TR gas pressuresd shocks or hood struts?

Chad, Go to the thread "SOS...Need TR Trunk Struts (Lift Support) Please" in TECHNICAL Q&A, 4-20-05, by Jerry. Some parts numbers are listed for Sachs struts plus one NAPA number. Ron Judy

 

FYI: I put the Napa ones on and the ***damn trunk will still not stay up!! I would suggest getting the originals from www.rockauto.com, as I did for my dad's 348, and we got them in 3 days. Jerry.

 

Hey Jerry, sorry to hear that the NAPA struts didn't work out for you, I think this may be the first failure that I have seen posted on the forum. Just wondering, did you install them in the correct orientation? It has been explained here on the forum that that if you inverted the struts, they will not work and that goes for all gas struts. Anyway, hope you find a solution that will work for you.

 

My experiences with both the stock (3 sets) and NAPA (1 set) version front TR gas springs are about the same -- "freshness" seems to be the most critical factor for giving at least some life (but they both still poop out in a ~couple of years best-case).

I even went to the hassle of adding some brass bushings to the NAPA units to decrease the hole diameter and increase the tab thickness to match the stock units (and the NAPA unit was slightly stronger spec-wise: 81N vs 75N IIRC), but I need a new set again (this time I'm going to be a little smarter and fabricate a "clip" from brass sheeting that will fit onto the NAPA end tabs to match the stock size so that I can reuse them on my next set ).
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Can you make two extra ones, I will pay you for them

Could this be the next "paper clip"?? Wanna start a company together

 

I installed them so that the thicker part or chamber was higher than the s/s piston. They will not hold it up at all, very strange.

 

Well, you'll actually need 4 pieces so that doubles the (already huge) price. And the worldwide market must be at least 16~20 pieces so start drawing up the business plan now

Seriously, I'll let you know (but it's not something I'm hurrying to do). Whether or not I'd be willing to do any extras will depend on things like can I get the raw brass strip material in the right shape (width and thickness) so the number of cutting operations can be minimized, and how easy (or not easy) it is to form the cylindrical portions that will fit into the 10mm NAPA hole to reduce it down to the 8mm size.

 

regas regas regas regas regas

Did someone say "Re-gas"?

Find a re-gas shop & just take them your EXISTING ones. They then re-pressurise them with nitrogen (or whatever) to the specified pressure for the part number, & you get back the proper OEM struts. It's also cheaper than buying new. IMHO its a no-brainer (but then I don't have much brain!). Make sure they put new seals in.

 

I've seen this mentioned twice - both times the poster was Aussie. Anybody know of a company in the US doing this?

 

Are you sure that is correct, I recall the thicker part was on the bottom...better look at mine.

 

No, I'm not sure but that's what another chatter told me.

 

Just looked at my car, the thicker part needs to be higher than the piston for any of these struts to function. In this case, the thicker part is more to the front of the car, correct? Make sure you put the other ones in with the correct orientation as well. Again, sorry to hear that the NAPA ones didn't work out for you, maybe the struts were defected. Anyway, hope you have a pair of functional hood struts.

 

Not your fault Anthony, they must be defective.

 

Maybe for TRs, but the hood struts on C4s have the piston connected to the hood (higher) and the base connected to the fender (lower)

 

Interesting...I just looked at gas struts on all my cars, and everyone of them have the thicker part being higher than the piston part. What about your other cars? Perhaps this is more isolated to your C4s than on the TRs?

 

Anyone got a jpeg of the C4 arrangement per Bryan's description -- just wondering if maybe when the hood is closed the gas spring is so close to horizontal that mounting orientation doesn't matter much. (Although a C4 has got to be one of the earliest application for automotive gas springs so maybe the "body-up" mounting rule-of-thumb wasn't yet known.)

 

I just had ANOTHER opportunity to put a fresh set of gas springs on my TR front hood so I thought I'd pass along this data (and to correct my earlier error in the force units):

old spring (not holding hood open)
force to cause initial movement = 65 lbs
force after a few mm of movement = 55 lbs

new spring (NAPA)
force to cause initial movement = 83 lbs
force after a few mm of movement = 76 lbs

Please see FerrariAds Parts if you're interested in a reuseable clip set for putting the NAPA gas springs on a TR front hood (SN 76001 and later).

 

BTW, I ended up taking my NAPA set back and buying a set of the ones from Rockauto.com and they will not hold the hood up either. This is really fun!

 

Jerry -- How does the force from these springs that don't work compare to the data in my prior post? Are they just unfresh and weak?

My new springs don't exactly zip my front hood up super strongly, but they do work. You haven't added any insulation or sound-proofing to the front hood have you?

 

Call Stephen Fenner @ LIFT SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES in Canada. Redbuilt my two front bonnet struts for about $50.00 US ea. Get this - - turn around was ONE DAY!!!!!!!! TEL (306) 683-5000. Tell him that Hank sent you. Also, his email - - [email protected]
Good luck, Hank