front hood gas struts

I put some high pressure struts on mine almost 3 years ago. I believe they are 80 psi units.
You have to start your opening lift slowly (from the center) because of the the stiffness of the struts but once moving they work nicely, and it stays up, even parked facing up hill, in a windstorm, on a 90 degree day...
Lift too fast and you can tweak the bonnet.

They are just as strong as the day I bought them.

I bought mine at NAPA, P/N 819-5573
The holes in the ends are larger than stock so I sleeved them with brass bushings from the hardware store, 3/8"dia O.D. with a .029" wall thickness. .032/.035" would be better.

 

Mine need replacement. Well timed post.

 

I took this exact advice from Spasso when I got mine. No problems since. Thanks AGAIN!

 

I've used LS Techologies for both front and rear and highly recommend them. They can rebuild existing gas springs or supply exact fit replacements. Mine are 5 and 6 years old and still going strong. http://www.lstechnologies.ca/

 

Just replace all 4 shocks on my 86 TR $145 cdn.

 

Pictures after installation, please.

 

I replaced mine with napa, but I bought some brass bushings from napa also. The bushings are for GM truck door hinge. NAPA sells a kit in their help section it has two small bushings and two large. I bought two packs. I do not remember if I used large or small. The bushings are a bit wide and a bit larger in outside diameter but the inside diameter fits shaft on car good. I filed the outside down a bit with a hand file and pressed them in the shock. After fully pressed in I then filed the width down and installed. They work great.

 

Bought 60 lb lifts, German made Sta-bil from Pep boys, fit ok w/ bushings but not strong enough to keep trunk up. took them back . ordered new ones off E/bay. not here yet. $90 pair.


Ago

 

Thanks for the heads-up on the door hinge bushings. They sound like a better fit than what I have. You wouldn't happen to have record of the bushing kit you used?

I think I would like to peen the ends of mine after they are installed so they don't walk around.

 

Not much to take a picture of, they are buried in the nose of the car presently.

 

I'm glad to hear that worked for you.

 

Next time I am at NAPA I will get part number.

 

They seem to work okay on my car (TR) and AHusdon's (512TR). No binding or resistance during closing. No buckling or warping of the bonnet or hinges.

I am thinking the Stabilus struts are simply designed with a longer stroke (hence lower pressure?)

The NAPA number was a direct cross in the book to the Stabilus number with options for higher and lower pressures.

Ideally it would be good to get a measurement between attach points with the bonnet closed but that would take a very small person to get inside there and require dis-assembly of the car to expose the hinges..

 

I just bought a pair off ebay for 25 bucks. They'll be here in a couple days, I'll let you know how they are when they arrive.

 

Mine was replaced to with stabilus brand! Seems to work really well coz it keeps my hood up whenever I check my engine got to try one when you need a replacement instead of spending too much shipping parts from maranello.

 

Strong Arm 4025 struts work well on front. Amazon has them about $20 each. Interchange is BMW 7 series trunk.

 

I just changed mine and the strong arm 4025's do work well, I found that I had to turn them around for them to fit, the barrel portion towards the rear of the car. I picked them up at my local advance for $21 each: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Lift-Support-Strong-Arm_19940003-P_565_R%7CGRP60004____

Thanks Engineer

 

Did anybody try www.eurospares.co.uk ?

I found my rear ones there.

 

I believe that these are standard Ferrari parts...


P

 

I looked at your link and if I purchased from them they would be $43.95 each plus freight. So I saved over half.

But I did notice on the diagram that they show the struts are installed the way I have them now, so someone must have replaced mine previously and installed them backwards. It appears barrel towards the rear is correct. #19
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Good day Ken,

When I had my struts rebuilt by LS technologies, which really knows struts inside and out, they told me that the way they appear in the diagrams is not what they would recommend. They felt that because the barrel is lower to the rod, that gravity would keep the internal lubricant from reaching the seal between the barrel and the rod... and so over time the seal would become dry and eventually allow the gas to escape leading to the a strut failure. This made sense to me and so I installed my struts with the barrel side towards to the bonnet/clamshell (opposite to what is shown on your attached diagram) ... and after 4 or 5 years now, everything still works fantastic.

Secondly, another item that I do not know if the off-the-shelf struts do... But LS made my struts in manner that the strut has different lift rates depending upon where the strut is in its travel, and also decelerates nearing full extension. This also made a lot of sense, as in my BB the greatest lift is needed just as the clamshell is starting to open, but less lift is needed during mid-travel. Because of this lift-strengthvariance and the deceleration feature, my clamshell does not "snap" at the end of the travel and thus preventing undo stresses on the clamshell (or front bonnet) and its infrastructure. I thought that this was a great idea too.

In terms of cost... I found that the LS solution to be quite reasonable considering it was tailored to my car's needs and was a direct fit (i.e. same end-connectors, etc). If memory serves me correctly, I remember the cost to be around $80 or so per strut ($320 total). Given how well these struts work and the functionality elements (i.e lift differential, deceleration nearing max travel) within them, I think it is worth the price difference.

Cheers,

Sam

 

These strongarm struts that installed seem to work nicely and have good feel and travel well throughout the range of open and close. I do appreciate your point about the seals drying out, but I have no choice in mounting so I will see how long they last. I have always been the frugal Ferrari owner hear on the forum!

 

Here in the old Europe, we love to use old methods as some Coservationists do...

Whatever the lifts are, we always recommend to accompany delicately by hands in both ways the hoods.