Hi all.

The hatch struts on my Z have completely failed. I knew this when I bought the car but the previous owner had already bought the replacement struts which he included in the sale.

Having looked at them and the replacement ones available on Ebay etc, the ball joints are both pointing in the same direction whereas the ones on the Z are 90 degrees apart.



Do these twist to fit the hatch? or do I have the wrong struts?

Rob

 

If you can't twist one of the ends to align the ***** properly, then it seems they're the incorrect struts. I bought a set of aftermarket struts from Amazon, and I was able to twist the ***** for proper alignment, so you may be OK.

 

How easy is it to twist them? I didn't want to break them by trying too hard.

 

I have the same ones. Just attach one side and twist counter clockwise

 

IIRC, it was a little tough to twist the socket (on the shaft), but once it broke free it was easy to get the correct orientation. I put the bottom socket in a bench vise (between wood blocks), in order to get good grip and leverage, and used a pair of pliers on the top socket.

Also, take a careful look at how the bottom strut mounts are attached to the body of the car, and make sure you install the new ones in the correct orientation. The bracket should be pointing downwards.

 

This

 

Thanks for the advice, yeah, I know about the brackets. one of mine was upside down when I bought the car. I'll give the new struts another go.

 

Anyone have photos to show me how to replace the rear strut step by step? Many thanks!

 

the hardest part is since the shock is attached to the bracket, you have to dremel it off.. look on youtube

 

I just put a pair of Monroe Max-Lift shocks on my hatch a few minuts ago and they came with the needed mounting points for both ends of the shock. The plate at the bottom was connected out of the box, and the ball for the top was in a little pouch. (No dremel needed)

They were only $23 each from Rockauto.com.

The longevity of these shocks is an unknown for me, but I'm otherwise impressed.

 

I had to replace mine immediately after buying the car, and I made it far more difficult than I needed to. (Z didn't help either, 3 of the bolts snapped off and I had to tap/die them)

I remember struggling with the struts as well too, thinking I'd bought the wrong ones. They were pointing the wrong direction and I felt like if i pushed any harder i'd break em.

I believe I ended up mounting one end, then pulling on the arm and it made it much easier (leverage)

 

Can't say I have any pics of the process, but it's fairly simple.
Note: I installed the same ones linked above from eBay.

Note 2: If bolts appear to be rusted or seized, buy some PB Blaster, spray it on all three bolts for each side.
Repeat this three times, about once every 2-4 hours.
Wait 24 hours before trying to break the bolts loose. Removing broken bolts and retapping is never a good thing to have to do.
Patience will be your friend here.

Step 1: Find a suitable prop rod to hold the hatch as high as it can go.
(Thin aluminum broom handles can and WILL collapse. It hurts)
Step 2: Use a 10 MM ratchet to loosen the body side plates. Break one loose, and then the other, then try to keep them rather even while loosening them, so as to not add any undue tension/stress to the threads and bolts.
Step 3: Use a 12 mm wrench to undo the hatch side ball.
Step 4: Attach new ball to hatch side.
Step 5: Attach new ball plate to body side.
Step 6: Remove retaining pin from new strut (small flat-head screw driver, or finger nail).
Step 7: Attach strut to hatch side first and slide in retaining pin.
Step 8: Gently unscrew strut to accommodate for body side attachment.
Step 9: Slide strut over the body side ball and insert retaining pin.

Repeat for other side. Total time? ~10 minutes.

 

and if you can't get the bolts off even with pb blaster. cut it with a grinder just before the nut is at. should have no problem taking it off after that. works for me.

 

just did this last night

like scotty68 said, i had to cut it off to use a 12mm socket to get it off. the wrench kept slipping

i wanted to bump this thread from the dead in case anyone else used this guide, re: AngeloSignorell's Step 6

DON'T REMOVE THE RETAINING PIN

i did that at first with extreme difficulty and then the retaining pin was too stretched, so it was loose on the ball joint

so i had to remove it completely, and use pliers to tighten it back up

while the new ebay style does not exactly simply snap in, it almost does. using a flat screwdriver along the backside of the new strut, gently lift it a tiny tiny bit and force the hatch side ball in to the socket

it should snap with relative ease and now you won't have stretched retaining pins

also, didn't want to make a thread just for this cuz i didn't take photos/video, but my rear wiper was wonky (falls right, off the car) and it was simply a matter of tightening it down. motor was fine *-_-

 

Rear wiper delete will fix that issue

 

haha although i like the look of it, can't do it as i drive it in the winter

the rear window heat/defogger isn't good enough for canadian winter

 

If anyone in the future is looking for a guide to install hatch struts here it is: http://www.z1motorsports.com/upload/...ationGuide.pdf

 

Help, my bolt on the rear hatch connected below don't come off. Where you have two bolts. One come off easy but the other one is lose, looks like it's attaché with something underneath the body. How can I reach underneath the metal body to get that thing that locks the bolt?! Looks like previous owner ruin the bolt channel and used that extra bolt "locker" screw as a solution.