The mighty lifts on my hatch are gone. Do you guys have any ideas of what I can do for it to stay open. I am too cheap to spend 90 bucks for the hatch. I just don't want to spent that much. I have other stuff to buy. Is there a clamp or a tool that will keep it open for me?.. Thanks....

 

You could always do like I did and keep a broom stick in my trunk untill one day when I accidentally knocked the stick out from under the hatch... lemme just tell ya that the hatched are heavier than they feel, and will leave a MASSIVE bump on yer head!
The next day I broke down and bought new lifts... go figure!

 

ya got a screen door??? check out the strut stopper on that. Mebbe you could fab something to slide up and down the piston shaft of the struts that you could turn and "hang" to hold the hatch up??? never know just tryin to help

 

I remember a guy using a vise grip pliers on this
front hood struts. Previous post is right, though.
That thing is HEAVY and you wouldn't want to die
in your trunk!
Chuck

 

The vise grips work, and along the same lines, there are some little dealies that are sold to do exactly the same thing along the same concept.

I got my hatch struts from Parts America for $40 for the pair. I thought they'd be a couple cheapies and not last long but I didn't care because I just wanted the bastards to stay up. But they've been working fine now for 3 years and have a lifetime guarantee.
Forty dollars, man; you can't beat that.

 

If you spend more than $60 on the struts you got screwed... I'm planning to get some at autozone this summer... I'm also cheap, but there is no other alternative. Whats funny though, is on really warm days during the summer, mine actually work, because the gas inside the struts heats up and expands enough to support the hatch.

 

so have any of you guys seen the clips that they have for the hatches. I have heard of them but I can't find any. They are like a screw in thing that stops the lift from closing.

 

no other ideas, huh?

 

hehe, needle-nose vise-grips

 

JC Whitney has the perfect solution for the hatch problem. It is a lift support that hooks on your old struts. It is plastic and runs parallel to the strut. You trim it to the proper length and voila! When you open the hatch, the support slides along the strut until fully open where it rests along the silver part of the strut. The fatter black part cannot close because the plastic is in the way. To close the hatch, you lift slightly, pull the plastic piece out a little and lower the hatch. They work great and are about $10. Beats paying $60 for new struts. I had them in both the hood and hatch until I forgot about the hood one and pulled hard to close it and snapped the plastic. I decided to go ahead and get the new hood ones, but the hatch one has been in for quite a while. BTW, you only need one. Here is the web page for them, they work great and this is the only place I have ever seen them.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/productnoit...=65926&BQ=jcw2

 

I can tell you this much, Don't buy 'em on Ebay. Chances are they are junk. Just don't even waste your time on used ones. If someones letting them go cheap, there's a reason..believe me

 

I bought my struts from Pepboys. They were out of the ones for my application, so I opted for the heavy duty ones that were for hatches that had integrated wipers in the rear. All I can say is when I hit that hatch release button you better look out! That hatch just flies up. I'm gonna wait for a cat to sit on top my hatch and get 'em with the remote trunk release...... is that where the word "CATapult" came from??

 

either a baseball bat! or go ahead and buy some new ones... that! or i was thinking you could drill a little hole in the actual metal pole... drill it where it would be open.t hen you could go buy some 5cent cotter keys and have it that way...??? just a thought.. haha well it doesnt sound that bad to me!

 

Yes.. all you have to do is get a good pair of vice grips and when you open ur hatch, just open it as far as it can go adn clamp the vice grip as far up the metal piece of teh old lifter thing as you can go and there you have it...

 

Just go the junkyard. I grabbed a set of hatch suppoerts for my 92, a set of hood supports for my 84, and a rear spoiler for $50. Shouldn't cost you too much there.