# Fronts Spring broken



## samsung (Jan 24, 2009)

The other evening whilst the van was sat on my drive there was a loud bang and the near side Spring collapsed. It had broken in two places. The van is 2006 B544. As I can't drive the van I have got a local mechanic to come to my house. He has removed the strut but is having difficulty locating new springs. Are C&M autos still operating at Lancaster. Their phone number says invalid number. I know I can get Goldsmitt if I can't find alternatives but as there was no problem with drooping front etc I would have preferred a copy of the original Spring.
I had returned from Keswick two days prior to the Spring breaking.
Any suggestions 
Samsung


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

I don't know if Hymer would have specified special springs or if the chassis would have come with the standard Fiat offering. If that's the case then ebay has a number available *here*.


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## dalspa (Jul 1, 2008)

I think that C & M packed up, but I might be wrong on this. With regards replacement springs, consider heavy duty as this would lift the front up by about 50mm from the standard springs. Usually the Hymers sit nose down but the heavier springs reduces this. The labour for fitting is the same whichever is fitted. 
My original (standard) springs were getting saggy and hitting the bump stops so I had new hd ones fitted - we went to Goldsmitt's in Germany for this, incorporating it into a holiday. Obviously, with your spring alrady broken, the repair has to be done on your driveway. I think that in replacing the springs, they had to go in via the dashboard - they knew what they were doing. I think that there is a company (down south?) that do replacement springs. Can't remember their name, but I'm sure that somebody will soon come up with this.

DavidL
PS. Just re-read OP and saw that you never suffered from nose down, so ignore my suggestion re hd springs. I think that Hymer fit standard springs when building and will fit hd if ordered with extra cost. The springs are not Fiat but Goldsmitt.


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## deefordog (Dec 31, 2013)

Try Doctor Car Parts on the Internet as they do springs for all Ducato models.


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## p-c (Oct 27, 2007)

Is it not better to replace both sides at the same time?

Regards

p-c


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

p-c said:


> Is it not better to replace both sides at the same time?
> 
> Regards
> 
> p-c


It most certainly is.


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## chilly (Apr 20, 2007)

samsung said:


> The other evening whilst the van was sat on my drive there was a loud bang and the near side Spring collapsed. It had broken in two places.


Wow! Sounds as though you were lucky it didn't break whilst motoring:surprise:


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

samsung said:


> The other evening whilst the van was sat on my drive there was a loud bang and the near side Spring collapsed. It had broken in two places. The van is 2006 B544.
> Any suggestions
> Samsung


Same happened to my 544 back in 2006 when it was a week old. when I started to pull off the drive at home going to France. Mine not only broke it badly punctured the offside front tyre :frown2:

tony


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

It's actually more common than you may think on all vehicles usually with the last few cm of the coil springs breaking off. Often advisable to replace the strut top bearing at the same time


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## lgbzone (Oct 8, 2008)

Hi Samsung

C&M have closed.
VB springs are an alternative to the Goldsmitts if you want to take the opportunity to upgrade the springs to something that is up to the job, stock fiat are useless once it's converted to a Hymer A class. i had mine upgraded to VB a few years ago by Rhino Installs in Lancashire.

Meaning i have the original fiat heavy duty from the X244 Maxi 18 chassis (hymer B644) sat in the shed, being the heaviest fiat produce they could well be heavier than the ones on the 544 chassis and i think you may also be the X244 chassis, if you are interested let me know as i'd let them go for an extremely good price, i'm just up the road in Morecambe.

Lee

p.s. according to the fiat eper system the product number that was on my vehicle is 1329680080 suitable for Q18, M10, M15 and M20 varients. if you use your VIN number at the link below it will display yours.
< EPER link >
enter vin and press the enter key, then click next to get to the menu


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## samsung (Jan 24, 2009)

lgbzone said:


> Hi Samsung
> 
> C&M have closed.
> VB springs are an alternative to the Goldsmitts if you want to take the opportunity to upgrade the springs to something that is up to the job, stock fiat are useless once it's converted to a Hymer A class. i had mine upgraded to VB a few years ago by Rhino Installs in Lancashire.
> ...


Hi Lee,
I have now two new springs fitted. The second offside was also broken with the join in the break showing rust so it must have been broken some time ago. The mechanic said I was lucky it hadn't collapsed and ripped the tyre whilst I was driving. He had trouble locating new springs but eventually got heavy duty which were thicker than my originals. He also changed the top bearings and a brake pipe which had been nicked when the first Spring collapsed.
Thanks for the offer of springs which I would have taken you up on if he couldn't locate any. The cost of each spring was £98.00 so I will see how they perform. My van wasn't down at the front but I imagine these heavy duty springs will give me a stiffer ride.
It's a shame that C&M have closed. Do we know where the owner has moved to. He had lots of experience with TB Turbo.
Thanks for your help
Phil


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## lgbzone (Oct 8, 2008)

Hi Phil

Really glad you have it sorted and are back on the road. I don'y know what the guys are up to now.

Lee


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## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

Just a quick question at the end of this thread - how much "down at the front" is normal?

Our B544 sits nose down, and as far as I remember always has done (bought at about 6 years old).

Looking at the height of the rear, raising the front until it sits absolutely flat front to back would probably have the tyres a long way away from the wheel arches!


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## MyGalSal (Dec 8, 2008)

Our 2011 B694sl (4.5t) is nose down too. From new it came fitted with Goldschmitt heavy duty springs so don't know how much difference they make. I was at Peterborough Show last week and had a look at the VB suspension stand. Their heavy duty springs were longer than the Goldschmitt which they also had on display. If they are as strong as the Goldschmitt are reputed to be that could be the answer to lifting the front end up a tad more. About £600 I think he said inc fitting. We aren't considering changing just now but it's worth bearing in mind. 

Sal


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## dalspa (Jul 1, 2008)

We had Goldschmitt heavy duty springs fitted a couple of years ago which lifted the front up by about 70mm at the wheel arch. Still a bit nose down but nowhere as bad as before. Also stopped the bottoming out on the bump stops. Pleased with the result.

Davidl


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