Yes. No.

Even with working OEM springs and aftermarket shocks installed, the
last bit of push on the bar locks the joints in place. This pressure
will eventually show up in a bad way should the parts concerned wear
through. The wear shown in my pics can be much worse. David posted
images of same though his write up is likely clearer (read: better.
 ;)

https://picasaweb.google.com/117189706757545167023/VanagonPopTopHingeTroubles

And IMO, based upon some experiments, installing only the shock
assists at rear of pop top likely isn't ideal.

I found that with only the aftermarket shocks installed, even the
higher pressure type, the top was a little harder to support on the
last 1/3 of travel. With shocks and OEM assist working, the top will
actually lift on its own about 1/3 of the way up.

Just the .02 of an amateur with too much time on his hands.

Neil.

On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 8:46 AM, Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@mymts.net> wrote:

> Even with the pop top lift struts is it still not necessary to fix the worn metal?  Or is there no tension on the weak spot with the struts?

--
Neil n

Blog: tubaneil.blogspot.ca

'88 Westy http://tinyurl.com/c8rlw6p

'81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"  http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

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http://tinyurl.com/d7gd5ej