Oh, bloody hell…little chavvy gits…
Remember a few months ago, Jem and I were coming back from Tesco and some chav tossers ran across the dark road in front of us, almost denting my Astra? It’s been making a funny noise since then - something akin to a bag of loose spanners jangling when you go over a big bump/pothole in the road. Well, today I bought a nice heavy duty impact wrench gun to get the wheel nuts off (bloody garages and their bloody air-wrenches thankyou so very much). I just wanted to aquaint myself with the braking system of the Astra3.
Off came the wheel, and I realised with a pleasant surprise, my Astra3 has vented front brake disks. A first for a car of mine, and it certainly explains the stopping ability. They’re also rather ridged and a bit crusty..so I could do with replacing them at some point. I can see them online for about £31 + vat each. Not bad.
Then I started exploring for loose bits that might make a noise. I decided to have a poke at the suspension struts..and found this..
The bit I’m holding appears to be the bottom of the passenger side front suspension spring. It should not be seperate from the main spring. My guess is that emergency “anti-chav” stop, combined with my lack of feeling in my feet causing me to not know how hard I’m pressing the pedal, was just too much for the 88,000 mile suspension on my Astra, and the spring broke.
Well, it would explain the noise at least, and the slightly “off” cornering I’ve noticed recently. Aargh. I was planning to have a cambelt change and service done in 2 weeks..now it might be suspension and brakes as well, although the suspension matters more.
My last car also broke its front suspension springs…I know I throw them around corners (bend them, according to mum), and I know I can’t tell how hard I press the pedals, but..surely, suspension is quite tough?
Ah well..fingers crossed it’s not too expensive to repair/replace…the suspension was flagged as “advisory” in the last MOT…new suspension would nicely remove that issue..and new brakes would be quite tasty..:)
More likely that you’ve been driving it up and down kerbs. You used to scare me shitless! :o)
Hah..well, yes..Actually it gets driven up a Kerb several times a week when I drop Jem at home…Never thought of that! But no, the chav avoidance killed it…
Do you think I can find OEM replacements? No. If I want to lower it 40mm, fine..sports suspension? Of course. Normal gas filled sensatracs? Don’t make me laugh.
Looks like the back brakes may need tidying as well…
It was never me, it was the Renault that was scary - Mr “fucked if I’m letting that Rover past me” in the 605..how fast were we going? ;)