Rear Springs

Newbe here... inherited daughters car when she left for school (complete with payment book!!).. and took it down to have the brakes checked today. (Learned from my lurking that they're basically junk on these cars!! <_< ).

Shop said figure rotors all around.. and $240 ish an end... no real surprise there, but is there anything special about doing them? Used to do this on OLDER vehicles, but not certain about these new 'puter rascals.

BUT.. they also said a rear spring was chipped/broke and was luck it didn't break and hit a tire. Is this something that frequently happens with these Alero's?
It appears a number of folks have put lowering kits on 'em, but i'm not sure that'd be the right answer here in the land of snow & ice.

Suggestions? Comments?

TIA
Jim W
99 Alero

[jabartram]

I have a full set of factory springs from a V6 sedan, with 32000 miles on them.

I've had no trouble with my brakes, but for the money purchase the after market slotted rotors and performance pads.

Changing brake rotors is easy as pie on these cars. It's a floating rotor, so you don't have to fight with a retaining bolt holding the rotor to the hub. Simply take the wheel off and remove the brake caliper/caliper bracket assembly (two large bolts hold each assembly to the knuckle - re-torque to 85ft-lbs when re-assembling). I've found a bent wire coat hanger works well to tie the caliper up out of the way while changing the rotor. With the caliper and caliper bracket assembly off, the rotor should slide right off the hub. Be sure to clean the rotor mounting surface on the hub with a wire brush before installing the new rotor.

I've never heard of a spring being dislodged, chipped, or broken, although I suppose anything's possible. If the spring needs replacement (I kinda doubt it, but stranger things have happened), I'm sure someone here on the board has one they'd sell you for cheap. You may just want to have a shop replace it for you, since removal of the strut (to replace the spring) will likely require an alignment. If it just been dislodged, you can probably re-seat it yourself with the help of a spring compressor.....available for rent at AutoZone - but be sure to ask for a strut compressor, since we have struts on all 4 corners. Good luck.