> actually, fluid filled hatch/hood struts fail more in COLDER weather, not
> warmer.. the hood struts on my audi usually dont have as much holding
> capability in cold weather and more in warm.

Agreed.  Ideal gas law sez:

pressure*volume=amount of gas in strut*gas constant*temperature

so all other things being constant, a rise in temp means more pressure in the
strut.

Our van's struts sag in the winter, but are fine in the summer.  The old PVC
hatch strut fix works well enough in winter:

http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/hatch_strut_support.PDF

-Karl

Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA
'87 Westfalia Weekender  "Beverley" - 196K miles
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/
PA/NJ Vanagon owner's mailing list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/pavanagon/