Figures provided by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) from MOT computerisation give an indication of the rate of failure of all suspension springing components; these include front and rear spring leaf and coil springs, torsion bars, rubber bonded components etc. Individual figures for front suspension springs are therefore included in the overall failure rate figure.
For the year April 2006 to March 2007 out of 26,297,141 Class 3 and 4 vehicles tested, 490,776 failed for "springing" defects. That indicates a fail rate of 1.9 per cent. If it were possible to ‘drill down’ to the failure of front suspension springs, it is likely that defects relating to fracture of front road suspension springs would be significantly below 1.9 per cent.
For the year April 2005 to March 2006 out of 12,136,297 Class 3 and 4 vehicles tested, 228,432 failed for “springing” defects, making the fail rate 1.9 per cent.