MOT advisory explained
“Leaf spring has slight wear in a shackle pin and/or bush”
The rubber bushes at the ends of a rear leaf spring have worn. It is the rear suspension of every pickup and most large vans, and on a Mitsubishi L200 this advisory appears sixty times more often than on the average vehicle, which is about as concentrated as any line on a certificate gets.
A leaf spring is a stack of curved steel strips bolted under the rear axle, fixed to the chassis at one end through a pin and bush, and at the other through a swinging shackle so it can lengthen as it flexes. The tester levered the spring and found play in one of those bushes, within limits.
4.2% fail on the leaf spring mounting at the next test, but 13.1% fail on some suspension pin, bush or joint. On a working vehicle the shackle bushes are the first rubber to go and the rest of the rear end has done the same miles with the same loads.
A shackle bush that has worn lets the spring knock, and a spring that knocks wears its pin, then the shackle plate, then the bracket on the chassis. “rear spring eye bush” and the bracket wordings on this page are the later stages. The bush is the cheap one.
A “leaf spring has slight wear in a shackle pin and/or bush” advisory means the rubber bush or pin at the shackle end of a rear leaf spring has play within limits, so the vehicle passes. It applies to pickups, vans and older 4x4s with leaf-sprung rear axles. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, 4.2% of 108,754 such advisories failed on the leaf spring mounting at the next test, and 13.1% on any suspension pin, bush or joint.
How a leaf spring is mounted
Anchor and shackle. The front eye of the spring bolts to a fixed bracket on the chassis through a rubber bush: the anchor. The rear eye hangs on a pair of short plates, the shackle, with a bush at each end, so the spring can change length as it flattens under load. “rear bush” and “front bush” in the notes are the two ends. The shackle end wears first because it moves more.
What wears. The rubber bush inside each spring eye, and the steel pin or bolt it turns on. Water and grit get into the bush, the rubber breaks up, and the pin starts to wear in the eye. A worn shackle knocks over bumps and lets the axle shift slightly under braking and acceleration.
The other wordings. Five smaller wordings are grouped here: the anchor end, corroded or damaged shackle and anchor brackets, and a modified spring. The bracket wordings are corrosion on the chassis mount rather than wear, and they fail less often. A modified spring, usually an extra leaf or a lift, is noted when it is not judged to weaken the spring.
Will it fail next year?
Seven wordings share this page, the first two covering most cases. Together they have been recorded 347,326 times, and 108,754 can be followed to the same vehicle’s next MOT.
| What happened at the next test | Share |
|---|---|
| Failed on the same component | 4.2% |
| Failed on anything under defect 5.3.4 | 13.1% |
| Same advisory recorded again | 20.5% |
According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair: 108,754 advisories followed to the same vehicle’s next test. Rows can overlap.
Four in a hundred on the mounting itself is modest. The second row is the one to read: 13.1% of these vehicles fail on some suspension joint at the next test, close to the 16.0% after a worn anti-roll bar bush. These are working vehicles, loaded daily, and a worn shackle bush is an early warning about the rest of the rear axle.
One in five is carried over. A knocking shackle is easy to live with in a van that is noisy anyway.
| Advisory wording | Fails on same part | Fails under same code | Advised again | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension arm ball joint has slight play | 16.0% | 20.6% | 17.3% | 2,285,155 |
| Shock absorbers has a slightly worn bush | 8.9% | 8.9% | 19.9% | 607,181 |
| Prop shaft bearing has slight play | 6.0% | 8.4% | 17.0% | 245,984 |
| Coil spring corroded | 5.0% | 5.0% | 39.1% | 4,780,118 |
| Anti-roll bar pin or bush worn | 4.5% | 16.0% | 13.8% | 1,324,400 |
| Leaf spring has slight wear in a shackle pin and/or bush | 4.2% | 13.1% | 20.5% | 108,754 |
| Sub-frame pin or bush worn | 3.2% | 15.3% | 20.0% | 303,970 |
The advisory rises from 0.2 per 1,000 tests at 5–6 years to 2.0 at 20 years and over, and the share that fail on the mounting stays between three and five in a hundred throughout. These are vehicles that are worked hard from new.
| Age of car | Per 1,000 tests | Fails on same part | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5–6 years | 0.2 | 3.2% | 5,534 |
| 7–9 years | 0.4 | 3.7% | 13,961 |
| 10–12 years | 0.7 | 4.6% | 22,248 |
| 13–15 years | 1.1 | 4.7% | 24,625 |
| 16–19 years | 1.5 | 4.6% | 21,177 |
| 20 years and over | 2.0 | 3.9% | 11,132 |
The shackle bolts are removed, the plates come off, the old bushes are pressed or burned out of the spring eye and the shackle, and new ones pressed in. On a vehicle that has done a few winters the bolts are often seized in the old pins, and cutting them out is where the time goes.
Polyurethane bushes are a common upgrade on pickups and last longer than rubber, at the cost of a slightly harsher ride. Both pass the MOT.
If the shackle plates are worn oval at the bolt holes, or the chassis bracket is corroded, replace them with the bushes. New bushes in a worn shackle knock again within months.
Exact wording on your certificate
Seven advisories cover wear at either end and corrosion or damage to the brackets. The failure is excessive wear or a bracket that is seriously weakened.
| Line on the certificate | Result | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Leaf spring has slight wear in a shackle pin and/or bush | Advisory — pass | 5.3.4 (a) (i) |
| Leaf spring has slight wear in an anchor pin and/or bush | Advisory — pass | 5.3.4 (a) (i) |
| Leaf spring shackle bracket corroded but not seriously weakened | Advisory — pass | 5.3.1 (b) (i) |
| Leaf spring anchor bracket corroded but not seriously weakened | Advisory — pass | 5.3.1 (b) (i) |
| Leaf spring modified but not seriously weakened | Advisory — pass | 5.3.1 (d) (i) |
| Leaf spring anchor bracket damaged but not seriously weakened | Advisory — pass | 5.3.1 (b) (i) |
| Leaf spring shackle bracket damaged but not seriously weakened | Advisory — pass | 5.3.1 (b) (i) |
| Leaf spring has excessive wear in a shackle pin and/or bush | Major — fail | 5.3.4 (a) (i) |
The nearside rear and offside rear between them account for three in four, with plain rear most of the rest. Leaf springs on modern vehicles are a rear suspension design, and both sides wear together.
| Position written by the tester | Share of all instances |
|---|---|
| Nearside rear | 38% |
| Offside rear | 36% |
| Rear | 12% |
| No position recorded | 4% |
| Nearside rear lower | 2% |
| Offside rear lower | 2% |
From 347,326 recorded instances. Testers can add their own note after the standard wording. The most common on this advisory: “rear bush” (5,393), “both sides” (4,769), “both” (4,338), “front bush” (3,396), “rear” (2,040), “both rear” (1,346), “all” (1,306), “nearside and offside” (924).
What it costs
A set of shackle bushes and pins is a modest part. The labour depends on whether the old bolts come out or have to be cut, and on whether the shackle plates need replacing too. It is a routine job at any garage that sees vans and pickups. We do not publish a range for it. Related prices are on the van repair costs page.
Can I still drive with this advisory?
A clonk from the rear over bumps, worse when unloaded, is the shackle. Book the bushes within a few months, and before the next heavy load or towing trip. A clonk that becomes a bang, or a rear axle that feels as if it steps sideways under braking, means it is past the advisory stage.
Enter your reg to see your vehicle’s full MOT history. Shackle bushes in one year and a bracket the next is the wear working its way outward.
Which cars get this advisory most?
The all-vehicle rate is 0.4 per 1,000 tests. On the models below it is between six and sixty times that.
| Model | Per 1,000 tests | Vs all cars | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi L200 | 23 | 60.1× | 935,407 |
| Toyota Hilux | 15 | 37.9× | 734,628 |
| Isuzu D-Max | 9 | 22.8× | 323,076 |
| Ford Ranger | 6 | 15.7× | 1,001,179 |
| Citroen Relay | 5 | 12.8× | 662,399 |
| Nissan Navara | 5 | 12.6× | 712,261 |
| Ford Transit | 4 | 9.5× | 9,907,752 |
| Fiat Ducato | 3 | 7.4× | 962,883 |
| Vauxhall Movano | 2 | 6.4× | 544,309 |
| Renault Master | 2 | 6.4× | 760,734 |
Model families are grouped by the first word of the DVSA model name, so “Transit” covers every Transit variant. Only models with at least 60,000 tests are ranked.
This is a pickup list. The Mitsubishi L200 at 60.1 times the average is the highest model multiple for any common advisory in our data, with the Toyota Hilux at 37.9, the Isuzu D-Max at 22.8, the Ford Ranger and the Nissan Navara behind it. All five have leaf-sprung rear axles carrying loads on sites and farms.
The rest are large vans, the Citroen Relay, Ford Transit, Fiat Ducato, Vauxhall Movano and Renault Master, with the same suspension under a bigger body. A car with coil springs cannot get this advisory.
What to do next
- Find out which end. Shackle or anchor. The shackle is the usual one and the easier job.
- Check the plates and bracket. Worn bolt holes or a rusty bracket mean the bushes alone will not last.
- Do both sides. They carry the same loads and the second side is a few bolts away.
- Allow for seized bolts. Ask for a price that assumes they have to be cut. It is the usual case on an older pickup.
Leaf spring shackle advisory FAQ
What does leaf spring has slight wear in a shackle pin and/or bush mean?
The rubber bush or pin at the shackle end of a rear leaf spring has play within limits. It is an advisory and the vehicle passes. It applies to pickups, vans and older 4x4s with leaf-sprung rear axles.
What is a leaf spring shackle?
The pair of short plates that hang the rear end of a leaf spring from the chassis, with a bush at each end. They let the spring lengthen as it flattens under load, and they are the part that wears first.
Will it fail the next MOT?
According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, 4.2% of 108,754 such advisories failed on the leaf spring mounting at the next test, but 13.1% failed on some suspension pin, bush or joint. A worn shackle bush is an early sign about the rest of the rear axle.
What are the symptoms of worn shackle bushes?
A clonk from the rear over bumps, worse with the vehicle unloaded, and a rear axle that feels loose under braking or acceleration.
How much does it cost to replace leaf spring bushes?
The bushes and pins are modest parts. Labour depends on whether the old bolts have seized and whether the shackle plates need replacing. We do not publish a range. Any prices on this site are estimates and final quotes come from garages.
Which vehicles get this advisory most?
Pickups. The Mitsubishi L200 gets it 60.1 times as often as the average vehicle, the Toyota Hilux 37.9 times, and the Isuzu D-Max 22.8 times. Large vans make up the rest of the list.
How these figures were calculated. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, from the DVSA anonymised MOT test results (Open Government Licence v3.0): 350,943,111 tests. This advisory was recorded 347,326 times; 108,754 of those were followed to the same vehicle’s next test between 180 and 730 days later. “Fails on the same part” means a failure at that next test under the same defect code and naming the same component, on either side of the vehicle. Testers do not always name a component the same way twice, so the figure is a floor. Method and how to cite.