General Bonnet Struts

[scoobyfm]

Morning all, hope we are all well and have not been battered by any storms overnight.

I'm after some general knowledge on Gas Struts.

I purchased a pair of Boot lid struts earlier this year and although I can't find the receipt they were purchased from a local motor factors and seem to remember them seeming a tad expensive.

Anyway I noticed that the front bonnet struts were starting to go the same way in late August and proceeded to shop around on the net to see if I could find any cheaper deals.

I did and ordered some from a company online, I won't name them just yet, and a few days later they duly arrived.
On this particular website there was an option to order by car spec or to order by matching one of a set of strut model numbers offered for that car. At the time I couldn't see the numbers on the strut but on the basis that the Multipla has only had a body change once and that the model year listed was for my older model, I assumed I would be OK.

Once the new struts were fitted it was very clear that they were not up to the job, meanwhile with the old struts removed I got a better look at them and they were the same part number.

I called the company and explained this to them, they seemed fine but said I would need to return the new struts to them and if possible one of my existing struts to check.

I have done that and they are now wanting more money saying that they need to modify the new struts and will need the money for the new carriage back to me. I explained that I ordered the struts they recommend and why should I have to pay extra carriage and they said that my existing strut had a higher pressure.

As you can imagine I'm none too impressed with this answer, does anyone know what the correct specs are or what they should cost?

Thanks

Martin

 

[BikeDoc]

My recommendation would be to do away with the gas-struts, and find/make a rod that you can securely prop the bonnet open with (I use an old Carbon-Fibre shaft from a golf-club).
The gas struts are barely adequate at best, park the car on a slight nose-down slope, or with the wind behind it, and the bonnet can slam down (breaking a headlight if you're as unlucky as me ).

 

[scoobyfm]

I don't like people who start threads with a question and then never come back and complete the thread, you go looking for something in a forum find a thread that starts with almost exactly the right question, goes on for pages and when you get to the end you just find it's loads of people either saying "Yeah I have that issue too" or loads of suggestions but the original person never comes back and says what the eventual solution or answer was!!!

Anyway..... The Bonnet Struts.....
The company I was having "issues" with have finally sorted things out. They advertised Bonnet Struts for the multipla rated at 200N (I'm guessing is Newtons, pressure) and that is what was written on the struts I was replacing, so they were duly ordered and when they arrived were worse than the ones I was replacing, so they were sent back along with one of the old ones for testing.
It turns out they were nearer 400N and the company wanted to charge me for that, after all they had suggested it and that was what was written on the strut.
Anyway all good, the other day the re-pressurised new struts arrived, they have been fitted and they work perfectly.

So if you are ordering replacements it would seem that they need to be 400N and I can recommend these people, just tell them the front ones need to be 400N not 200N
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gas-...iat/multipla?gclid=CK_25MKbz7kCFYOWtAodYlsANA

Cheers all, keep up the good work.

 

[boilermansab]

How much did they set you back?

 

[BikeDoc]

Price on that link suggests they were around £12 each

 

[scoobyfm]

Hi Boilermansab and BikeDoc, Yep £12 each plus 2 lots of P & P, one lot to me and another lot sending them back. The company wanted me to pay the 2nd carriage back to me but then seemed to relent. Anyway happy with what I've got now