Boxer Rear Deck Lid Shocks

None of them had the ball shocks from the factory, yours has been converted by someone.

Bb and BBi rear decklid shocks are different lengths, BBi longer, BB shocks are $300 each if you can find them I had one fabricated and posted a tip on the "other site" on how to make one. BBi shocks are about $150 each, I have one new one I need to send to Ferrrari of Orange County for a refund they sent to me by mistake, I got the last 1 from FNAs main warehouse so unless a dealer has one in stock for a long time you can't get them from any dealer so check the other resellers.Ferrari UK does not have them either.

 

I only saw 2 part nos for the shocks in the parts book, FNA only shows 2 shocks as well but anything is possible with these cars since they were handmade and also being a late BBi.

Usually what they will do is just add a ball nut to the end of the bolt on the rear hood so it can use the snap fit the same on the lattice frame on the car.

 

I am currently working with a company here in Canada that can actually rebuild/recharge the struts providing that the seals are not too old/cracked. The company is called LS Technologies and are located in Saskatoon Canada:

http://www.lstechnologies.ca

The person who you should talk to is Stephen. A great guy and very easy to work with.

In my case, my original strut seals were gone and Stephen was able to create a set for me with very similar fittings (plastic as opposed to steel) to those on the originals. I am currently having Stephen "adjust" the pressure in them so that the rear deck is firmer upon opening. The price was $80 CAN (approx $70 USD) each plus shipping.

Have a great day!

Cheers,

Sam

 

My '84 Boxer has struts with ball soclets on each end. I got mine from NAPA, and they cost about $22.00 each. They were a standard stock item. They are identical (as far as I could see) to the original part, but dont say "Ferrari"
They work perfectly.

Robert

 

Sam:
It would really be great if you could post what pressure you end-up charging them to.

Best,

Mark

 

Whats interesting is you can see how they mounted the shock mounts differently on many cars of the same model, sometimes on top of the frame sometimes below which changes the length needed for the shock.

When I talked to sachs they refused any info stating they did not want to be responsible for damage to the decklid from too stiff a shock that may bend the lid or push the lid too forward into the cabin scratching it, they said dealer is the only option.

I also went to NAPA and tried to match up the factory shocks and nothing came close to the OE diameter or length, I bought some extra long shocks at Pep Boys and had them cut and welded steel tubing on the end for it to work.

 

I went to look for the part numbers, but I've removed the stick on labels.
However, I seem to remember there were only 2 or 3 possibilities in terms of length and end fittings. The deck does take some lifting, but stays open no problem at all.
Don't just call NAPA, go in a root around untill you find the right one.
Sorry I can't help more.

 

Good day Mark,

I shipped all four of my struts (front and rear) to LS and two of them had no pressure at all and the other two had 11 PSI. The 11 PSI ones were somewhat soft, but I felt that they were just barely firm enough to hold the deck (perhaps in a wind the deck would close). Upon my discussions with Stephen (LS tech), we decided to charge the new ones to 22 PSI see how they felt/worked.

Upon installation and use, 22 PSI seems fine, however, it does require some effort to initially lift the rear deck. This makes sense, as the strut is fully compressed in the closed position and so it has the least amount of mechanical advantage (based upon the mounting points of the struts) to lift... Effectively the load on the strut varies from the deck being closed (max load) to it being open (min load). With 22 PSI of pressure, the deck must be assisted to about 30 degrees before the deck lifts on its own.

One thing to also consider is if one puts too much pressure in the struts to ease "lift off" (forgive the pun), the deck would accelerate upon opening and may cause damage to the deck over time (deck snapping open, etc). Secondly, upon closing one must overcome the strut pressure and if too high one may risk damaging the deck from the user forcing it closed. Too little pressure and the deck can drop on you (cause injury) as you inspect/work on your engine (lawsuit anyone?)... Hence the reason I think that Sachs/Stabilus does not want to get involved, as the their standard off-the-shelf struts (NAPA supplied, etc) may not have the correct pressure suitable for the BB application.

At any rate, I am still working with Stephen to "fine" tune the fluidity/pressure of the strut. I will be testing another variation of pressure, etc next week and will report on what I find to all those that are interested.

Cheers,

Sam

 

I got my Mondial's Bonnet struts at www.rockauto.com and it was a perfect fit and works great.
-Nathan

 

Sam:

I really appreciate the charge info. I have a pair with the little horseys painted on that came out of my 328. I made a set-up to charge them with nitrogen. My thought was that it may be that several hundred PSI was required. I will try the 22PSI and see how they work.

Thank You,

Mark

 

Good day Mark,

My pleasure, but keep in mind that the 22 PSI that I mentioned was pertaining to a BB deck lid and its hinge/strut assembly. On a 328 or 308, the pressure required may be somewhat higher given the lower mechanical leverage offered by the 328/308 hinge/strut assembly. When I had my 308 QV, I seem the remember the struts to be more than 22... perhaps around 40 or so...However, starting with less and adding more is probably the best best way to go.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Good day Mark and everyone,

Just an update to let everyone know how the LS Technologies struts (http://www.lstechnologies.ca/) worked with my 512BB. I have to say, that working with Stephen was fantastic and I am very pleased with the results and the price (the struts were $80 each).

Basically the first pass of LS Tech struts worked fine, but were not very smooth upon starting and required the user (me) to exert a resonable amount of force to keep the deck moving until about 1/2 way open and then the struts would take over. Using these first pass struts and taking some force and distance measurements, Stephen then created another strut set with the following changes:

1. lower viscosity oil
2. Different internal seals to allow more fluid flow and
3. Increased the strut force (now 330 Newtons / approx 74 lb Force)

The results...Now, I simply engage the bonnet release and start the deck moving with a minimal amount of force (perhaps 5lbs or so). The deck starts lifting totally on its own and at about 80% of maximum opening, the struts decelerate in order to eliminate the deck "snapping" open.

Closing requires more effort, as one must overcome the strut force. However, I do not find it too much... perhaps 30 lbs or so. The deck slowly closes on its own and all that is required of me is to push down at the very end to engage the bonnet locks. In fact, the deck seems to seat itself much better now.

Also, I have attached some pics of these (512BB) LS Tech struts as well as the original BB 10mm strut mount shaft.

Cheers,

Sam
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Great info to have, I'll put this in my "might need someday" folder!

DMAX

 

Hey all,

Just a footnote here. Stephen at LS Technologies recharged "Rachel's" front bonnet struts to perfection!! Turnaround time was - - like 4 hours!! Recharging can be done many times if the strut seals aren't damaged.

Happy up and down,
Hank

 

"Rachel" ! How many of us have named our cars? My 308 is Isabelle and my BB is Gabrielle. Anyone else?

DMAX