RubyRod
Seasoned Member
So I had to finally replace the gas struts for my Trunk. The Passenger Side is easy but the Driver's Side is a mother. However, there may be a simple trick to make the Driver's Side just as easy as the Passenger Side. But ... you have to obtain the OEM Stabilis struts. Once you separate the "clip" at the top of the strut you can unscrew the strut rod from the bottom "clip". See image below...
All you need to do now is thread the new strut into the old bottom "clip". Voila! As they say. The lower clip will rotate around the lower ball stud some but you can reach in from behind the top hydraulic lines and reach it to hold it in place while you thread the new strut rod into it.
If you buy any other brand of replacement strut this trick probably won't work. It's worth a try but the only way to find out for sure is to separate both an old and new strut lower clips and see if they match.
It's also easier to replace these struts if you have a second pair of hands. You should be able to do it without extra help but it's much easier with it. You need to raise/lower the Trunk in order to get the separation of the ball studs to match the length of the struts. You won't be able to compress the new struts to match the ball stud distance so you'll have to adjust the Trunk to make things match. Depending on how worn out your old struts are you'll likely need to adjust the Trunk height just to remove the old ones. It was necessary to remove my struts, anyway.
You also need to remove the Trunk limit screws before removing the old struts. The limits screws are little torx screws at the knee joint in the mechanism that raises/lowers the Trunk lid. If you don't remove these you won't be able to open the Trunk far enough to install the new struts.
FYI.
All you need to do now is thread the new strut into the old bottom "clip". Voila! As they say. The lower clip will rotate around the lower ball stud some but you can reach in from behind the top hydraulic lines and reach it to hold it in place while you thread the new strut rod into it.
If you buy any other brand of replacement strut this trick probably won't work. It's worth a try but the only way to find out for sure is to separate both an old and new strut lower clips and see if they match.
It's also easier to replace these struts if you have a second pair of hands. You should be able to do it without extra help but it's much easier with it. You need to raise/lower the Trunk in order to get the separation of the ball studs to match the length of the struts. You won't be able to compress the new struts to match the ball stud distance so you'll have to adjust the Trunk to make things match. Depending on how worn out your old struts are you'll likely need to adjust the Trunk height just to remove the old ones. It was necessary to remove my struts, anyway.
You also need to remove the Trunk limit screws before removing the old struts. The limits screws are little torx screws at the knee joint in the mechanism that raises/lowers the Trunk lid. If you don't remove these you won't be able to open the Trunk far enough to install the new struts.
FYI.
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