Trunk lift support general question

[Mark]

This is a general question .. mostly before I spend any money on parts.

I have one of those cars with a trunk that won’t stay up. The trunk uses “struts” some folks
call them shocks, but you’ll find the parts listed under “lift support”

Got the vehicle used, so I’m not sure if the trunk ever worked well… I thought about replacing the
“lift supports” but didn’t want to spend any money on it if that’s a “design flaw” The struts or lift supports
appeared to be fine with no apparent damage or leaking etc. If anyone has experience with something
like this let me know if replacing that helped at all. Basically if this is a common problem or not.

Just looking for feedback, replacing them is easy, it’s spending them money on them at this point that’s hard.
note: They don’t cost too much but it’s enough where I don’t want to throw it away.

Topic

[Mike]

I’ve put aftermarket and dealer hood and trunk struts in countless vehicles from any common manufacturer, and they always fix that problem. In most cases, the hatch or whatever it is will stay open on its own after only replacing the first side. Maybe if you’re that strapped for money, just get one and see if it’s acceptable with that. Of course, if one is doing 90% of the work, it can be expected to wear out prematurely.

[Mark]

Thank you Fopeano, that’s great feedback. just wanted to make sure.

My wife and I have had our heads hit multiple times by that trunk so I’ll give it a shot.
I have one other repair I’m doing to the power window so I’m going to take pictures of both
and post it into the repair forum on EricTheCarGuy so maybe it’ll help someone else down the
road.

Thanks for the quick feedback!

[Mark]

I replaced both shocks and the trunk is beautiful now, just like new. It’s amazing that those little buggers
can hold up a heavy weight like that.

The shocks themselves are quite expensive but it was worth it in the end. $35 a piece

The one thing I found that was hard to gleen from many of the video’s I watched was that my shocks used
a “spring” type clip. It was not as easy as shown to loosen them and it took some practice. Once I found out
then it was easy.

You basically just need to get a small screwdriver or a hook type tool. You get that spring to move just enough
but you have to pull the shock at the same time.. there are two “V” shape angles .. like pinchers that hook onto the
ball that it’s set into.. so once you move the spring it will come out… There is no need to remove the entire spring ..
I removed it for the first two.. not knowing ..but figured it out for the back two (mostly no choice due to being set so
far back).

Should take about 10 minutes to swap and all you need is a small pocket flat blade screwdriver as long as you
can afford to pay for the shocks.

I’m posting the pictures in that area of the site.

[Mark]

Just a quick show of what it looked like in the trunk and the spring clip area

Attachments:

• 20150816_154931.jpg
• 20150822_081709.jpg

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