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  #1  
Old 06-03-2006, 02:11 PM
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Question How to diagnose F/R Hood struts??

Hi,
I am wondering how we can say whether the struts have gone bad or not?? I checked them and the passenger side front hood strut is leaking oil whenever I open my hood and ofcourse the hood drops down after a while(1-2minutes) and I have to keep it stay. and the reat struts seem fine but, the trunk falls down like a thunder. Its ok with me since I always close the trunk slowly, but if someone closes it since they dont know, they just close it as usual and it slams down which hurts me alot. So, whats a good solution for these struts.

thanks,
-Pavan
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  #2  
Old 06-03-2006, 02:16 PM
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My rear strutts act like yours. They hold the trunk open, but close with a huge thundering crash.
The fronts on mine were new not that long ago, and they work very well, I suspect you will need to replace either both or just the one front strutt.
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  #3  
Old 06-04-2006, 02:45 AM
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It's a bit expensive, but you should replace all the struts. My SVX also had the trunk slam problem and even developed a few chips and cracks, due to other people letting it slam. The rear struts will actually keep the trunk in almost any position when new. Now when I let go of the trunk after 3/4 of the way, it gently floats down, I actually have to slam it myself if I want it to lock. On the front struts, if they're not able to keep the hood up for very long now, it's a sign that both are bad, and they won't work at all when the weather gets cold.

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  #4  
Old 06-04-2006, 09:00 AM
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The best thing is to replace them. There is a tube that can be added so the hood will not slam down, but that is just to keep it in the up position. The best thing to do is to replace them. You can buy used, but then you will have to replace them again when those go bad. Good luck.
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  #5  
Old 06-04-2006, 10:41 AM
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New struts on a trunklid without a spolier will let the trunk stay at almost any position without falling. The added weight of the spoiler should let the trunk close more than halfway before it very gently falls on its own.

From the closed position, you should be able to lift the trunklid easily with oneor two fingers; the struts doing most of the work.

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Last edited by svxcess; 06-04-2006 at 05:50 PM.
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  #6  
Old 06-04-2006, 05:41 PM
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so, what would be a best bet to buy those struts new and at a reasonable price (other than subaruparts.com)???

thanks,
-Pavan
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  #7  
Old 06-04-2006, 06:54 PM
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http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...ht=hood+struts

svxcuseme did a great writeup on how to replace your struts with some Napa struts. I did the work a couple of weeks ago and it's great. About $40 for a pair of hood struts.

The above link should get you to it. If not, do a search on hood supports.
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  #8  
Old 06-04-2006, 07:12 PM
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Here are the complete installation instructions, with photos, for the NAPA hood struts. Unfortunately, no one seems to have found an alternative for the trunk struts.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...seme/31319.doc

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Last edited by svxcess; 06-04-2006 at 07:15 PM.
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  #9  
Old 07-08-2006, 10:14 PM
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Update on NAPA struts...

I got the NAPA struts (with 120lbs strength as suggested in the write-up) and have done the modification today. But it seems 120lbs is too much for the hood. I have to apply more pressure to pull it down and I dont know how long the struts holders can hold tht much strength. By now they are already a little bit bent due to 120lbs of pressure. But the hood stays comes up on its own and stays stiff and closes on its own slowly (after I apply lot of pressure to pull it down ) I hope the hood doesnt bend .

-Pavan
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  #10  
Old 07-09-2006, 02:38 PM
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Could be you're just not used to having good struts. I thought they were a little stiff too. But once you get the hood moving down, they seem to feel good. I can't imagine the good would bend. They aren't that stiff. Give them some time and I bet you'll be happy with them.

Did you use the 5881 part no? I think that was the recommended strut, but I'm not at home and can't check what I used.
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  #11  
Old 07-09-2006, 03:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by billb
Could be you're just not used to having good struts. I thought they were a little stiff too. But once you get the hood moving down, they seem to feel good. I can't imagine the good would bend. They aren't that stiff. Give them some time and I bet you'll be happy with them.

Did you use the 5881 part no? I think that was the recommended strut, but I'm not at home and can't check what I used.
I used the same part# suggested in the write-up 819-5581. But now NAPA is not having strong-arm, instead they replaced them with power-lift struts which is also having the same 120lb strength. I think they will ease up after some time of usage as u said.

-Pavan
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  #12  
Old 07-10-2006, 01:27 AM
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my rear trunk struts aren't very good, and my hood ones are quite dead (won't do much of ANYTHING) but if you're REALLY strapped for cash, there's a guy who makes some slip cover things for them, you just slide the sleeves down and they support the struts nicely. 20 dollar fix for whilst I did all that work to the thing

How much are these NAPA struts?
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  #13  
Old 07-10-2006, 08:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sr240sx
my rear trunk struts aren't very good, and my hood ones are quite dead (won't do much of ANYTHING) but if you're REALLY strapped for cash, there's a guy who makes some slip cover things for them, you just slide the sleeves down and they support the struts nicely. 20 dollar fix for whilst I did all that work to the thing

How much are these NAPA struts?
They are just around $40-$44 a pair including tax. You can do the modification easily following the doc linked above. Unfortunately as stated earlier, there are no aftermarket replacement for trunk struts. I ended up getting them from 1stsubaruparts. Now my hood and trunk open and close easily and slowly as new .

-Pavan

Last edited by pavanbabut; 07-10-2006 at 08:55 AM.
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  #14  
Old 07-13-2006, 12:41 AM
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you know what would be fun. replacing the struts with linear actuators. open the trunck, it will hit a switch and the trunk/hood will open on its own. HA, if i get the money for a set of actuators, i am gonna have fun with that. lol
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  #15  
Old 07-13-2006, 09:13 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jade Dragon
you know what would be fun. replacing the struts with linear actuators. open the trunck, it will hit a switch and the trunk/hood will open on its own. HA, if i get the money for a set of actuators, i am gonna have fun with that. lol
Let us know once you had that setup. Interesting to know how it will be

-Pavan
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