T6 springs

[Christine Kirk]

Whilst returning home from a few days away in the Forest of Bowland ( well worth a visit) we had a loud bang followed by a thud from under the vehicle . We were driving on a cleat M62 at the time ; definitely hadn’t run over any debris plus the following traffic immediately backed off.
Hubby thought it might be the end of one of the rear springs, ( we have already replaced one)!
Cali is now over 6 years old and has run out of VW roadside assistance; we have been looking at buying another couple of years service plan from. VW but it doesn’t include roadside assistance nor does it give much beyond two oil changes and MOT’s so not really helpful. We contacted the VW agency (JCT600) to ask if they could investigate the cause of the noise and check for safety issues. The Hull van centre could look at it at the end of July! The only response to us asking for a safety check was “ call out the AA and get them to look at it.” ( Hubby had already had his gear out to look under the van and couldn’t identify any issue)
Eventually we to ok the California to our local workshop ( in the next village): where they took another van off a hoist to enable ours to be lifted up for inspection, which immediately meant that the top of the nearside rear springs could be seen and a fractured raw en d , the “pig tail” was gone! Fortunately no other damage . Garage are ordering a replacement and will fit it when it arrives. Simple good customer service and help. ( interestingly this local non franchise workshop is far larger than VW van centre in Hull)
What we have learnt from this is that T6 rear springs are liable to break and the VW agent doesn’t want to help the owners of older vehicles , even though they have done all the work on it right from the moment we drove it away from collecting it new in 2019!
Shame on them JCT 600

 

[John Andrew]

I am surprised that you only replaced one broken spring, I thought the advice was always to replace them in pairs.

My 2017 T6 has had both front springs replaced [both had broken before I realised what the rattling noise was]

Heard the nearside rear spring break while going round a roundabout near Carlise the other day, so will getting it booked in at my local garage soon. [broken spring did not seem to affect handling in any way, but know that it would be a MOT fail if left in that condition.

 

[Baldrick]

I am surprised that you only replaced one broken spring, I thought the advice was always to replace them in pairs.

My 2017 T6 has had both front springs replaced [both had broken before I realised what the rattling noise was]

Heard the nearside rear spring break while going round a roundabout near Carlise the other day, so will getting it booked in at my local garage soon. [broken spring did not seem to affect handling in any way, but know that it would be a MOT fail if left in that condition.

I thought it was shocks that were always recommended to be changed in pairs?
Had a couple of springs go and VW just replaced each one, back when I used them. Now have Bilsteins, awesome ride but that’s off topic

 

[sidepod]

Simple common mode failure. Once one goes, the other won’t be far behind it.
It just makes sense whilst it’s up in the air to do both.

 

[Perfectos]

Simple common mode failure. Once one goes, the other won’t be far behind it.
It just makes sense whilst it’s up in the air to do both.

Vw will only replace A failed one at a time under warranty- not both in pairs, poor practice IMO.

Agree 100% replace in pairs

 

[Perfectos]

Whilst returning home from a few days away in the Forest of Bowland ( well worth a visit) we had a loud bang followed by a thud from under the vehicle . We were driving on a cleat M62 at the time ; definitely hadn’t run over any debris plus the following traffic immediately backed off.
Hubby thought it might be the end of one of the rear springs, ( we have already replaced one)!
Cali is now over 6 years old and has run out of VW roadside assistance; we have been looking at buying another couple of years service plan from. VW but it doesn’t include roadside assistance nor does it give much beyond two oil changes and MOT’s so not really helpful. We contacted the VW agency (JCT600) to ask if they could investigate the cause of the noise and check for safety issues. The Hull van centre could look at it at the end of July! The only response to us asking for a safety check was “ call out the AA and get them to look at it.” ( Hubby had already had his gear out to look under the van and couldn’t identify any issue)
Eventually we to ok the California to our local workshop ( in the next village): where they took another van off a hoist to enable ours to be lifted up for inspection, which immediately meant that the top of the nearside rear springs could be seen and a fractured raw en d , the “pig tail” was gone! Fortunately no other damage . Garage are ordering a replacement and will fit it when it arrives. Simple good customer service and help. ( interestingly this local non franchise workshop is far larger than VW van centre in Hull)
What we have learnt from this is that T6 rear springs are liable to break and the VW agent doesn’t want to help the owners of older vehicles , even though they have done all the work on it right from the moment we drove it away from collecting it new in 2019!
Shame on them JCT 600

Hi CK,

Yet more affirmations that the official dealers are not there to service the customer, particularly in times of need.
When a safety check is needed for an existing customer it should be a priority. A simple nut and bolt safety check can be done in a matter of minutes by a good mechanic, hey maybe there's your answer.
Sadly the dealers don't see safety of exist customers vans as an issue that they should be concerned with, certainly not priority!
Purely a business to extract money at the fastest possible rate.
Fortunately the dealer won't be getting the subsequent work / revenue.

Glad your loan al Mech was as it should be, make sure you keep them in business with your future business

 

[Black Forest]

On the subject of springs, are there harder / firmer springs available for the T6.1 Beach to counter rear sag without changing the standard ride height? So, just to fit a pair of something stiffer at the rear?

 

[Perfectos]

On the subject of springs, are there harder / firmer springs available for the T6.1 Beach to counter rear sag without changing the standard ride height? So, just to fit a pair of something stiffer at the rear?

Yes there are different ratio springs. This has been discussed at length here and on the t6 forum.

Long story short T32 van springs are the highest spring rate firmness you can get they are denoted by four grey stripes on the spring coils . There are all manor of different combinations.

The search function here or on the t6 forum will turn up a lot of discussion