FHC bootlid gas struts

[Victor1275]

hi all,

How many newtonmeter of force do the glass bootlid gas struts need to be.
the ones that where in had a force of 100N, so i ordered 2 new ones of 100N, but the glasspannel is quite heavy, and i dont think 100 is enough.

gr,
Vic

[marcus1875]

I've got a note of that in the house somewhere. I'll dig it out and get back to you later tonight unless anyone beats me to it.
Marcus

[v8s4me]

I'm interested in this topic. My lid opens OK but it's much too stiff when trying to close it. I scared witless I'll crack the glass.

Vic - where did you order yours from? Thanks

[Grady]

From memory and a quick search, 100 is what you want. 150 is too stiff. But for the rear I have a SE spoiler so a bit more to hold up. Grady

[marcus1875]

Blast. Sorry forgot about this.
I'LL dig out the details first thing tomorrow.sorry
Marcus

[Grady]

Oops - didn't read carefully - FHC - my bad. Don't know the rating for the hatch (but 100s for the fronts).

[v8s4me]

Grady said:

.... Don't know the rating for the hatch (but 100s for the fronts).

The bonnet is very heavy so I'd expect the tailgate ones to be much weaker. What happens about the electrical terminals for the HRS? Can they be swapped over?

[marcus1875]

Cant find the receipt for mine!
I'm meeting up with the Rusty Nailers this afternoon, i'll ask them.
Marcus

[Grady]

Yes. The ends unscrew and spade collars can be swapped over.

Funny, I would have thought the rear hatch with all the glass would be much heavier than a fiberglass boot lid.

[Wedg1e]

Grady said:

Oops - didn't read carefully - FHC - my bad. Don't know the rating for the hatch (but 100s for the fronts).

I'm certain the glass hatch used exactly the same struts as the bonnet as I swapped mine about on my Tasmin to find the pair that held the bonnet up best. All of them were 100N rated.

The trouble with scrounging around scrapyards (not that you can much anymore) is that whilst a lot of cars have struts the same length, they tend to be upwards of 200N. I was told when I had the Tasmin that the originals were from the glass tailgate of the early RangeRover but I've never got close enough to one to check... certainly later Rangeys had much more powerful struts (albeit the same length).

[phillpot]

These guys, SGS Engineering will supply any size/pressure combination you want

[v8s4me]

Wedg1e said:

I'm certain the glass hatch used exactly the same struts as the bonnet...

According to the parts manual, you're correct. The TVR part no. was 025U110A. Maybe my struts are knackered and stiff/seized because they seem much too strong for a sheet of glass which weighs a lot less than the big heavy bonnet moulding.

Thanks for the link Phillpot. The Talbot Sunbeam had a similar size tailgate to the Tasmin bit there's no force tech info listed. I'll give them a call on Monday.

Edited by v8s4me on Friday 23 September 23:09

Edited by v8s4me on Saturday 24th September 00:15

[Wedg1e]

v8s4me said:

According to the parts manual, you're correct. The TVR part no. was 025U110A.

Ah, the parts manual. In 20 (21??) years of wedging I can count on the thumbs of one foot how many times that particular book was of any use.
Since it doesn't refer to anything other than TVRs in-house stock system it tells you that most useful of mathematical constants: the square root of zip squat diddly

[Victor1275]

its not really about the weight of the bonnet or rear glass pannel, its more about the pivot point and leverage.
glad to hear its 100N in the back aswel.
hopefully they arrive today. i ordered them at Gasveerwinkel.nl , i had to fill in the parameters; lenght, diameter, force, etc..
unfortunately i might have hurt the engine yesterday, went for a good blast and now have a loud knock in the left bank, hopefully only a tappet..

[Grady]

Just for this side of the pond, I got replacements at Autozone or O'Reilly's. Off the shelf based on length and rating. Both stores had lift-o-matics, one had the size I needed, about $30 each.

[440Interceptor]

I'll be interested to know whether 100Nm is the right value as I'm ordering mine (all 4) tomorrow.

[v8s4me]

Are the OEM part numbers still legible on yours? If so what are they?

[v8s4me]

v8s4me said:

..According to the parts manual, you're correct....

Wedg1e said:

Ah, the parts manual.....it tells you that most useful of mathematical constants: the square root of zip squat diddly

440Interceptor said:

I'll be interested to know whether 100Nm is the right value as I'm ordering mine (all 4) tomorrow.

You might want to double check. These are mine. Front at the top and rear at the bottom.





The front one is the correct length for the bonnet (because it won't open any further) and is rated at 280N. This appears to be about right for the weight of the bonnet (one strut on its own is barely able to support the bonnet - two are just right).

The tailgate struts on mine appear to have a similar resistance to the fronts and I think this is too much for the weight of the tailgate. With just one strut fitted, the tailgate lifts and closes much more easily. Unfortunately all the information has worn off my rears so I can't say for certain what the force rating is, just make a guess based on how hard I have to lean on it to compress it.

So, at a guess, I'd say 100Nm is probably OK for the tailgate. But that's just a guess. In any event, the front and rears are not the same length; on mine anyway.

Edited by v8s4me on Sunday 25th September 14:31

[phillpot]

A while ago I was after some new tailgate struts for my Taimar, the ones fitted had "gone soft" and while they still assisted with the lift they wouldn't hold the tailgate open.

There were no markings on them and I had no idea what rating I needed so I did a simple test by pushing one end of a strut with the other against a set of bathroom scales. Read the figure on the scales just as the strut starts to close and convert to Newtons.

100N = approx 22.5lbs or 10.2kg.


Might not be "bang on" but was near enough, from the reading I got I added about another 50N to get a pair of struts that do the job nicely

[v8s4me]

Using the "Phillpot Method" means my tailgate struts are 200N ! Each!!! There's no way that sheet of glass weighs around 40kgs so this implies the struts are too powerful. So if the tailgate opens and closes comfortably with just one 200N strut, then possibly 100N each side is about right.