Club 80-90 Forums

Apologies for another thread on tailgate struts, but... our Westy is now living on our inclined drive with the tailgate at the top which means when the tailgate pops/boings open the edge is within fingertip reach only, which if you try to hang on as it opens threatens to slice those fingertips off so fierce is the spring action  (because we have a bike rack we fitted the hd struts - 800nm). And closing it is an equally dicey business.
Checking out suppliers all the struts available in the UK seem to be a variation of part number 251 829 331 A, either in standard 600nm or hd 800nm strength.
However from the US sites it seems that  part number 251 829 331 A was replaced by VW with two alternative struts 251 829 331 B and 251 829 332. One which is fitted on the LHS and the other on the RHS of the hatch. And these struts allow the hatch to open at a variable angle, ie the hatch opens just as far as you want it to and then it stays in that position. Which sounds exactly what we need.
SGS list the alternative part numbers but I've phoned them and they're not variable struts. I can get the real thing from US suppliers but that seems a bit crazy as well as a bit more expensive than buying them here and they're probably made in Europe anyway.
Does any one have any ideas where I might get a pair of these struts from? I guess the alternative is to just fit a pair of standard strength ones.
Thanks!

 

Maybe I'm alone in being interested in this, but anyway, just to update the thread, I found the struts on autodoc, and bought the Stabilus branded ones. They were more expensive than the standard struts from Brickwerks - the quality of whose parts is usually excellent of course - but it was worth it for us in this instance.
So, according to Bentley:‘For complaints that the rear-lid gas spring causes rear hatch to open completely, such that lid is too high for some people to reach to close, correct as follows:
Install new-type variable gas cylinders, Part No. 251829331B/332 (in pairs only).  These cylinders allow the rear hatch to stay open in various positions.’
Which they do perfectly as you can see so I'm happy. I'd already deleted the heated rear window with the wiper motor and washers on our tailgate and fitted a plastic double glazed Westfalia window so our tailgate is lighter now and we're not likely to use the bike rack any time soon.

 

Not alone (the boss is only 5' so sometimes struggles with the hatch),
information squirreled away for future reference.

Do you have a direct link to them on the suppliers site?

Regards Gary

Here are the links:
Gas Spring, boot- / cargo area STABILUS // LIFT-O-MAT® 291935 Eject Force: 300N — Buy now! (autodoc.co.uk)
Gas Spring, boot- / cargo area STABILUS // HYDRO-LIFT® 291927 with stop function, Eject Force: 300N — Buy now! (autodoc.co.uk)
I should also say these spec. struts are rated at 300nm. 'Standard' struts are rated at 600 nm, and hd struts at 800nm. But they easily lift my tailgate anyway. I guess I wouldn't use them with a bike rack and my tailgate is lighter than it was as I've deleted the wiper motor and the heated rear window. This is probably why the boing function was so extreme with the hd struts fitted. Also only one of the struts has the 'stop' function, which is what VW intended.
The autodoc delivery charges were reasonable and delivered to me from Germany within a week.
 

Thank you
Info saved I will certainly be looking int this, but have a few other bits to do first from what seems to be an ever growing list.

Regards Gary