17' Series Hard lid gas struts

Michael Travella

New Member
Sep 19, 2018
3
2
3
Adelaide
Hi All, Since fitting canvas storm covers to my 2016 17.56 the rear hard lid droops enough to agitate my OCD. The factory fitted struts are 330nm and the only heavier rated ones I can find online are 435nm. Has anyone upgraded the rear hard lid gas struts and if so what nm have you used?
 

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
12,723
19,450
113
QLD
I have always used The Gas Strut Guys they have an online store as well as Ebay and I find them to be very good, you can ring and ask questions of someone who lives here, speaks Australian and they are not just a pack and wrap mob...

I it droops about 20mm or so then you should be good for the higher rated ones but they will load up the mounting points and you may need to close it from the centre of the lid so not to put undue strain on one side, it does depend on if your current units are failing as new ones of the same rate may be okay, its how long is a piece of string thing.......
 

Crusty181

Well-Known Member
Feb 7, 2010
6,854
13,971
113
Mentone, VIC
Hi All, Since fitting canvas storm covers to my 2016 17.56 the rear hard lid droops enough to agitate my OCD. The factory fitted struts are 330nm and the only heavier rated ones I can find online are 435nm. Has anyone upgraded the rear hard lid gas struts and if so what nm have you used?
Welcome to the forum Michael you'll find the forum a friendly and inclusive community, and some very knowable people only too happy to help. You find plenty of banter, but you wont find any of the "intensity" you come across on social media generally. Have you had the Expanda from new ???

My lid did the same with the storm covers, partly because my privacy mesh is permanently attached and I increased the struts to higher pressures. I can vaguely recall the strut expert mentioning a significant increase in NM will result in less additional physical pressure than you would otherwise think. ie 100 MN increase isnt significant in regards to extra effort to compress them. I also replaced the lid strut brackets which are attached to the lid with a much larger version. The replacement brackets are glued and screwed to the lid. The original little brackets are barely upto the task in my opinion, and I suspect the firmer strut would not have helped. The new brackets provide much better support and much better load spread to the mounting point on the lid. The vans at my factory, so Ill grab a pic if I remember (remind me if the pic doesnt appear)
 
Last edited:

Michael Travella

New Member
Sep 19, 2018
3
2
3
Adelaide
Welcome to the forum Michael you'll find the forum a friendly and inclusive community, and some very knowable people only too happy to help. You find plenty of banter, but you wont find any of the "intensity" you come across on social media generally. Have you had the Expanda from new ???

My lid did the same with the storm covers, partly because my privacy mesh is permanently attached and I increased the struts to higher pressures. I can vaguely recall the strut expert mentioning a significant increase in NM will result in less additional physical pressure than you would otherwise think. ie 100 MN increase isnt significant in regards to extra effort to compress them. I also replaced the lid strut brackets which are attached to the lid with a much larger version. The replacement brackets are glued and screwed to the lid. The original little brackets are barely upto the task in my opinion, and I suspect the firmer strut would not have helped. The new brackets provide much better support and much better load spread to the mounting point on the lid. The vans at my factory, so Ill grab a pic if I remember (remind me if the pic doesnt appear)

Thanks for the info. I'm the 2nd owner of the van (only had about 6 months) so not 100% sure if it has been like this from new or the struts have lost some lifting capacity over time. The front struts are 290NM and seem to cope fine with the additional weight of the storm covers so either the rears were right on the limit from factory or failing. Without the storm cover on the rear the lid holds fully open but the slightest additional weight it begins to droop. If you have some pictures of your setup and the NM rating on your struts I'd appreciate the info.
 

Michael Travella

New Member
Sep 19, 2018
3
2
3
Adelaide
So I thought I'd update for any future searchers who come across this post. After getting mixed opinions on what rating was going to be too much for the fibreglass mounting I decided to get my struts tested and regassed. They should have been 330N but testing showed they were down to 300N. I opted to have the increased to 370N and seems perfect, certainly wouldn't want to go any higher and could possibly go slightly lower while still having enough lift to hold the hard lid with storm cover attached.