I'm no genius about this stuff but...if you remove the shock and jack the car up to let the wheels hang you can insert a spring compressor (borrowed for a small deposit from Kragen or some such auto store) and compress the spring enough to tap it back in place with a hammer. While compressing the spring you may find it is broken. OR the fact that it bows enough to touch the shocks would imply that it is definitely time to replace them. Just a suggestion.