I also got the ebay ones and they are great with my urathane Stillen Type 1 spoiler. In fact to close it I have to grab the top of the spoiler and "pull" it down. I used to be able to pull it closed by the metal latch but not no more.

 

Did you try two pennys per side? Also I think the newer Z's do have a stronger stock spring. I used two pennys in both my '03 and '07 Z's and the '07 seems to have a stronger spring to start with, but I still needed the pennys. Probably cuz of my Stillen spoiler. It's also scary how much it "pops" up now.

 

I need the revised popper springs, they are like 22$ each from Nissan. I tried two pennies on my old ones (from an 04.5) but no luck there,. I don't want to add anymore and risk denting my hatch with the pennies.

it was my understanding that the hatch struts had nothing to do with the pop strength.

 

Yeah for the most part, but stage 3 are strong enough that it does help it..... I'm glad too, because pushing the button twice is a PITA!

 

I got you all beat.. NAPA in 2 days..

 

I bought the same part off ebay from Invotekken, but mine looks different. Where yours have square-ish ends on the end of the struts (the joint of the ball-and-joint), mine have have the typical round ends which you usually see on a ball-and-joint-type socket.

Which leads me to my question: I cannot get the hatch-side ball to fit into the joint. I've tried it on the car, off the car, with a rubber mallet, etc. It looks like there is a metal retainer ring inside it, I assume to keep pressure on the ball once it's inside the joint, but I'm hesitant to remove it because then the ball might pop out when the strut is in use.

Anyone have a similar experience? I've written to Invotekken but haven't gotten a response yet. This is driving me nuts.

Thanks for any help.