Coil spring snap on 406 Hdi

I have a 1998 406 Hdi estate and my offside soil spring has just
snapped, luckily when I was pulling into a driveway at about 5 mph!
RAC guy said that suggested that he could see no other damage to the
tire or brake lines. I am 'reasonably' technically minded and have
the car sitting at home.

1. Can I remove the shock itself by jacking the car up and then take
it to a garage to replace the coil? Or just drive slowly to the
garage (literally about 200metres away!) and get them to do it all (I
don't know how big the job is).

2. Do I need any specialist tools to remove it other than spanners/
tourque wrench etc?

3. Should I remove the other front shock while I am about it and get
that replaced?

4. Can I buy the shock online? My concern is that I might get stiffed
by a garage and I don't want to pay a premium. I have no idea how
much they are...

The car has 112k miles on it.

Thanks in advance

 

My offside coil snapped a couple of months ago when it was parked (1999
406HDI - 118,000 miles when it went). I did not repair it myself but we
use an excellent one man business. He took off the other coil and showed
me where it was also starting to go so both were replaced. When the o/s
one snapped it took the CV joint gaiter and the anti roll bar vertical link
with it. The car was also undriveable because the spring had dropped and
would not permit the wheel to turn. Incidentally, it was only the coils
that had to be replaced, not the shocks.

Fortunately I am a member of Britannia Rescue and they took the vehicle to
my repairer at no cost.

The whole repair came to just over £360.

General opinion seems to be that sleeping policemen have a lot to answer
for.

This link https://secure.gsfcarparts.com/shop/results.asp is to GSF and has
prices for coils and coil compressors (I understand that one is required).

 

Mine went the other day as I was reversing out of a parking space
(fortunately at home). One of my neighbours is a mechanic so he replaced it
for me for £120. I associated the clonk as it snapped with the brakes
sticking so I actually got about 200yds down the road before I twigged it
was a bit more serious than that. It did melt the name off the inside of the
front tyre but apart from that no damage was done. The guy who replaced it
for me said he had to use hydraulic spring compressors becuase the
replacement spring was so long and had to be compressed down so far. I have
no idea whether he was spinning a tale or not.

 

Your guy is right. You need an hydraulic type not the cheap and nasty
things you get in Halfords. And definitely do both sides.

 

Oh, he didn't nor did he recommend that both be done. Handling doesn't seem
to have altered, leastways not the way I drive the car.