Simple how-to: Replace gas struts / lift supports on any vehicle
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- Easy DIY how to: Change the gas struts/stays (lift supports) on any vehicle using the industry-wide ball-and-socket standard.
You will need:
* Replacement gas struts, new or from wreckers; or old struts re-gassed (usually not economical). Search on Amazon ~
US: amzn.to/2mHpQM2
UK: amzn.to/2ncnvH0
* Tool to work retaining clip (small flat blade screwdriver works well)
* Rag(s)
* Maybe: grease/lube to maintain ball and socket joints.
Featured are the bonnet struts on a Ford Mondeo Mk3, but most struts and applications (boot/trunk, hatches, liftbacks, tailgates, etc) are the same.
Amazon links to relevant products are in the description.
This video helped me tons..!! My hood couldn't stay open, I called the dealer for an estimate $80 dls just for parts plus installation, I order the parts by Amazon, paid only $19 and with this great video I was able to install them myself and saved a lot of money..! Thank you Thank you :)
you are lucky, the dealership wants to charge me 350 for the pair and that's without the installation... of course I am going to do it myself.
I beat you by four dollars ( a WHOLE gallon of gas)!
One point of clarification. You do not need necessarily need to loosen the clip on the new strut to put it on the ball mount of the car. By loosening the clip ahead of time, you run the risk of the clip coming off the strut and then you'll have a dickens of a time getting it back on.
My wifes 2014 Kia Soul needed 2 gas struts for the hatchback of her car. The Kia dealership wanted $300 for parts and labor. I bought the struts and eBay for $28.88 with free shipping. This video taught me how to do the labor for free. Your instructional video was helpful and informative. It saved me $280. The job wasn't more than 10 minutes. Thank you for the great video.
Even with 'genuine' parts that's definitely taking the proverbial.
I wanted to add: sometimes the struts don't make a popping-into-place sound. But DO NOT try prying the retaining ring before slipping the new ones into place. This isn't needed - only for removal of the old one. Thanks for the tutorial.
So are you saying the new ones should just pop into place without messing with the retaining ring? Serious question, because I should receive my new ones next week.
Thanks, Because of your video, I was able to change my rear window struts with out a problem. Its people like you that make life easier for others . Thanks for taking the time to post.
very very good video. Well made. You can see everything clearly and the clarity of your voice helped. thanks
Great video! One thing to mention about lube on ball sockets,which are made of plastic and that is to use silicone based lube only and not petroleum based
lube which will attack the plastic on the ends of the supports! Your grease is very much correct stuff to use here!
I just ordered some strutts for my wife's car, and this shows me how to easily replace them. Thanks. Saves me paying the car service people a small fortune no doubt.
Fantastic instructions. I received replacement parts for my vehicle and the instructions showed 4 different types of tools, and other ridiculous and complicated instructions. I watched your video and made the installation in about 2 minutes on each side. Thank you.
This saved me 400 dollars. Was able to do it for around 30 dollars. All I needed was a flat-head screwdriver
Thanks for not just explaining how to change the struts but also how the parts all work and fit together. Excellent video!
Your well-done explanation walked me right through the replacement of my hood strut notably without breaking anything, so thanks heaps!
I recently bought a new.set of struts even though I had no clue on how to change them
This video was extremely helpful. Thank you.
it seems you have to watch 50 bad videos before you find the right one! Excellent job!
Thank you for this video. You are the ONLY video that addresses the "installation orientation"
Just changed them out with a new set in the correct position. They had been reinstalled incorrectly and failed by the company who replaced the windshield on my Mercedes Benz C230 Kompessor.
Yes to all, AND: Be careful to loosen the clip in the center so one side doesn’t pop off, forcing you to bend the clip off, and rebend it to put it back on (thus weakening the metal of the clip).
Very good tip. This is exactly what happened to my new lift strut which I had to bend metal clip and force rebending and securing the metal clip (used small hammer) when without realizing, I loosened the clip from one side instead of the center. Was able to secure the clip back, and have the lift strut installed but it clicked into the ball with little force and would come off from one side without great force (even when the metal clip is locked). A bit worried that one side of the lift strut would come off of its ball and damage the tailgate :(.
Thanks, super easy fix. Just did mine. Now I'm going to do my mom's car.
Thank you! I successfully replaced mine today! Your video is the only one that explained the ball and socket operation. Otherwise I would have been confused.
I found the first video I was following was for a different model of my Scenic. Fortunately found this instead and it worked perfectly for me (wouldn't have guessed otherwise!). Thanks!
Brilliant, had to remove struts from an outdoor furniture box that I'd set up wrong and you've saved my bacon! Thank you for the vid
Thanks for an excellent, straightforward video! and no music.
Best Instructional video on this topic I have seen...
Your advise will help me replace my Hyundai i20 rear hatch gas struts. Legend
That nail in that 2x4 looks like a safety nail. 😊
Thank you Craig. 2 mins each side. Your video made it nice and easy.
Excellent video.clear pleasant voice
very thorough. love it when people explain why things are the way they are
Great video - thank you! You can also use a ski to hold the hatch open if you've got that sort of thing lying around in your garage.
Good tip, my snowboard has a use for the summer now! Thanks!
I don't understand who gave the thumbs down. This is an excellent video!!! Thank you. I can handle this.
Jealousy. Probably from a comparable vid, that is not user friendly.
Thank you for clarifying by closing the hood...apparently, the struts I bought on eBay are clearly defective and the hood did not budge. I had to remove them and go back to using my wiffle ball bat for now:) BTW...you are the only video that closed the hood to show me that it was a product defect and not my install. Guess I should have bought a product made in the USA.
excellent video. no bs. straight to the point. clear and simple demo. how it should be.
Best video on this process. Thank you.
This is the BEST instruction. Thanks
Excellent video! Thanks a lot! Cheers from Moscow, Russia! Happy new year to all!
Brother this video is still effective cause it still works!
Wasn't exactly what I was looking for, however amazing satisfying clean engine bay.
I would like to suggest you show how to compress the struts in case they come fully extended. That was the tricky part for me when I tried to install mine - they were fully extended and not even with the hood totally open I could align them where they belong. It would be useful to see how one does it. I stuck one of the ends in a whole on the metallic part of the hood and let the weight of the hood do the work. It extended again but less than before so I just kept doing it and it worked eventually.
Thanks for the comment. As far as I understand gas struts will always be 'fully' extended without any compression on them. Unless there is something wrong with them, . Are you sure you had the right size?
Excellent tutorial, I'll be replacing my failed boot struts at the weekend, good man
Very good video, especially the removal of the clip from the ball. Well done, and thanks!!
Thank you very much for your help on this. Had not replaced gas struts on our 1001 Taurus but your demonstration made it easy. Thanks Again
As everyone else has already said, perfect video. Changed mine in a couple of minutes. Thanks!
Thank you, much appreciated. I'll be doing that on my car today and I wanted to check up and see how to do it properly and your video was excellent. Thanks again.
Well done! Even me, a clutz with tools, was able to install them, quickly. PERFECT DIY. TYVVM
Thanks for this! Just had to change boot struts on my MK3 Mondeo and this guide was perfect :-)
Really good video, clearly spoked, simple and straight , happy i found this one, cheers and thanks!
Thank you. I am doing mine for my Toyota Camry. Great video to install lift support by myself. Thanks, again!
This video helped me too. Thank you so much for keeping it short but showing everything needed. 🙂
Great video and well-presented. Just what I needed. Thanks!
Thanks. Getting the clip loose was my problem. Now solved. :-)
You need to lever the clip back to get the old parts off. The new ones just snap on without touching the clip. Good brands come with lubrication already inside the socket.
I couldn't help but notice that screw penetrating the lumber that is used to prop up the hood at the same time you mentioned safety (0:49). This was shortly followed by nearly injuring your hand with the screwdriver bit (1:14). Other than that, I found this video very helpful. Thanks for posting this.
Nicely presented. Thanks
Thank you for showing the clips. Most other videos just say "pry open the clips". Thanks again.
I agree, he shows a close up of the strut clips. One other guy said to "just play with your screwdriver a bit"...made me think of throwing it around. This is a good vid.
i bought a pair, didn't know it was this easy or cheap to fix.........have had my bonnet struts f...ed for many years! now i'm fixing it, waiting for mail to come.
Thanks for video, was able to replace hood and trunk lift support a lot easier with watching this video. Thank you!
Thanks for an excellent, straightforward video!
Excellent video. I have a pair on their way for my bonnet. shall be fitting the myself
1 million likes and thank you’s my friend!!!
A Brilliant video, thankyou ,everything explained nice and slowly and kept simple
Awesome thank you! Changed my hood struts in under 10 min!
I wish you and i were friends. I would just drive to your garage and we will just fix this together while sharing a beer. Excellent presentation. Thank you very much.
Bailey Buster
No homo.
Thanks for the video old chap. Really helpful for the job.
Wow it really was as crazy simple as it looks in your video. Thanks.
So well photographed. So easy I did it myself.
So WELL explained in simple English
Thank you for being complete in your explanation. Good to know why they need to be oriented rod down.
Excellent. Clear and concise. Thanks.
Great demo and lots of details!! Much appreciated!
Thanks much this video help me a
lot God bless your heart sir peace
Great video, helped me replace my hood strut.
Great video. Just fixed my wife's car bonnet. Never expected these things to fail but it must be a common issue. Thank you for the clear explanation. Was very easy to do after watching you video. Cheers
Excellent video. Very clear explanation. Thanks
Thank you. This video was very helpful
Great video, very clear and helpful.
Excellent video. Thank you so much.
Very good explanation
Informative and a very dry sense of humour :)
Thank you! That was easy.
Great tutorial....thank you.
Well done mate, cheers!
I f*$#king love you!!! Took me less than a minute to complete this. Thank you so much for this video👍💋
Thank you senior!
WARNING !!! - Bonnets and especially tail gates can be actually very heavy, and if it starts to fall downwards, without both gas struts fully secured in place, it can rapidly gain momentum and can become extremely dangerous. It could knock you severely on the head or crush your hand, especially between the glass lid of a tailgate and body rear quarter panel, rather like a guillotine action. Probably needing a call to A&E!! - Therefore, you absolutely MUST prop up the tail gate first, in the FULLY OPEN position, with a strong support which is FULLY LOCKED in place. Many videos of this sort show a flimsy support which falls away when you lift the tailgate to obtain the length needed for the new extended strut (you cannot compress it !) leaving you at risk of an accident. Even with one new gas strut in place, it is still not strong enough to hold up the tail gate in the half way open position. Better still have a friend to assist and keep an eye on the prop and hold the tailgate if it should start to slip. I humbly offer this advice as it all very nearly happened to me after watching some of these videos - so hope it helps save an accident!
Thank you! Very helpful.
Thanks for the video, helped a lot.
You're awesome . Thanks for posting this
Worked perfectly. Thatnk you very much :)
Excellent demonstration
This is the best. Thank you.
thanks for the video... really helped out.
Thank you !Video is good.Privet from Russia!
Good clear instructions. Thanks :-)
Thanks. And the regular small screwdriver tip is too wide and thick. I used smalles and narrower thin head tip from a hex bit set I had.
Brilliant, thank you so much. 😊
Great video, very helpful
Very formative video. thanks so much!
Excellent explanation
Thanks for the great video :)
Thanks great video very clear and concise