Changing trunk lid struts - easy method.

[AZjeff]

The trunk lid struts were bad on my neighbor's '07 Fusion so I offered to change them out, how hard can that be? Ordered a set from Amazon since Rock Auto won't ship to Az. Got the struts and they were 1/2 inch too long and they were so stiff I couldn't depress them with all my weight. No way to get them on the mounts so I sent them back and got another set a bit more expensive with good reviews. Same thing, 1/2 inch too long so maybe there isn't much demand and they're substituting a close match. Tried a number of ways to mount one end and pry the other and nothing worked. Tried a clamp. Hmm, what about a ratchet strap? Got a 1" wide one out and after a bit of adjusting around success! The strap wraps around the end pieces as it's tightened and holds them firmly. Easy to adjust to the right length and to release the strap just pull the lid down a bit to compress the strut. I forgot a pic with the new strut so this is one of the old ones. If someone has a better way I'd like to hear it. Maybe this is widely known already. Hope it helps someone. I replaced the hatch struts on the old Xterra by hand and they were a piece of cake compared to these tiny struts.

 

[D60]

Maybe the furniture clamps that just use NPT cut to length?

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Yeah, new tailgate struts are so stiff they seem like they are built wrong, like they will break the ball studs off the first time you try closing the trunk. They you try it and you get that brief satisfying feedback, like it's a new car again.

 

[AZjeff]

Maybe the furniture clamps that just use NPT cut to length?

tried, too big and unwieldy for the trunk, may work for a liftgate.

 

[Lubener]

A simple 2 x 4 to prop up the tailgate or trunk lid.

 

[Astro14]

A simple 2 x 4 to prop up the tailgate or trunk lid.

This is about getting the strut shorter in order to fit, not holding the lid open.

If the strut is a bit longer than the posts when the lid is all the way open, you must compress the strut a bit.

 

[AZjeff]

A simple 2 x 4 to prop up the tailgate or trunk lid.

Not a good fix for my late 70s neighbor lady. It would balance fully up but a breeze would close it, not good. Sometimes the hillbilly fix is good enough if you're trying to get a bit more time out of a junker but this car isn't it. I posted it a while ago, 47k miles, always garaged, looks new.