No, I'm not insinuating anything ... just wanted to get your burning attention to read my post. A while back someone had their LRE 4000 shear springs replaced ... that post got me under my fiver for a look see. I was concerned in particular about one of my shear springs, so I took the following photos of both sides and sent them to Mor Ryde for evaluation.
After talking to Gary Wheeler in customer support at Mor Ryde, I'd like to post a no nonsense guide to what you really need to be looking for and not some "oh that really looks bad you must park it immediately" miss-diagnosis. Per Mor Ryde, they honeycombing is normal and not an issue. The cracks I have in my shear springs are not an issue. Although they span the width of the spring, they are a bit less than 1/8" deep ... Gary said that is normal wear for a 2-3 year old unit. They don't get concerned till the cracks measure over 1/2" deep. What was of concern to him was the bulge/tearing in the rubber adjacent to the bolt head in the last photo. Since I mentioned I'd rather roll in crushed glass than have a dealer change it out, He said he would send me a new spring and all I needed to pay was shipping. He later called me back and said he was sending two springs billed the same as above as the shear springs installed in 2010 were 16 durometer (density of the rubber) and all the new units come out with 20 durometer shear springs. He wanted me to have matching springs on my fiver.
Now that's what I call in-depth customer service! So, look over these photos ... minor cracking / honeycombing is normal ... don't fret over nothing to fret about. If you have cracks, simply measure the depth and go from there. If you have bulges or tearing ... call Mor Ryde or your dealer ASAP.