Rear hatch has lost its supporting force

[gibbons]

Hey all! I still love this car we bought new 19 years ago, I no plans of replacing it. Soooo... I live with its weird stuff. The latest is that my rear hatch has lost its supporting force. If it is open fully, it doesn't even try to stay open. I assume there is some kind of gas strut buried in the roof? Anyone else have to deal with this? I'm thinking it will be a $1,500 part, or make a prop to hold it open. Thanks for any bad news!

[hoonk]

30799161 x2 - an easy DIY

[gibbons]

Thanks! Looks a lot easier than replacing struts, drive shafts, motor mounts, etc that I've already done on this car. I do appreciate the time you took to skool me.

[Astro14]

Thanks! Looks a lot easier than replacing struts, drive shafts, motor mounts, etc that I've already done on this car. I do appreciate the time you took to skool me.

It’s a bit fiddly getting the trim off. The struts are easy with the trim removed.

Stabilus is the OE supplier. Good quality. Far, far cheaper than OEM.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vol...-xc70-30799161

[gibbons]

Dang, I had already ordered some on eBay for $21 ($130 OEM). Oh well, should last for a while. I probably should do my hood struts too, I get a bit of drift and don't want to get conked on the head.

[brenglxc70]

I just replaced the rear hatch struts on our 2004 last week. Word of caution, remember to use something to prop the hatch all the way open before you pop one of those struts off! That hatch is really heavy! I neglected to think of that and nearly broke my thumb. Thankfully my thigh caught the brunt of the hatch before it fell all the way and took my thumb off (which was wedged into the hinge with the screwdriver I used to pop the strut off). I came out of it with a big bruise on my thigh, and I consider myself lucky!

[gibbons]

The eBay units ended up being about 1/4" longer, and they were a monster to install! I has to remove the rear bolt from the roof bracket and let it swing down so the stud toggled away a bit. Once the strut was snapped on, I had to wrestle the bracket back into place. I finally got it, and the function is great. I just ordered some for my hood before I get konked out by it.