On 7/1/06 5:52 PM, "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET> wrote:

> You can also cut a piece of plastic pipe to length, cut a slot in it to
> fit over the rod on the strut, and it will hold the hatch up just fine.
> Just don't forget to remove it when you are done.

Instead of cutting a slot, just pull off one end of the hatch strut, and
slide the tube on to the strut.  It's always there, and slides into place
when you open the hatch.  It's a permanent fixture on my vans - Holds up my
hatch w/ heavy rack and lasts forever.

From Gary Lee's site:

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/gary2a/rack/hatchsupport/hatchsupport.htm

For some reason, the photo above has the strut inverted, so you'd have to
pull the support up into position, rather than just let it slide down on its
own.

James V