Rear door gas strut mod

[Gramps Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gramps]

This is Pradopoint at it's best.
Well done Shirl. Looking forward to the end result.

[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

Looking at our forklift hood strut which acts the same as Shirl's only upwards, one way of stopping the door from closing is to use a length of pvc pipe just slightly wider than the strut tube enabling it to slide inside it when door is closing. The body end of pipe could be heat shaped to attach to the body mount. Shirl could possibly figure it out. The length of the pipe would be the same as the exposed piston in the fully open position so when the door is fully open the pipe end would drop down to rest on the piston and against the tube thus stopping the tube from moving back and closing the door. Then to close the door just lift the pvc up a little to allow the tube to slide inside. Pvc shouldn't damage the piston. Just a thought.

Cheers Jim.

[shirl Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shirl]

Will have a look when I get home, but I don't think there will be room. The end that mounts to the body only just fits in the gap when door is closed.

[DocK Member Find all posts View Profile Close DocK]

Strut - direct fit!

This idea sparked my interest as I have been crushed a number of times with the door closing and the stay not holding.

The Prado 150 rear door has a strut that requires 450Nm. As it happens on ebay there is a Xtrail 600mm strut, 400Nm, 21mm diameter, with a 10mm shaft, with as luck would have it the correct nuts on each end! Only trouble is it comes in pairs for $52 +$15 postage. Model Number is 600-260-400 10/21 So if you want to get one and pass one on it would work out OK - or keep one as a spare.

Followed the same steps as above but no need to alter the mounting points as everything lines up and matches. Sweet!

1. Got the dremel out and removed the top of the original nut spacer.
2. Bolt in strut.

Time taken - 15 minutes. Just hope the mounting points can cope with this but it works a treat at the moment. Now the issue is not to stop it crushing me but how to stop it opening to full when I don't want it too. I think a little stay strap is next on the agenda for those times.

Cheers
DocK

[Guest Close Guest]

DocK,
Does the strut push the door open and will it slow down when near the fully open position?

[DocK Member Find all posts View Profile Close DocK]

Yep pushes it open very nicely indeed and does it slow down - no, not really, pays to just guide it to the end of the travel to avoid any major stress on the mounts. That just means standing there and slowing it down a little at the end of its travel. Pretty easy really.

Still getting used to it and it takes a little effort to close but not too bad. Could small kids, (say under age 10) close it - really don't think so. Mmmm....maybe a few less Nm would be better. However, there is no problem on slopes at all and thats what I wanted. (One small thing - use a thin washer to give a little more clearance after shaving off the original stud.) Anyway I have a brand new strut spare for $25 if you want to give it a go! As you are in Adelaide PM me if you want a first hand look.
Cheers
DocK

PS the other good thing is it will be easy to reverse should the need arise.

[Guest Close Guest]

Thanks DocK. I'm wondering if a re-gas will replicate what Shirl has done to dampen the opening of the door. I wonder how this would compare with the strut Shirl has in terms of barrel and shaft size. From what I can gather here are the differences:

Shirl: Length 585, Strength 100Nm
DocK: Length 600, Strength 400Nm

[DocK Member Find all posts View Profile Close DocK]

Anything more than a 21mm barrel would not really fit in the space under the door. 10mm shaft for strength given the weight of the door with the tyre etc. Getting the right amount of force in Nm is trickier. On a moderate downhill slope with the 400Nm strut the door won't open spontaneously, needs a gentle pull - but after that there is no effort in opening the door, the strut takes over and it happily stays open.

You will no doubt be aware of how awkward it can be opening the door and lifting all the weight uphill just to get it to fall back on you when you reach in to get something. Anyway maybe a 250-300Nm would do it, 100Nm maybe a little light. A regas to that level is an option, but at the moment in will live with it as is.

Sometimes these things are a bit trial and error.

Cheers
DocK

[DocK Member Find all posts View Profile Close DocK]

Some feedback from other experimenters would be interesting.

[Guest Close Guest]

I found a 22mm body, 10mm shaft strut with 300N and a 18mm, 8mm shaft with 200N today.

With the 22mm strut, the hex part near the ball joint does not look as thick as yours (DocK) so it might still fit within the space. I'll put both on and see what happens.

Apparently the 18mm strut (which looks similar to Shirl's) has a bit of damping at the end of the stroke but not much.

I'll need to find someone to add oil and re-gas for the damping effect.

[DocK Member Find all posts View Profile Close DocK]

Good on ya - keep us posted.

[shirl Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shirl]

The strut i used is 18mm body with 8mm shaft. Started out as 100nm but that has been increased when they added more oil for dampning. Not exactly sure what strength it is now but at a guess i would say about 300nm, based on other struts i have played with.
The more oil that is added the stronger the strut gets apparently. Still happy with the way it works and holds open fine everywhere i have tried it so far. Definately trial an error stuff.
Cheers

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

Am I missing something here? Why is everyone quoting nm. (should be Nm actually, nm = nano-meters) I thought that was a unit of torque. The struts should be quoting newtons force (N). Or am I wrong?
:~

[Guest Close Guest]

Yes should be N (force)

[Guest Close Guest]

I've tried both struts on and they are both too strong, i.e. it flings the door open on flat ground. And obviously no damping when it opens. So will need to revisit the strut regas guy for some oil.

I did not cut down the stem of the existing door stay like DocK and Shirl and I will need to do that as the body of the strut comes in contact with the door skin.