Bonnet gas strut

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ciderman

ciderman

Active Member
Posts
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Location
sunny worcestershire
Lady friend of mine wants to bonnet mount her spare tyre (to free up rear on SWB) and is concerned that it may be difficult to lift the bonnet. I wonder; has anyone successfully mounted a gas strut or two to assist opening? I know one or two chaps who also struggle.
 
one of two ways i open bonnets that are mounted with a tyre (i'm only 5'2")

keep the bumper clear of obstacles to stand on safely and lift the bonnet from there, better without the little curved infill panel

or i just remove the spare when i need to open the bonnet, again by standing on the bumper to gain access to the bolts clamping the spare down and then roll the wheel to the front edge of the bonnet so i can maul it off safely

i'd be concerned about gas struts developing a leak, i've had tailgates on estate cars decide the struts have passed thier "sell by date" and then the tailgate has dropped on me, i think i'd be pretty iffy about getting whacked in the back of the head by a bonnet latch pin
 
Ah, yes. I forgot about that curved panel. I replaced it for her with a piece of chequer plate mounted on the bumper and bolted to the front panel, so you can stand on it. i'll suggest that.
 
You'd have to have extremely strong and reliable gas struts to do this, I've got a front tyre on the bonnet (750) and wouldn't think about sticking my head under the bonnet without the std locking strut/ bonnet support in place. If it failed.....! If I'm doing any decent work on the engine bay I take off the tryre and pull the bonnet support strut out of the lug and tip it right back against the windscreen. For normal access maybe get someone to help ?
 
I have nudged the bonnet stay whilst working on my series with bonnet mounted spare. Believe me it hurts, I was lucky it dropped across my back and not my head, Took an age to extract myself.
 
Don't try the "disconnect the bonnet stay and lean it against the windscreen" trick if the wind is blowing anything more than a light breeze - unless you've tied/bungeed the bonnet in place. Trust me on this.......
 
oxides said:
Don't try the "disconnect the bonnet stay and lean it against the windscreen" trick if the wind is blowing anything more than a light breeze - unless you've tied/bungeed the bonnet in place. Trust me on this.......
Click to expand...
Been there :), and it landed on my thumb. Hurts a lot. Mine was tied back, it happened when I untied it and was about to shut it.
 
I have installed gas struts in various things, but wouldn't on a standard SIII.

Two reasons really. The first is that the bonnet hinges are brilliant at letting you lift the bonnet off, but that is a real problem with a gas strut. If you remember your O Level Physics you'll see that the force that the strut has to supply is several times the weight of the bonnet, and will tend to push it out of the hinges when it's up. So I'd have to change the hinges. Not doing so, or a weak hinge failure would be a bit of a shocker.

Next reason is that the bonnet just isn't strong enough at the point where you'd need to attach the strut. It wasn't designed for edge loads. Reinforcement needed.
 
oxides said:
Don't try the "disconnect the bonnet stay and lean it against the windscreen" trick if the wind is blowing anything more than a light breeze - unless you've tied/bungeed the bonnet in place. Trust me on this.......
Click to expand...

i've been removing the bonnet and replacing it on my own everytime i've worked on it recently, it has never occurred to me to just tie it upright. could have avoided so many strained backs and squashed fingers, not to mention scratched paintwork

doh
 
onecelledcreature said:
i've been removing the bonnet and replacing it on my own everytime i've worked on it recently, it has never occurred to me to just tie it upright. could have avoided so many strained backs and squashed fingers, not to mention scratched paintwork

doh
Click to expand...

Mind the wiper spindles tho ...
 
Even without a tyre on the bonnet, I tend to remove the bonnet for anything more than a fluid-level check. Apart from ease of acccess, I'm getting peed off with grease from the latch in my hair...
 
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