I recently purchased a used 2003 350Z w/several NISMO mods, including the rear wing. The rear hatch seems very heavy, and after some googling, I've determined that either the NISMO gas cylinders were not installed, or they're old enough to be very low on gas. New NISMO gas cylinders are $210+ per pair; is there any advantage to the NISMO parts vs. off-brand (seems that I can get off-brand for ~$100/pair, if I can find a set appropriate for the weight of the hatch + spoiler). Any thoughts? Sources for off-brand supports? Or should I suck it up and go for the NISMO cylinders?

 

I installed the Nismo gas cylinders. they worked great at first, and then i noticed they were struggling to hold the hatch up, just very very slight struggling, but still struggling. then i did the wiper delete mod (removed the rear wiper with motor), and the hatch opens just fine now. had it for about 2 years like that with no issues. struts perform like a champ still. I have the v1 nismo spoiler.

 

To be clear, right now the hatch will NOT stay up at all. I have to hold it up in order to access the trunk, and carefully lower it or else it slams HARD. (I actually damaged one of the little plastic "springs" this way -- need to replace that too, now.. argh!). But good to know that it'll work better with the correct parts. LeeParts.com seems to have the best price ($207 for a pair + mounting hardware). Does anyone have experience with LeeParts?

 

we have more of our heavy duty hatch struts arriving soon - should be about 10 days out give or take

https://my350z.com/forum/body-exteri...oopage-10.html

comes with all new brackets and hardware