Justin,

Either get new hatch struts from Ron at the Bus Depot or do the cheap way
out:

Cut an 8-1/4" (I think...measure the length of the piston) piece of 3/4"
PVC pipe.  Remove the circlip on the strut, support the hatch well (it's
HEAVY), slip the pipe over it and replace the circlip.

When you lift the hatch, the PVC piece should go between the van and the
bottom of the cylinder and thus wedge it open.

I keep a few in my van to give away at VW events.

-Karl

Karl F. Bloss - blosskf@apci.com or bloss@enter.net
'87 Vanagon GL Weekender "Beverley"; Trexlertown, PA
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/
VW shops: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/vwshops/