Any recommendations on good quality replacements for rear hatch struts for an ‘85 IROC.?

 

I haven't replaced the rear hatch yet, but I did the hood with strong arm struts and they work great and weren't expensive. I used Rockauto. I plan to use them when I replace the rear hatch struts soon.

 

 

I can't recommend a brand, but remember that there are a few variations of hatch struts based on the equipment that your hatch has mounted to it. Things like a Rear Wiper, Rear Defroster, or a heavy rear Spoiler will need to be accounted for when choosing the right hatch struts for your car.

 

Delco, WITHOUT spoiler (unless you've added some heavy aftermarket wing). If your car has rear defrost, DO NOT buy the chinese Sanlongs from eBay! They will short out your rear defrost switch as soon as you soon as you connect the defroster leads.

 

Thanks. Good advice.

 

I bought the lifetime gaurantee whatever brand from Advanced Auto parts,hood and hatch,in 2012 and they are still holding up well.

 

Thanks.

 

Sach's brand which is Stabilus hood and deck struts are sold at O"Rielys. They a Limited Lifetime Warranty and they list them by four different lifting pressure ratings depending if you have a convertible, plain hatch, a hatch with wiper, or a Formula hatch with the heavy urethane spoiler on it. Once you have the correct part number you can search for the best price. I put the highest pressure ones on my 89 Z28 deck lid and it literally pops open when released. The pressures are 56 lbs, 123 lbs, 142 lbs or 155 lbs.

 

Wow, good information. Thanks much.

 

definitely be careful on what struts you buy, My car has the rear defroster and small flat spoiler so I bought the struts that I thought would be correct for the car. now my rear hatch takes off like a space shuttle heading to the moon, I have to hit the release button and run out of my car to slow it down before it leaves the earth's atmosphere.

 

 

TDS sells SACH's aslo

 

We have the same ones! I have a set of these on my 82 KITT car. I ordered at the local Advance Auto Parts: with rear spoiler only. What I got was rear spoiler, rear wiper, rear louver and someone sitting on rear spoiler. I'm swapping these crazy things to my 89 once I get the rear louvers mounted on it! Mine are Strong Arm brand and they mean it! Oh and my hood is the same way! If it didn't have a safety catch, it would raise itself up!

 

When you install new hatch struts, don't be surprised if your hatch alignment changes quite a bit due to the extra force from the new struts

 

I've always just grabbed them from Advance Auto or Autozone. They may be a bit cheaper on Amazon or someplace, but that's your call. Every f-body I've ever owned came with a broom handle!

 

Oh crap, so they not supposed to open the hatch fully with just the button. Totally serious, new owner. This was the first thing I replaced when I inherited my mom's car. I bought these from Guess I bought the wrong ones. Question will the hatch release work if accidentally hit while driving? Now I am nervous AF,

 

If the hatch switch is still wired correctly it will not open if you are in drive or reverse, at least thats how my 89 Z28 is.

 

Mine does that now because I replaced the heavy rubber wrap-a-round with Hawks Fiberglass,I use the key just to be safe.

 

One could argue that the hatch is supposed to open completely. The 91.5-92 pulldown latch moves up before the latch pops, and the striker is spring loaded. They (91.5-92) opened completely with the factory struts.

I'd consider anything between not re-latching and going back down, and opening completely to be correct.

I put the Deluxe Supreme struts on my Formula, and my Iroc. Neither opens objectionably hard. Of course one has the light wrap around wing, and the other has OE louvers, but I can't see a huge problem with struts being too strong, even with no spoiler/wiper/louvers, etc. Afterall, the strut is going to take the shock at the end of travel.

 

for me it doesn't really look like the shock runs out of travel, it looks like the hatch runs out of travel and stops as the struts keep pushing in a pretty gruesome motion. takes a good amount of force to pull the hatch back down to planet earth too.

I'll video it tomorrow if the loft in my garage is tall enough to clear the opened hatch with the car on jackstands.

 

If you unbolt the struts from the decklid, you can fold the hatch up and over until it hits the body. The struts limit the motion.

 

If it does not work for you I can try and take a video, this should be fun

 

 

My phone is low on charge so can't make a video at the moment, but just tried it from the key in the back. Zoom off the hatch goes even with the hatch motor moving up slowly. and when re latching it sounds like the motor struggles to close it... this is not good.

 

I just put on a set I purchased from Advance Auto... HOLY HELL THEY'RE STRONG!!! Press the hatch release button and the hatch pops fully open. The part number for the ones I have is, A4900.

 

OK I have the video and uploaded it to my MS Onedrive here is the link Hatch open video
Jeez! So at least in my 90 the pull down latch DOES NOT moves up before the latch pops.
Note to self always open from the key from now on...

 

you mean like my video, see my post?

 

When you consider the age of the originals, kinda makes sense that fresh struts are significantly stronger.

The strut is going to stop lifting when it's fully extended. If you unbolt the struts, you can open the hatch further than the struts do.

While they might seem excessive now, they'll probably soften before you know it.