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Gas Lift Springs


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Bring one into a Napa auto parts store and they can match it exactly. They're about 20-30 bucks a piece IIRC.

And if not, you can find them online at lots of places.

Believe it or not, I could not get them for the engine cover of the Echelon this spring. I thought it would be a simple item, tried Auto Zone & several other local places. I had the strut in my car, and if I drove past a place I'd stop in and see. Also, had to replace the brackets on the floor and one was missing from the engine cover, that was another tough find but got 'em on line.

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I just replaced mine. They are half price on ebay. Check the gas springs on your glovebox and passenger seat as well. Try to order all you need at once to save on shipping.

Edited by eyepeeler
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  • 9 years later...
On 6/28/2010 at 4:45 PM, Michigan boarder said:

And if not, you can find them online at lots of places.

Believe it or not, I could not get them for the engine cover of the Echelon this spring. I thought it would be a simple item, tried Auto Zone & several other local places. I had the strut in my car, and if I drove past a place I'd stop in and see. Also, had to replace the brackets on the floor and one was missing from the engine cover, that was another tough find but got 'em on line.

Do you have any pics of where the struts mount on? Previous owner covered up original mounts with carpet and I can't seem to figure out how they mount to the actual cover. The cover seems too thin to screw into

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This is how the struts had been mounted on my Response.
(Not sure if the Echelon is different though.)
The lower brackets had been screwed right into the floor, the upper ones into the motorbox.

ddl8cc8jprdc.jpeg

  • Like 1
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2 hours ago, Chaabo said:

This is how the struts had been mounted on my Response.
(Not sure if the Echelon is different though.)
The lower brackets had been screwed right into the floor, the upper ones into the motorbox.

ddl8cc8jprdc.jpeg

Wow, clean looking engine im jealous. This helps me tremendously.

Any tips on the motor hinges being remounted? The 2x I have have stripped holes, I'm thinking plug them with epoxy

Edited by DOJOLOACH2
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  • Like 1
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18 hours ago, DOJOLOACH2 said:

Do you have any pics of where the struts mount on? Previous owner covered up original mounts with carpet and I can't seem to figure out how they mount to the actual cover. The cover seems too thin to screw into

Yes, they do screw into the cover, it seems too thin but it is strong enough to handle the vertical force.

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14 hours ago, DOJOLOACH2 said:

Wow, clean looking engine im jealous. This helps me tremendously.

Any tips on the motor hinges being remounted? The 2x I have have stripped holes, I'm thinking plug them with epoxy

That is a beautiful engine!

On the hinges, I used resin.  When I tried to fill with epoxy I used a small tube and it just kept going in, it seemed to have nothing behind it to hold it there.  So, I mixed resin, and waited for it to thicken just a bit and squirted that in, and it didn't all drain away. 

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On the Response the motorbox hinges are screwed into a piece of carpeted square aluminum tubing. One of my Responses came with the screws all stripped from factory. I simply drilled all the way through the aluminum tubing and used long oval headed Phillips stainless machine screws with nyloc nuts and washers.

The area underneath is easily accessible when the center floor piece behind the motor box is removed.

Edited by Chaabo
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11 hours ago, Chaabo said:

On the Response the motorbox hinges are screwed into a piece of carpeted square aluminum tubing. One of my Responses came with the screws all stripped from factory. I simply drilled all the way through the aluminum tubing and used long oval headed Phillips stainless machine screws with nyloc nuts and washers.

The area underneath is easily accessible when the center floor piece behind the motor box is removed.

Chaebo, I'll take that advice... Was debating epoxy or a threaded insert, if it's tube though it's gotta get retapped bigger or drilled through entirely

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On 2/3/2020 at 8:15 AM, Michigan boarder said:

Yes, they do screw into the cover, it seems too thin but it is strong enough to handle the vertical force.

 

What's you guys thoughts on moving the boat mounted end of the strut further forward, and the cover hinge mount further back? Seems like if it would be easier to open and harder to close that way, which could be good

In reference to chaebos engine bay picture

Edited by DOJOLOACH2
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On 2/2/2020 at 2:53 PM, Chaabo said:

This is how the struts had been mounted on my Response.
(Not sure if the Echelon is different though.)
The lower brackets had been screwed right into the floor, the upper ones into the motorbox.

ddl8cc8jprdc.jpeg

Chaebo I successfully got the new struts on today, seem a bit flimsy on the floor brackets but we will see how it does.

I was looking online and couldn't find those black guide blocks you have.. any idea what they're called? Seems easy to make but would rather just buy them

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ahopkins22LSV
1 hour ago, DOJOLOACH2 said:

Chaebo I successfully got the new struts on today, seem a bit flimsy on the floor brackets but we will see how it does.

I was looking online and couldn't find those black guide blocks you have.. any idea what they're called? Seems easy to make but would rather just buy them

https://www.bakesonline.com/battery-box-and-seat-cleat-block-each.html

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  • 3 weeks later...

Are your strut mounts flexing when you open or close the cover? Seems on mine which have 3 mount bolts but they are all in a line with eachother instead of triangular like yours.

Just doesn't seem rigid

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On 2/2/2020 at 2:53 PM, Chaabo said:

This is how the struts had been mounted on my Response.
(Not sure if the Echelon is different though.)
The lower brackets had been screwed right into the floor, the upper ones into the motorbox.

ddl8cc8jprdc.jpeg

What type of mounting screws did you use on the carpet hinge mount? I got some 1.5" self tap metal screws but I think they stripped the holes and there's lots of play when opened or closed... Maybe also partly due to the soft carpet

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Can you back the screws out, reach your hand under there, hold a 2"x3" piece of ABS trim board under, and then run the screws back in and thru that?

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5 minutes ago, Michigan boarder said:

Can you back the screws out, reach your hand under there, hold a 2"x3" piece of ABS trim board under, and then run the screws back in and thru that?

Mount the abs on top of the carpet? Or poke my hand through the vent grill in the bilge and mount below the fiberglass?

Edited by DOJOLOACH2
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8 minutes ago, DOJOLOACH2 said:

Mount the abs on top of the carpet? Or poke my hand through the vent grill in the bilge and mount below the fiberglass?

I was thinking below the fiberglass.  So you would have a screw going thru the stripped hole in the floor but biting into a solid piece under the fiberglass and would pull it tight.  The more I think about it, SS #10 bolts and nylocks would probably be an even better choice of fastener, if you can get to it from underneath.

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Ok, so here’s what I did...

First I had to fasten the carpeted aluminum tube to the stringers on both sides (everything was completely loose and all screws had been stripped from the fiberglass). Again - that was how I took delivery of a brand new boat!

So I first removed the two plastic vent covers in the rear bilge to gain access to where the aluminum tube is screwed onto the stringers on both sides.
I removed the original Philips head wood screws that had been there and drilled all the way through the aluminum tube and the fiberglass. Then I used some stainless machine screws, washers and nyloc nuts to mount the aluminum tube to the stringers. It was a very tight fit and a real PITA to get the washers and the nuts on without dropping anything in the stringers but I got it done eventually.

Then I unscrewed the motorbox hinges from the engine cover, moved the engine cover out of the boat and replaced the screws that held the hinges to the floor (carpeted aluminum tube) with machine screws and nuts and washers.

That fix lasted strong for 10 Years until I sold the boat.

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2 hours ago, Chaabo said:

Ok, so here’s what I did...

First I had to fasten the carpeted aluminum tube to the stringers on both sides (everything was completely loose and all screws had been stripped from the fiberglass). Again - that was how I took delivery of a brand new boat!

So I first removed the two plastic vent covers in the rear bilge to gain access to where the aluminum tube is screwed onto the stringers on both sides.
I removed the original Philips head wood screws that had been there and drilled all the way through the aluminum tube and the fiberglass. Then I used some stainless machine screws, washers and nyloc nuts to mount the aluminum tube to the stringers. It was a very tight fit and a real PITA to get the washers and the nuts on without dropping anything in the stringers but I got it done eventually.

Then I unscrewed the motorbox hinges from the engine cover, moved the engine cover out of the boat and replaced the screws that held the hinges to the floor (carpeted aluminum tube) with machine screws and nuts and washers.

That fix lasted strong for 10 Years until I sold the boat.

And you're talking about the ball joint mounts for the struts? Sounds like the piano style hinges

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3 hours ago, DOJOLOACH2 said:

And you're talking about the ball joint mounts for the struts? Sounds like the piano style hinges

Nope. It’s possibly different on your boat, but I was referring to a Response like mentioned (way) above.

The hinges for the motor box, (not the ball mounts for the gas struts) are mounted to a square aluminum tube that runs from left to right just in front of the removable floor piece behind the motor box. The factory glues carpet around that tube, so it’s not very obvious that this piece is not just another floor section. That’s what I had to fix on my boat. The strut mounts all had been solid.

Sorry if I may have misinterpreted your posting and caused some confusion here.

Edited by Chaabo
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