Technical Tailgate struts

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Technical Tailgate struts

Romeo

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Hi, has anyone replaced the gas support struts on the tailgate, they look like a clip fit. How easy are they to get off and do you need to fit them with the tailgate shut from inside? As I can't see a way to extend them first!!!
 
Hi, has anyone replaced the gas support struts on the tailgate, they look like a clip fit. How easy are they to get off and do you need to fit them with the tailgate shut from inside? As I can't see a way to extend them first!!!

I haven't done mult struts, but have on other cars - normally the problem is that you can't 'un-extend' them - their at rest position is fully extended and you have to fit them with the tailgate fully open, and even then you need to compress/shorten them a bit to get them onto the studs.

Normally if you were to pull one end off the stud it would extend powerfully to full length taking out your eye/fingers/bits of the car as it goes, so BE CAREFUL!

I'll check on the Mult when I go out later and see what it's like.

There's normally a clip to keep the socket on the end of the strut in place on the ball/stud fixed to the car.
 
I did one on a Focus recently. It was a piece of cake. Just prize off the old strut, the strut is on a ball and socket joint. The new (actually 2nd hand but it was from a working tailgate) was a bit longer but all I did was open the tailgate a bit more, clip both ends on with a smart tap from a mallet. Repeat for the other side. It helps to have an assistant to hold the tailgate. Total time maybe 10 minutes.
 
don't worry, that's currently inevitable as it has already become non functioning so it already requires the strength of samson to lift it (if to ask my wife)!
 
I've just replaced one on mine, bought a pair so I've a spare now. The strut was okay on mine, it was the ball joint that was coming off the strut. Like some very tall person was opening the boot higher than it could go.

Very easy to replace, two minute job.
 
Agreed, just to report back it was a complete doddle. Apart from the fact that after removing the old struts (using a flathead screwdriver to prise off the clips) I then proceeded to presume I needed to do the same for the first leg of the new one, and spent 10 minutes getting it back in place when I realised they really did just push on. Just jammed a spare length of 2x4 under the boot to prop it open whilst I did my stuff, even got my 10 year old to prise off the clips on the second one to give him a taste for doing that sort of thing.

Also, when I ordered the strut I mistakenly thought there was only 1 in the boot in the first place, so only ordered 1. Or so I thought. They arrived last night as a pair, though I don't think anything on the website indicated that they came as a pair. Perhaps they were just being nice to me.

As it turned out, only one of the original struts had failed anyway, with the second one being insufficiently strong to hold the boot on its own. But I replaced both anyway.
 
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