Spring Seat Replacement

Hi folks,
Just been replacing my 1998 CSW 110 front dampers and noticed a big crack on the left of my driver side spring seat. Still strong but looks like an MOT failer.

How easy or difficult is it to replace a front chassis spring seat?

The spring seat is just a removable part that clamps through the bottom of the axle with 2 bolts. So its as easy as removing 2 bolts (which might be stuck a bit tight), jack the body of the vehicle until the spring is loose, lift it up a bit, remove the lower spring seat part, replace with new, bolt together, drop jack and tighten.

If its a crack in the axle mount then of course its a weld job...

And of course as its front, you'l have to remove the damper, which should be easy as you've just had it out.

Its bracket off the chassis where the top of the spring is seated. Is that a difficult welding job? What should the ballpark cost be of having a replacement fitted? I cant do welding work myself unfortunately and im quite skint!

I'd allow for a replacement shock incase you can't get the bolts off either end and a new turret ring as the four bolts rarely come off without shearing

Oh ,it's the turret ring at the top. Well if it's part of the chassis - it needs welding! If it's a broken turret ring or turret, just replace - all in around £30. Maybe take the turret off and check out what part has the damage?

Or put a picture up

Marmaduke said:

Or put a picture up

Click to expand...

Good call. Ill get a pic.

Here is a photo...

The crack is directly behind the copper brake line. Im guessing the whole bracket would need to be cut off and a new one welded on. Or just a repair?

What do you think?

Give it a good cleaning up first to get all the flaky crap off it and see how thick the metal is that's left behind. Personally I'd go for a replacement over a repair but that's just me but see how it looks first

That's looking a bit like the corrosion has seriously reduced the thickness of the metal. You might try one of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-Spring-Seat-RHS-Land-Rover-Defender-/111600433300
Grind off all of the old one and weld the new one on. How's the rest of the chassis?

Oh dear, much as Brown says, i'd be looking at grinding that all off and having a professional attach a new entire bracket. And probably budget for some new turrets and turret rings at the same time. I'd be very concerned as to the state of the rest of the chassis if that part is that bad, get under it and give it a good poking in any rusty spots with a big screwdriver. I know you don't want to find some vehicle condemning holes, but it's better than the vehicle giving way on you in a serious way when driving...

@Brown said "How's the rest of the Chassis?" - Damn good question - If the front of the chassis is that bad, you may have quite a serious problem, possibly terminal. The chassis needs a very careful appraisal.

Given that LR's in general tend to leak a bit of oil which protects the front of the chassis, then what is the rear of the chassis like....? I'd be starting there and working forward...

Personally, I would never take a vehicle in that state for an MOT - at the very least it needs a very thorough de-scale. I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but, as @Ben Jordan says above, you really don't want it snapping whilst you are driving it.
Plus, the brake line in your picture doesn't look like "copper" to me.