Hi everybody; i have just installed some second hand struts of eBay on my xjs '95 trunk, but i still have to use quite some force to open the trunk, and lift it until its fully openend.
How should this be, should it open almost by itself if i would put on new struts? or is this just the way it is? i can't imagine... so before i buy brand new ones, i'd like to hear from somebody who has put on new ones on his xjs...

thanx, pim

 

Some force to open the trunk? You mean, the struts don't seem to help with the lifting much? I replaced my struts with new ones, and no, there's no particular sense of strain when opening. Not exactly "by itself" but I've never felt "oh this is heavy!" (I have tried the lid opening sans struts, and that IS heavy). It's an easy, one-handed operation.
Though if your second-hand struts are too weak to assist much going up, does that mean your lid won't stay up on its own?

 

hi, that's exactly what i have been thinking lately; oh this trunk is heavy. so i replaced the struts that were on it with other ones, but 2nd hand ones, and there was no difference.
i have to lift it to 50% or 75 % before it gets easy. and its too heavy for one hand. the lid does stay up by itself, but reading your post makes me think i need to order new ones...

thanx a lot.

 

Take one off and see if you can compress it by hand. It should be very hard to compress.

 

That sounds like failed struts or seized hinges. The boot should almost fly up on its own with good struts.

Good luck

Paul

 

ODD? my 1978 trunk lid has torsion springs to help lift it up, NO gas struts!
ron

 

Hello

So normal disclaimer - my XJS is 15 years older than yours, and mine is also torsion springs, but with the rear wing on the boot, and the front elevated on ramps, and me jumping in and out of the boot doing stuff, the boot lid constantly tried to hit me in the head while I was working in there.

So i put a 20kg long strut on the left side, now boot opens up smoothly, stays open, and closes with minimal effort. So if I had 2 struts installed (as I think the face lifts boots have), this would mean that only 2 x 10kg struts would be required.

So what I trying to get at - is that you don't need heavy duty struts to open the boot, so I think I agree with Paul and that you have other issues other than the struts

I did find a formula for determining strut sizes, and I could have gotten away with lighter resistance struts, but smaller force struts did not have the length I wanted

Cheers
Steve

 

If you also have torsion springs, Bez, then surely your struts wouldn't need to be as strong as the newer cars with no springs helping? Without the struts in place, that lid is heavy.

 

Fair point

Cheers
Steve

 

with my hood/bonnet has gas struts, and sometimes with it open and wind blows it has come down on my head and slams sown, so my fix is very simple,(I like simple)!
hood prop rod ,adjustable! wind cant blow it higher, and length cant blow it down!
i carry it behind seat!

 

Liftsupports Depot.com
# SE230P50 $46.50 for 2.
Ext length 23.05"

or #017585EZ10W 50 lbb strut

Put these on my 95 and no more falling. About 5lbs more force then the OEM

 

honestly it may never happen , But wait till its up and a strong wind comes directly on the front!

something else some times when the hood is pushed closed ,the actual hood bows upward in the middle ,bulges!
ron

 

These are NOT for the hood. These are 'trunk' struts. The trunk isn't going to bend.

 

DUH , got it