Rear hatch lift strut upper mount repair

[ahardb0dy]

This is how I just repaired one of the upper mounts on the rear hatch lift strut mount, I'm sure there are other ways to do this.

 

First let me say the nut that was inside the hatch door had fell out so I used a ball mount I had and installed a 5/16" x 18 rivnut (nutsert) and screwed the ball mount into that but it came loose and being that I had to make the hole larger to install the proper size rivnut I had to come up with another way to install the ball mount and this is what I came up with, pics below:

 

 

Before, rivnut removed:

 

 

The new mount I made, I cut a body lift spacer I had left over from my hardbody (from the bed), just used one of the flat sides, drilled and tapped a hole for the 5/16" x 18 ball mount, I also put a nylock nut on the back side just to keep it tight,

 

 

another view same mount:

 

 

trial fit, I used a ball pein hammer to make the mounting surface smooth, and tapped on the ball to make sure the mount was all the way in:

 

 

I attached the mount using 2 rivets for now, it's holding fine, if it gets loose I'll attach it another way:

 

 

lift strut back installed, plenty of clearance:

 

Edited August 11, 2012 by ahardb0dy

[adamzan]

I have this exact problem. Went to put new struts on and the nut fell down somewhere. I like your idea but instead of rivets I think I would weld it on.

[ahardb0dy]

Yeah I was thinking welding would be better but I have to use what I have to work with.

[sewebster]

I welded in a weld-nut there. It works fine, but it's not pretty. The sheet metal there seems quite thin so it was easy to blast through. Or maybe mine was just a bit too rusty. Of course I had to buy a bag of like 50 8 mm weld nuts

[westslope]

Help!

 

 

 

I read this thread. I also read this earlier thread here: Rear hatch lift strut.

 

 

Then I drove to Canadian tire and bought 2 aftermarket struts for about $33/each, and proceeded to remove the old ones. At the upper attachment point, the nut inside rear hatch frame became detached. I haven't lost it; it is there. I can move it around with a narrow long object like a narrow paint brush handle.

 

 

I think I observe a small bead of weld on the nut where it might have been held against the frame originally. I dunno.

 

 

My first preference is to somehow miraculously thread the new ball into the nut. Perhaps crazy glue the nut to the inner frame; let it dry and hope that is strong enough to allow me to at least initiate the thread on the nut.

 

 

Otherwise, the pop rivet route might be necessary. No welding equipment here. How's your connection holding up ahardb0dy?

[ahardb0dy]

Mine is holding up fine, I don't open and close it 20 times a day so it may not hold up if that is something you do but otherwise it's fine.

 

Doing the upper repair my way you don't really need to thread the metal the ball mount goes through, you can just drill a hole and put a nut on the back ( like I did as a secondary precaution against coming loose). I do believe the ball mounts I am using are either aftermarket (SAE thread) or the stock ones were SAE thread too I don't know. If they are metric you would need to pick up a pair of metric nuts.

 

I read the other thread just now too, I guess the factory struts have the balls attached and are not meant to come apart so if you buy new factory ones they would come with the balls attached already. I picked up a pair of aftermarket ones from a junkyard truck and they use the spring clip to hold them to the ball.

 

As far as removing the old ball mount I think I cut the end of the struts using my dremel until I could pry the metal apart to get the ball mount out.

[westslope]

Thanks for reporting back.

 

I suppose I fear that the pop rivets will become loose after a while.

 

Closed up the vehicle last night and could hear the washer tumble to the bottom of the frame. This afternoon I removed the bottom plastic panel on the rear hatch and was able to retrieve the nut. How to attach is still requiring some thought.....

[ahardb0dy]

You may be able to do it the way I did and just have someone tack weld the edges. I'm sure you can find someone who can weld.

 

If you rivet it and they do become loose you can drill them out and use screws, or just use screws from the beginning.

[westslope]

Success! I managed to place the nut and thread it with some major help from the neighbour.

 

 

Ultimately we wrapped the nut in 80 GA softwire, put a narrow strip of duct tape on to help hold the wire in place; then tied 1X tippet fishing line to the twisted wire and used that to help guide the nut into place where my neighbour skilfully managed to thread the ball bolt. I didn't take any during photos so these before and after pictures will have to do.

 

 

Note that the nut looks like it was originally welded to the rear hatch frame.

 

 

Note below the rubbed area above and slightly to the left. Must have done something to put a lot of torque on the strut. Perhaps when I drove into the carport with the bicycle still on the canoe racks.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished product. Soft-wire, duct tape and thin nylon monofilament fishing line. Hey! It Worked!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closer up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was the driver side strut. The passenger driver strut came out with no issues. The nut for the upper attachment simply stayed in place (as it should).

Edited September 5, 2012 by westslope

[andreus009]

Guess i'm a bit slow. Where did you feed the fishing line through/to?

[westslope]

Guess i'm a bit slow. Where did you feed the fishing line through/to?

 

To get the fishing line in place, I pushed a length of softwire (80 GA) from the upper mount hole to lower part of the rear hatch that is accessible by removing the rear plastic panel that sits just below the window. Once pushed through, I tied on the nylon monofilament and pulled it through from the bottom of the hatch towards the top of the hatch (imagine that the hatch is closed). The fishing line was then in place to tie to the wire wrapped around the nut. Then I pulled the nut and attached wire through from the upper mount hole.

 

The idea was to able to adjust the nut position by being able to pull the nut in both directions, not just be dependent on 'pushing' it with the wire.

 

Once the ball bolt was threaded, I broke the fishing line and then used vice-grips to grab the soft wire and remove it from the now installed nut.

 

Does this help? Ask away if you need more clarifications. Would love to have thoroughly documented the repair procedure with digital photos but was too busy trying to get the job done and not abuse my good neighbour's generosity.

 

Edited September 5, 2012 by westslope

[andreus009]

Thanks that helps a bit. Mine personally has been broken for years but would like to fix it since it is nuisance to have to prop it with a shower curtain rod.......

[ahardb0dy]

good job

[westslope]

good job

Thanks ahardb0dy. Your post and illustrations helped me get going. At least I knew there was a plan B.

 

I originally thought of soldering the nut to soft wire but the neighbour's suggestions of duct tape and then a second wire seemed more promising. Replacing the second wire with fine nylon monofilament was the final step.

[Canuck]

i had the same problem with a nut that had fallen off from the left rear tail gate strut upper mount and was lost somewhere inside the rear fender area. I could see the bolt hole, that's all. Well I figured there must have been a nut on the inside because I hade a bolt on the outside. So first I found a nut that fitted the bolt. Then I went to a bolt store and got a similar nut pre-assembled with a star lock washer. It was even chrome or nickel finished! I took it home, then taped it with masking tape to the face end of a yard stick like piece of wood, leaving the nut's hole open. I shoved the stick with nut attached up inside the fully enclosed jamb, going into it from the bottom, after removing the body liner access door next to the left rear tail light. When I could see the nut I taped the bottom end of my stick in place. I had to redo this a few times before the nut was lined up sufficient to start the bolt into it.

 

Then in started the bolt very carefully until I knew it had started into the nut's threads. The rest was a piece of cake, and I actually spent more time trying to find the old nut then to install the new one.