How A Broken Suspension Spring Can Damage Your Volkswagen Further

The suspension system of your Volkswagen does much more than just absorbing road shocks and vibrations. It plays a crucial role in maintaining stability, enhancing traction, and improving your vehicle’s overall handling. Should a part of such significance malfunction, your vehicle’s reliability and safety would be compromised. Today’s blog post is about suspension spring failure and the way it can impact your Volkswagen’s overall performance. This post also sheds light on some of the leading reasons behind suspension spring failure.

Suspension Spring: Understanding its Function

Your vehicle’s suspension system is centered around the spring. Made of materials offering excellent strength, durability, and resistance to fatigue, the spring works in conjunction with control arms, shock absorbers, sway bars, and other important parts of the suspension system to enhance ride comfort and stability. As with any other suspension system components, the spring can deteriorate over time. Deteriorated suspension spring can contribute to all sorts of drivability problems in a vehicle… ranging from increased body roll during cornering to reduced stability under braking.

Causes of Suspension Spring Failure

Metal Fatigue

Although suspension springs incorporated into your Volkswagen are designed to last a long time, they are not immune to problems. Fatigue resulted from repeated compression and expansion cycles can weaken this metal made component of your vehicle. Weakening of the part meant to support your vehicle’s weight can have implications for its performance, safety, and overall driving experience.

Aging

Another leading reason behind suspension spring failure in modern-day cars is age. Exposure to extreme environmental conditions can cause these springs to deteriorate naturally over time. Corrosion resulted from continual subjection to moisture, road salt, and other harmful elements can weaken the structural integrity of the spring. Loss of elasticity in the spring material because of aging can contribute to poor ride quality and numerous handling issues.

Overloading

Overloading a vehicle- well beyond its recommended capacity- can have an adverse impact on its suspension springs. It will put extra stress on the spring and cause it to work hard, particularly when driving over uneven terrain such as bumps and potholes. As the spring operates beyond its intended capacity, it will undergo metal fatigue and ultimately fail. Other important parts of the suspension system will also suffer.

In addition to these top three reasons, your Volkswagen’s suspension spring can malfunction because of installation-related issues, irregular maintenance, prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures, and manufacturing defects.

Immediate Ramifications of a Broken Suspension Spring

Reduced Ride Comfort

The spring is the part around which your Volkswagen’s suspension system revolves. Should something bad happen to a part of such significance, the suspension system’s ability to absorb road shocks will be drastically reduced and your riding experience will become less comfortable.

Compromised Handling

The suspension plays a crucial role in optimizing your Volkswagen’s handling dynamics. If it acts up because of a defective spring or any other reason, your vehicle will become less responsive. As a result, you might have to deal with all sorts of handling-related issues including increased body roll while cornering and reduced stability under braking.

Increased Tire Wear

Defective suspension springs can contribute to uneven distribution of weight on the tires. This can result in uneven wear and premature failure of the tires. Spring failure can also contribute to wheel misalignment-related issues in your vehicle including reduced steering responsiveness.

Steps to Take

Visual Inspection

If you are noticing uneven ride height, sagging, or abnormal noises while driving, especially on rough road surfaces, it could be an indication of a potential suspension spring problem in your Volkswagen. To find out if this is indeed the case, conduct a thorough visual inspection of the spring.

Professional Evaluation

If you found any form of deformities on your Volkswagen’s suspension spring, reach out to a nearby authorized auto service center to have the issue evaluated by certified professionals. If the issue demands a replacement, only use OEM parts.

Paladin Automotive: Your Trusted Volkswagen Service Center in Las Vegas

A deformity in your Volkswagen’s suspension spring can impact your road safety in a very adverse way. It can also compromise your vehicle’s handling, contributing to a myriad of drivability problems. So, if it occurs to you that something has compromised your vehicle’s suspension spring’s integrity, contact your mechanic right away. If you are in Las Vegas, NV, visit Paladin Automotive to have the issue fixed by our certified technicians. Contact us at (702) 368-2886 or visit our website to schedule an appointment.