Without warning, the nearside spring on the 1.4 broke; forcing the lower coil of the spring into the sidewall all around
the circumference of the tyre which deflated catastrophically. Fortunately speed was under 25mph.

this occurred on one of our Peugeot 1007's which has travelled just over 20,000 miles in 5½ years

the problem could equally apply to our other 1007; the Peugeot 207 and the Citroen C3 which share the same chassis

go to  Peugeot Customer Care 

to see how Peugeot dealt with our complaint

Spring breakage occurs on many modern cars however this is the result of the spring rubbing and bursting the front tyre which deflated immediately.

The spare was fitted but would not turn as the spring was pressing outwards against the tyre.

Spring failure seems to have been at the same point as the small rust patch (see below).

It is not just the failure that concerns, but the safety implications of the front tyre being damaged by the coils of the broken spring,  causing catastrophic failure

Failure of the main spring allowed the lower coils of the spring to extend beyond the spring seat and onto the sidewall of the tyre.

It appears that the damage occurred because of the shape of the spring.  If it breaks anywhere on the larger diameter then the ends are not constrained by the spring seat and the loose end can be forced down between the spring seat and the tyre with some force.

If you are unlucky, one of the lower coils can be forced into the tyre sidewall resulting in almost instant deflation.

This is how the lower part of the spring should sit in the spring mounting. 

There appears to be a weak point caused by flexing and/or corrosion just as the spring comes away from the mount and many springs seem to fail at this point.  As can be seen from the picture; if the lower coil of the spring breaks then the upper coils can be forced over the spring mount on the damper and almost instantly wear away the sidewall. 

and how the wheel well looks with the spring and damper unit removed.

This is the assembly drawing of the Peugeot front suspension; the force also broke the top mounting. 

As a precaution we asked the garage to replace both springs and both top mounts - the total cost came to £530 including a new tyre.

and next to it, the remarkably similar drawing for the Citroen - note the spring catcher (bottom left, item 12).

Our concern passed to VOSA on 17th February

- subsequently (27th February) broken parts sent to Peugeot for investigation at the request of VOSA

the final report received on 10th May states "the official response from the manufacturer concludes there is insufficient evidence of a wider problem to warrant an action within the terms of the Code and of course there were warnings of the concern prior to the tyre failing"

Courtesy of Roy - who has taken the lead on this - there is now proof that the Citroen parts not only fit, but will make our Peugeots safer in the event of spring breakage.

This is the way to fit the Citroen Spring Catcher parts to the Peugeot.

Jack the whole front end up on axle stands to take the load off the anti-roll bar. Remove the anti-roll bar link from the strut. Slide the inner half of the spring catcher over the strut/rollbar bracket, then re-fit the roll bar link nut. Bolt the two halves of the spring catcher together.

Roy's car had the plastic sleeves fitted to the springs already; his girlfriends C3 also had them as well as the spring catchers. This must have been done under warranty/recall as it is an ex-fleet car! The 1007 and C3 suspension IS identical as he has seen them back to back for comparison.

Roy concludes: I have been able to go back to driving my car normally and not avoid every speed bump since reading of our spring failure. He now knows his springs have no corrosion, are protected by extra stone chip paint and if the worst happens has the cups to contain the spring. He ordered the cups for a 53 plate Citroen C3 1.4LX

also note the lower part of newer springs have a split polythene tube over the lower end which is intended to stop corrosion at the crucial point of failure. I do not believe this is fitted to the original or most aftermarket springs however read again  Spring Catcher 

In changing the roll bar rubbers I had a look at the new springs on both our 1007's.  All four have the additional split plastic tube slipped over the bottom turn of the spring - this of course will help to protect the spring from corrosion.

I also checked the spring pans - the one on my wife's car (which had the broken spring) had much surface rust evident (20,000 miles). Mine showed no rust at 33,000 miles. So past history is important.

I have now covered the lower coils on all four springs with Waxoyl as a precaution (March 2012)