Influence of Road Types on Lifespan of Public Service Vehicle Coil Springs in Homa Bay County, Kenya
Sewe Shadrack Onung’a, Okemwa Peter and Mubichakani Joseph
School of Education,
University of Eldoret
Email: seweshadrack@ymail.com
Abstract: Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) in Homa Bay County rely heavily on helical coil springs to absorb dynamic shock loads, yet the county’s heterogeneous road network ranging from paved bitumen highways to unpaved earth and murram tracks accelerates mechanical fatigue, causing premature spring sagging, cracking, and fracture, with attendant safety and financial costs for operators. This study sought to establish the influence of road types on the operational lifespan of coilsprings in PSVs within Homa Bay County. The study was anchored on mechanical fatigue (stress-cycle) theory, which explains component failure as a function of repeated dynamic loading. A mixed-methods descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population comprised PSV drivers/operators, SACCO fleet managers, and automotive mechanics operating within Homa Bay County’s major routes, from which a sample of 133 respondents (100 drivers/operators, 18 fleet managers, and 15 mechanics) was drawn through stratified random and purposive sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires, interview guides, and observation checklists, whose validity was established through expert review and pilot testing, and reliability through Cronbach’s Alpha and data triangulation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-Square tests, One-Way ANOVA, and thematic analysis. Findings revealed a marked lifespan reduction correlating with declining road surface quality: vehicles on bitumen roads averaged 100,000–120,000 km before spring replacement, compared to 35,000–50,000 km on gravel roads and 18,000–25,000 km on unpaved earth routes, with overloading further exacerbating failure rates. The study concluded that road surface type significantly influences coil spring lifespan and recommends targeted road infrastructure investment, stricter load-limit enforcement, and route-based preventive maintenance scheduling for PSV fleets.
