Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I thought of using car trunk shock or hatchback shock (right word?) for my galley hatch. Has anyone else done this? We have a junkyard locally full of car with these things and it seems like a cheap way make the galley lid go up and down.

I have just spent this afternoon doing this!








They might be a bit short but work real well. Best bit is that as you shut the door they close then as they get past a certain point they start to open, pulling the door shut. Took me hours to get that to work.

Nigel Greetings from Finland..

That is some real nice work youve done there. Looking Great.

What length are them gas shocks?

Now that I have my Hinge ordeal over thats my next project to install them.. However as Im not too clear as what length or size I need.

My hatch is 150cm x 150cm and about 35 kilo. in weight.



Classic Finn

Hi Classic Finn

They are about 20" fully extended. Could do with being a little longer hence the large bracket on the top.

My door is very light (maybe 10-15 kilo) but the shocks are very strong, one on its own managed to hold the door open (just). Not sure what car they are off, I have some friends with a garage who had them (they don't now )

I installed a couple of those gas struts on my hatch yesterday. The local RV dealer had a couple of 40 lb. struts in stock so I bought the brackets too and put 'em on. They look and work great!! Like Nigel did, I installed them so when the hatch is closing the struts have already gone over center and pull the hatch shut. I wish I could tell you I planned it that way buy I can't, it just happened that way.

Don't use any from a junkyard, they're probably worn out. The ones I bought were about $16 a piece so it wasn't a big hit on the checkbook.

Oh, BTW I weighed my hatch and it was about 27 lbs. How and where you mount the brackets will determine the poundage you need on the struts. There is a formula on McMaster-Carr's website but it was way off so I just bought the 40 pounders as a gauge to see if they were too light or too heavy. They are about 19 1/2" extended and 12" compressed.

Jeff

Nigel wrote:Hi Classic Finn

They are about 20" fully extended. Could do with being a little longer hence the large bracket on the top.

My door is very light (maybe 10-15 kilo) but the shocks are very strong, one on its own managed to hold the door open (just). Not sure what car they are off, I have some friends with a garage who had them (they don't now )

Nigel are they stainless?

Im most likely going to purchase stainless ones.. I just need to get the proper size and then find the correct place to install them at..

Classic Finn

WarPony wrote:I installed a couple of those gas struts on my hatch yesterday. The local RV dealer had a couple of 40 lb. struts in stock so I bought the brackets too and put 'em on. They look and work great!! Like Nigel did, I installed them so when the hatch is closing the struts have already gone over center and pull the hatch shut. I wish I could tell you I planned it that way buy I can't, it just happened that way.

Don't use any from a junkyard, they're probably worn out. The ones I bought were about $16 a piece so it wasn't a big hit on the checkbook.

Oh, BTW I weighed my hatch and it was about 27 lbs. How and where you mount the brackets will determine the poundage you need on the struts. There is a formula on McMaster-Carr's website but it was way off so I just bought the 40 pounders as a gauge to see if they were too light or too heavy. They are about 19 1/2" extended and 12" compressed.

Jeff

Howdy Jeff

Do you have pics of yours installed? Ya know we LUV Da Pics

Classic Finn

Yes they are stainless.

You will notice that I ran a bolt right thro the top fastener as it was putting too much side force on the bracket when I used the ball thing that they came with. Reinforcing the bottom ball thing by putting it on some 3mm plate helped.

Heiki,

this arrangement worked well



Mike...

Hi Mike

Do you have closer pics of that? And how long are they?

Looks great.

Classic Finn

Nigel wrote:Yes they are stainless.

You will notice that I ran a bolt right thro the top fastener as it was putting too much side force on the bracket when I used the ball thing that they came with. Reinforcing the bottom ball thing by putting it on some 3mm plate helped.

Nigel I noticed that plate there..I may have to do the same possibly, but not sure yet..

Classic Finn wrote:Do you have pics of yours installed?

Sure do.............







The first pic is of the hatch after I tore off the interior skin. When I glued it on I got it out of whack and it twisted it REAL bad so Bob (the cat) said, "GET IT THE HELL OFF AND DO IT OVER!!!!!!!"

Warpony to the rescue! Thanks!!!

No Heiki, I don't remember how long it was... I don't have any close up photos, and I no longer own the trailer. Opps...

Mike...

Yup Jeff to the rescue.. Now to find the correct one for mine. They are available all over the place here.. but to get the same kind of holders for them as Jeff has..

I think I found a few in our Marine catalog.. My favorite place..

Thanks Nigel, Jeff and Mike.

Now How do I find the correct position to install it at? Aint no good at this kinda thing. Here is about the best pics but its not up to date ..



Classic Finn

Heikki, what ever you do find some struts that have the same length but have various "kilo" rates, that way if you need bigger or smaller ones you won't have to re-engineer anything.
I would say with a 35 kilo hatch, start with a 45-50 kilo strut and see how they work. Try and find a local supplier so you can exchange them if needed, that way you don't order and have them not work....... ship them back..... wait for new ones............ you get it.

Jeff