Probably a winter thing...not enough pressure to keep the hatch all
the way up when colder weather plays havoc on the PV=nRT equation.

Get yourself a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe about 8-3/16" long.  Remove the
circlip on the frame side of the piston, pull the piston off
(careful: the hatch is heavy!), slip the PVC pipe on, and put the
piston and circlip back on.

The PVC pipe drops down on the piston when the hatch is opened and
hooks against the cylinder.  The hatch is now "locked" open.  To drop
the hatch, pop the pipe so it slips over the cylinder and it hides
nicely.

I give these away at campouts and when I see sagging hatches.  It's a
great social ice-breaker.  :-)  I can even send some out for the
price of postage.  P-mail me if you're interested.

When the struts are totally shot, I recommend you go to a list vendor
and buy a new set of struts.

Regards,

-Karl

Karl & Kristina Bloss - Hurricane, WV
'85 Westfalia Camper "Fred"
'93 Eurovan MV "Amelie"
WV VW Club:  http://WVVW.ORG
"Bound to cover just a little more ground..."