Brett Proctor
Well-known member
First let me bring you up to date.
The lifting struts that I originally used were out of a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee rear window.
When I pulled them(junk yard stock) they had enough force to keep the rear window of the Cherokee open.
Well after I installed them I decided to replace them with new oem ones.
I got the new ones in and found out that they had more than enough force to lift the louvers up to the point that I felt they put to much force on the hinges.
So I searched the internet and found the force of the stock struts(26lb) so I would have something to go off of.
I figured half that force would be plenty to lift the louvers and hood. There are formulas out there for this
Found this place and ordered 4 struts (2 for the rear and 2 for the front)
Lift Supports Depot SX185P12 Gas Charged Lift Support
The only issue I had with them is that they come with 10mm ball sockets. The Jeep uses a 10mm on one end and a 8mm on the other. No problem though, you can remove the ball sockets and replace them( I just put the jeep ball sockets on the new struts). If you use a different mounting bracket then it may be no problem if the brackets have 10mm ball ends.
The new struts do have alot of stiction
Stiction is the static friction that needs to be overcome to enable relative motion of stationary objects in contact. The term is a portmanteau of the term "static friction", perhaps also influenced by the verb "stick".
After the seals break in this may go away.
But they do work with no problems and the force exerted on the hinges and mounts is half that of the stock struts.
My only suggestion for those thinking of going this route is to install a quality hinge and not some bolt that goes through the fiberglass. The hole in the fiberglass will eventually get elongated from the force of the strut pushing on it
The lifting struts that I originally used were out of a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee rear window.
When I pulled them(junk yard stock) they had enough force to keep the rear window of the Cherokee open.
Well after I installed them I decided to replace them with new oem ones.
I got the new ones in and found out that they had more than enough force to lift the louvers up to the point that I felt they put to much force on the hinges.
So I searched the internet and found the force of the stock struts(26lb) so I would have something to go off of.
I figured half that force would be plenty to lift the louvers and hood. There are formulas out there for this
Found this place and ordered 4 struts (2 for the rear and 2 for the front)
Lift Supports Depot SX185P12 Gas Charged Lift Support
The only issue I had with them is that they come with 10mm ball sockets. The Jeep uses a 10mm on one end and a 8mm on the other. No problem though, you can remove the ball sockets and replace them( I just put the jeep ball sockets on the new struts). If you use a different mounting bracket then it may be no problem if the brackets have 10mm ball ends.
The new struts do have alot of stiction
Stiction is the static friction that needs to be overcome to enable relative motion of stationary objects in contact. The term is a portmanteau of the term "static friction", perhaps also influenced by the verb "stick".
After the seals break in this may go away.
But they do work with no problems and the force exerted on the hinges and mounts is half that of the stock struts.
My only suggestion for those thinking of going this route is to install a quality hinge and not some bolt that goes through the fiberglass. The hole in the fiberglass will eventually get elongated from the force of the strut pushing on it
