'97 Escort Wagon Broken Rear Springs

[toonethedriver]

I have a '97 Escort Wagon which I am the only owner of. Does anyone know why the rear springs break on this car. My driver side spring broke between 50000 and 75000 miles one turn from the bottom. I replaced it myself and around 90000 my passenger side rear spring broke one turn from the bottom. At around 95000 to 98000, my replaced spring on thje drivers side broke. Other than that, the car works fine and the broken springs do not cause any problems. I have the original struts. These springs ordered from Ford, are thin at the bottom and thicker at the top. Does anyone know what is going on? Are the struts bad? The car seems to have shock absorbtion though many people normally have replaced the struts by now. Any other Escort owners have any similar problems?

[Fw190]

I have a 93 wagon that both of the springs broke near the top. Goto autozone and have them get you the progressive rate springs, they rde nicer and are much sturdier than the OE parts. And you might as well replace the struts while you're under there, after 100,000 miles I can't imagine they're doing all the work they should.

[JT_dude]

My first spring broke at around 60k. I didn't change it right away, but after it started to rub the wheel well, I had a mechanic replace it. Within a couple of weeks, the other one broke. So I had that replaced also.

The mechanic had never seen this happen before and thought it was probably a defect in the manufacturing.

[blaster_54738]

i have the same problem with my 98 escort, i have broke both rear springs, my mother works at a ford dealership and i guess they get it a lot she doesnt know why though.

[snowon]

yup, had to replace the rears on my '97 Escort around 70k

[Jet-Lee]

my '99 is still al original, and I run the thing hard on and off road...where ya'll drive???

*EDIT* - QUIT BRINGIN UP OLD THREADS!! only realized that after I hit post

[KidLife]

Yep, same problem here. Got a '95 wagon. First spring broke at around 55k and the other at about 60k. Also, both mine broke one turn from the bottom... wierd...

[quaddriver]

Its actually a very common problem on the escort/tracer since the redesign (protege based) in 92? 93?

They typically break on the bottom near the perch, but can break on top.

They are pretty easy to replace as the strut assembly is not loaded THAT much. However, its always a good idea to replace the top bushing and if you have more than 40-50K on the car, the strut itself will be diminished.

Advance auto (and perhaps others) sells something from Monroe called a 'quick strut' or 'easy strut' where it is one whole unit. Prices vary - I pay around $115 each as an installer. A very cheap option.

When changing them replace the bottom 2 pinch bolts. NAPA for sure sells proper metric grade 8 hardware about 1/4 inch longer which you will need to accept the washer on both sides and the lock washer. Just be careful not to snap off the brake line where it is bent into an 's' on the lower portion of the strut.