......or whatever they are called. The things that hold the trunk lid open and (hopefully) keep it from falling on your head when you are in there.

Mine apparently died over the winter while the car was in storage, as they no longer hold the trunk lid up.

Are these readily available? Parts stores? Or from a speciality vendor? Anyone else ever have to change these bad boys out?

Thanks for reading!

Shipfitter

 

I haven't checked whether they are easily available, but I do know they don't work as well in cold weather.. So there's a good chance if they're too expensive they will probably start working fine again as it warms up more.

Kevin D.

 

....... today the weather is warmer and they are working well, especially I spent about an hour bent over in the trunk.

I did find a set on eBay for like $37.75 not counting the $8.00 S/H. Seemed a little steep to me.

Ah well. Thanks!!

Shipfitter

 

You can get them at the auto store. I bought mine at Auto Zone, can't remember what I paid for them.

I just stepped out to get the numbers off of them and it says 4683 as well as 2832.

When I bought them I took one off and married it up with the closest thing at the parts store. Works great. Did the same for the hood struts as well.

Hope this helps,
John

 

I got mine at NAPA! Hood and Trunk.

When I first started looking for them I was in the middle of other projects and didn't want to spend the money at that time. I found something that was pretty cool.

It was a set of small aluminum clamps. They are machined in two parts. They slip together. When mated together they have a hole in the center and a thumbscrew. The idea is to mate the two pieces together around the shaft of the strut. When you raise the trunk or hood you slide the clamp up and tighten the thumbscrew. It holds the hatch open until you release.

Even though I have replaced them i still keep them mounted on the hood and if I am going to be under it for a period of time I will employ them to make dang sure it doesn't come down on my head! I bought these clamps at AUTOZONE!

I think they cost about five bucks or so...

Speedy

 

I bought mine at Canadian Tire at half price and they have a lifetime guarantee

 

Those stores are conspicuously absent in California.

I got mine at Kragen. It's the Auto Zone Competitor on the west coast.

 

Well, most ALL of those stores are noticeably absent in MY neck of the woods.

Carquest (junk), NAPA, or Advance Auto Parts (aka Parts America), and VIP (local chain) are about all there are up here in Maine.

 

All of those chains will gladly sell you a pair of trunk pneumatic supports. So will I. Whatever you do, don't buy them from GM.

Lon

 

I just may do that. I have bought from you before and have been pleased with the quality and finish of my purchase (your product).

Thanks,

shipfitter

 

The other evening I had to loosen all 4 trunk hinge bolts and move my trunk forward thatnks to a prior hit to get the tonneau up
Now my top is stowed away and lead to another obvious problem...RAIN! ha
The issue of struts, as I was able to find them on eBay, I bid on a auction of white hood hinges, though I only needed the supports. I think I had also gotten a set of struts by themselves, but you should and have noted, those use a slip on pin-snap sleeve where as the rear are integrated in a bulb formed molding.

Initially I used pliers/channel locks to try to bend the tubular arms forward again, this proved basically futile. I am interested in replacing mine to try to solve that. I found with the trunk up you can pull them off by hand (gas struts) and snap them back in place.
I'm curious why Lon says avoid GM, if in fact it is dealer prices, it wouldn't surprise me

Anyway, This task took about an hour to remove the trunk and get it back on as the bolts fell out of view (I did this at a car wash overnight
)
The bolts should get oil and I had to pass up that but found getting them back in would have been facilitated in that regard
I advise eBay is a good option, but do shop first so you don't pay $40+ when you could pay $10 to $15
Bill

 

I think eBay can beat store prices, but new vs used could also be an issue for you, mine turned out great and sorely needed for YEARS!
I used a standard vicegrip to prop the hood after I realized the extention ratchet piece was poking thru the sheet metal on the hood! This crept up on me, sadly, I didn't notice the pressure was so intense. I added this to mentione that Haynes manual doesn't refer to them as struts, but that's the term I used to find them on eBay. Can't locate my Chiltons at present to check their terminology
Bill

 

Price was just one of the reasons for my recommendation against GM struts. I purchased new OEM hood struts for my convertible after owning the car for roughly a year and a half. The new struts went bad in another year and half. I replaced those with aftermarket struts from Pep Boys. I recently had to replace them after another 10 years. So longevity is my second reason to recommend against getting OEM units from GM.

Lon

 

Since I bought mine off eBay, it's likely they are GM OEM, but they were rewal good, in fact, one on the drv side is TOO strong and I need to replace it until I find one of equal strength. It lifts the hood unevenly!

My old ones could be moved in and out by hand after taking them off. Not a good sign in the least!
Seems FbodyMotorsports lists a few items as GM replacements, so another thing to check. They price the struts at $20
Bill