Front End Struts Breaking

I have a '99 alero GS and have had both front strut springs break therefore ruining the the front struts. This is a pretty expensive fic to have done to a 6 year old car. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if they have ever got any money from GM themselves becuase I did buy it from a dealership who deals in off lease cars and all they have said is to write to Gm themselves and see what they car do.

I do know that Ford had a similar problem but I believe ppl got killed therfore they had a recall where they placed a bar infront of the wheel, pretty much a duct tape fix, but at least they acknowledged it.

Guess Gm hasn't had enough ppl killled by this ticking time bomb.

Please write back with any advice on how I might be able to get soem thing back from this expensive endevour.

I have a '99 alero GS and have had both front strut springs break therefore ruining the the front struts. This is a pretty expensive fic to have done to a 6 year old car. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if they have ever got any money from GM themselves becuase I did buy it from a dealership who deals in off lease cars and all they have said is to write to Gm themselves and see what they car do.

I do know that Ford had a similar problem but I believe ppl got killed therfore they had a recall where they placed a bar infront of the wheel, pretty much a duct tape fix, but at least they acknowledged it.

Guess Gm hasn't had enough ppl killled by this ticking time bomb.

Please write back with any advice on how I might be able to get soem thing back from this expensive endevour.


Its the first I've heard of coil springs on an Alero breaking. What exactly is happening? Maybe we should all add this to the inspection list. :mad:

BTW - How many miles do you have on it?

I have an '04 off lease Alero. I recently had to have a broken strut mount repaired at 32K miles. I took it in for service a couple weeks after it started making a creaking noise while going over bumps. It was fixed under warranty.

It seems odd that both springs broke. Did it happen at the same time and what were the symptoms that led you to take it in for service?

As asked by the previous poster, how much mileage is on your car? Keep in mind that struts and shocks are wear components and can be expected to wear out over time. However, the springs aren't supposed to break. Do you know if it was due to corrosion? That is what caused the problem Ford had. The bar modification is intended to keep a broken spring from contacting and puncturing a tire.

I didn't see any service bulletins specifically related to Alero coil springs failing so it doesn't appear to be a common problem.

I did some research and it appears that some owners of Grand Ams from 1998-2000 and Alero 99 - 00 had problems with broken front strut coil springs. No reason reported. Many had the noisy upper strut mounts replaced. Our driver's side strut mount was replaced under warranty at 34K. It would make creaking noises when turned left.

According to GM parts, there are two different springs available and each has its own unique part number. I don't know if this was a result of an improvement or just differences in suspension options between all Alero models. There are variances between the GX, GL1/GL2 and GLS.

Its the first I've heard of coil springs on an Alero breaking. What exactly is happening? Maybe we should all add this to the inspection list. :mad:

BTW - How many miles do you have on it?

I have 109,000 km on it.

I have an '04 off lease Alero. I recently had to have a broken strut mount repaired at 32K miles. I took it in for service a couple weeks after it started making a creaking noise while going over bumps. It was fixed under warranty.

It seems odd that both springs broke. Did it happen at the same time and what were the symptoms that led you to take it in for service?

As asked by the previous poster, how much mileage is on your car? Keep in mind that struts and shocks are wear components and can be expected to wear out over time. However, the springs aren't supposed to break. Do you know if it was due to corrosion? That is what caused the problem Ford had. The bar modification is intended to keep a broken spring from contacting and puncturing a tire.

I didn't see any service bulletins specifically related to Alero coil springs failing so it doesn't appear to be a common problem.


Well there were no symptoms they just brok with in a week of each other and yes upon inspection of the broken spring after my mechanic had taken it out there was currosion at the break but it looked like there was wear ther to fromt eh end of the spring rubbing on it. And also had to have the strut mount replaced on the drivers side when I had the spring replaced cause when they took the spring out the bearings just fell out to the floor all curroded.