that the springs do corrode and can eventually snap, which is why I thought I'd definitely put it on the to-do list. I'll give him a call and just double check that they also inspected it. Thanks for the heads up.
It's all got to come out to replace the springs, so there will be the perfect opportunity to give the spring pan a thorough inspection when it's out... Could be a nasty surprise if you find you need to replace the shocks at the same time though!
Yes indeed. Is the spring pan part of the shock then? Not a separate part or part of the car bodyshell? Just displaying my basic ignorance here! If so at least it wont require welding. Ah well, I'll be leaving it until the new year anyway. Need to save pennies.
Ah I see. Well it might be a considerably more expensive job if new shocks required but (looking on the bright side) I guess the old shocks are pretty tired after 12 years and 112k miles anyway so doubtless the handling and ride will be improved. Do you know about the Sachs springs vs. Alfa braded ones? Do Alfa use Sachs anyway? Thanks.
Ah OK thanks for that. Will probably just let the guys at Bianco steer me in the right direction on that then. Means I've git to put off having the wheels refurbished yet again though. Ho hum.
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