I got brand new "strongarm" hatch struts and mounted them according to instructions. They do work a tiny bit better than the ones I had. Now The hatch at least stays open when I use the cargo curtain, in the past it only worked if I didn't use the curtain.
But I still have to push it all the way, and it won't stay by itself before it's 3/4 to the top. Still have to push it to get it all the way up though. With or without the curtain.

BUT, the reason I bought them in the first place, was that when I pop the hatch with the remote (inside) opener, it always went down again before I had the chance to get to the back of the car. But it still does this!

Really annoying to say the least. And they costed me some dough too to get shipped all the way over here.

So now what? Double hatch struts?

 

Fiberglass aerowing wing will fix this...

 

I bet it would, but it was supposed to work when new, wasn't it? It's stupid to have to yell to people "come on, open it NOW" every time you try to get something out from the back. As it is now, you have to lift the hatch excactly when you push the opener, just a second to late, and it goes back down again. Stupid.

 

Mine do the same thing and I dont even have the cargo shade on my 90. I slide the button and RUN like a dork. I know the neighbors think i'm crazy.

 

LOL, you must be faster than me, cause I have never reached it in time.

I sendt an email to ramairhood.com about a fiberglass aerowing, anf\d this was the reply:

"Hi Kjetil,

Thank you for wanting to order with us. Unfortunately it has been our
experience that the spoilers do not make it across seas without serious
damages. As result we are no longer shipping spoilers oversea.

Thank you
Missy APM"


Other suggestions?

 

KEVIN L:

Did you get new hatch struts for your car?

 

I just swapped hatch struts with my 85 V6 car and both sets work awesome on the 85 with the standard spoiler but both sets barely hold up the Formula hatch with the cargo cover attached.

 

I've tried to look at the car of the guys who posted about the hatch going up by itself after new struts. Most seem to be from camaro owners, but there is some trans am owners too. Didn't all the 84-up TA's get the aerowing?

Guess the camaro spoilers is a bit lighter.

It's a shame that they didn't send the fiberglass spoilers overseas, 'cause mine is all covered in hairline cracks, and the paint is deteriorating fast.

 

Maybe it's too cold out there? I know when it starts getting cooler here, the hatch struts don't work as well as during the 100° heat...

 

I don't know, it's about 70'ties-high 60'ties now. It's not that cold here in summertime. We had 89 degrees just a month ago.
The car must be made for these kind of temperatures.

I'm wondering if there's something else that's overlooked, since the hatch always goes down before you get to the back.

Actually, most of the time it even goes down before I can get the keys out of the lock and try to lift it.

 

Yea they are brand new. The car they are on is a camaro and it doesn't have the high rise spoiler or the cargo cover.

I'm 6'3" I can run pretty fast when I have to.

 

I sell strongarms at carquest and it is easy... you have 3 or 4 diff kind of struts.. you have struts for normal wing, for aero and one for a hatch with a real wiper... I get that one, it's the strongest... the hatch open almost by itself and I don't have an motor on my hatch

 

Could you tell by the packaging what kind I've got? Cause the seller claimed they where the most heavy duty ones.

 

on the package... there must be a strongarm number... I'll look at it tomorrow in my books and I'll post the numbers here

 

I have the hatch struts that is made for spoiler and wiper, they are suppose to be the strongest.

They keep my hatch open with cargo shade, however, I still have the problem 50% of the time with the hatch trying to re close.

I do have a solution for that. If you pop the hatch you will hear the motor going to the up position, If you hear the motor begin to start going down again, hit the button again and the hatch will stay unlocked. This way you can walk around and not have to run, the only bummer is that you have to wait like 2-3 seconds to see if its going to try and pull the hatch down again, before pressing the button again.

 

I agree with Kevin L. Flip the switch and RUN!!! Worked great till one day when it was raining, I kinda did a speed-wobble and sprained my ankle trying to get to the hatch before it locked down. Now I don't use the damn thing till I replace the struts!

 

It sounds simply like you got the wrong struts. Just get stronger ones.

 

I bought them at a place where the seller claimed that they only stocked the strongest ones. Obviously I belived it and thought they where the ones to get.


EDIT: The numbers on mine is: 819-5287

 

how about some kind of spring. You could use something like the door poppers. it would probally help hold it up enough till u can get there and lift it without it locking again. Other than that the only thing i can think of would be to try a different brand.

 

Since it was supposed to work when new, and since I'm trying to restore the condition of stuff like this to "as new", I would prefer to find out what's the real reason it don't work before I Jerry-rig it.

Otherwise a spring could be a good idea. First I'm replacing the nylon slider-bushings in the pull down, maybe that will help some. As it is now, it's a bit loose, you can wiggle it a bit with your hands.

Guess I may have time for the bushings this weekend.

 

Doyou have the wrap around aero wing??if so is it cracked. If so then water gets in the cracks and puts more weight into the spoiler than normal hence the struts can't lift it. The one on my GTA is heavy as hell, and it is cracked. Just a thought.

 

I put new ones on my 88 Camaro and it flys open. Question, is the 88 Camaro the only 3rd gen with the key lock behind the license plate to open the hatch from the outside?

 

No all third gen camaros had that. I finally got tired of the hatch going back down, set the motor where i wanted it drilled holes under the motor assembly, stuck bolts through it. Then a friend bought the motor for $40 bucks.

 

Hey 2krazy, your car is identical to mine! I've got low temp stat, smog pump delete, and cat delete too. Getting a performer manifold any day now. Even looks exsactly the same too!

 

tilstad that is like mind blowing....wow!

 

I also Ordered some for a 86 Trans Am with rear wiper that was the only year those 2 options were available together.
And i was going to modify a hood spring to use with a hatch release button but never got around to it.I am now stripping all unnecessary options not needed for auto crossing.

 

Well, maybe not exsactly mindblowing, but I havent seen one with the same color and striping before.

 

EDIT: The numbers on mine is: 819-5287 [/B][/QUOTE]


The # you need is 819-5718. This is a NAPA #.

 

So which one did I get? the crappiest one?