I don't know, but the one on the left has the ball joint on the other side
compared tot he right strut.

William

Subject: RE: Rear hatch struts revisted. Why do they fail?

> If this is true what did I get from bus depot and are they on the correct
> side?
>
> Jere
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
> Of developtrust
> Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 7:42 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Rear hatch struts revisted. Why do they fail?
>
>
> I replaced my rear hatch struts today with the stock VW struts part #s
> 251 829 331A for the left
>  and 251 829 332 for the right
>
> I discovered that only one of the struts on my van was defective. The
> previous owner put the right side strut on both sides. The left one
failed.
>
> I was told by the parts person that one strut is for opening and one is
for
> closing and that the right one is a bit stronger and is why it costs more.
>
> I am wondering if the reason the left strut failed is due to it being the
> wrong strut; that is, made for closing rather than opening the hatch.
>
> Does anyone know for sure or if it matters at all?
>
> William Polowniak
> 1989 Vanagon GL
> 1988 Mercedes 300 SE
>