Bart Cannon wrote:

>One of St. Paul's -20 degree nights in February toasted the rear door
>struts on my '87 Westy Weekender; they won't hold the door open much less
>help lift it.

>Any suggestions on the best way go on replacing them?

I haven't actually replaced Vanagon hatch struts, but I've done a couple
on Rabbits and Toy-odors, so maybe this will help...

I've always replaced w/ new struts, only because the thought of getting
ones from a recycler, or equally worthless struts never appealed to me.
You can always get them from the dealer, or your favorite FLAPS.
Little hatchback struts are about $20 - $40/pr. so it wouldn't surprise
me if a Vanagon's are big coin, since I imagine it should have a higher
load capacity.

Anyway, generally all that's required is that you remove a nut or c-
clip to allow one end of the strut to pop off of its anchor point, then
you can remove the entire strut from the other anchor point, which
would most likely be a ball joint.  Pop the new one on and tighten up
the nut or clip, and your hatch should stay up by itself.
Just make sure you get the right struts for your make/model.

Norman
norman_leong@baynetworks.com