Jasongy

Looks like you can get the hood struts some where in China...
Saw this in the China ASX forum...

Burtonrider1002

Link to where you found them?


Also, don't be surprised if I merge this with one of the other hood strut threads. We already have a few.

Jasongy

http://club.autohome.com.cn/bbs/thre...4998727-1.html
here is the link from where I saw it..it's all in chinese just scroll down to the pictures...

Burtonrider1002

Ok, so I poked around under the hood, and realized that the mounting location he chose looks promising. Upon further inspection, I noticed that there are no two holes that are equal reciprocals of each other. Too high, too low, forward, back, whatever, but no two are even.

So I came back in and looked a little closer at his pictures, and you can actually see that his two struts are not mounted evenly. I'm quite skeptical about how such a set-up would perform.

RA012124

There HAS to be a do-able combination of these 2 links to make it work for our vehicle ! ! ! ! !
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...mString=search

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...mString=search

Burtonrider1002

It definitely looks doable. If you look closely at the pics above, he took "L" shaped angle-iron of some sort, and bolted one side to the hood brackets (using the OEM mounting locations), and then bolted the hydraulic ram to the other side.

Like how these ones are attached:





I measured the distance from the hood brackets to the holes approximately where he (the guy with the ASX in China) mounted the rams, and the D/S was 20", P/S was slightly less, I want to say 18", but that seems too short. I'll check it again later tonight.

mRVRsport

One of the things that's not obvious on first inspection is the fact that there is an "extension" to the hood hinge on their ASX.

Either it is custom fabricated or it comes from factory on the Chinese model...


This small "bracket" is Really needed IF we want/expect the struts to hold up our hoods Safely!

Without this "small" distance, the angle at which the strut would end up holding the hood at too acute an angle and risk accidentally "collapsing" prematurely.

RA012124

How many inches would we need?

mRVRsport

^
That is what I'm working on..

Burtonrider1002

Yup! That's the bracket I was talking about, but you're right, it does sit higher than the OEM screws. Have you actually tried it without the extension? His work appears sloppy, so I'm not 100% convinced he misaligned it on purpose

Would depend on the length/brand/etc. of your hydraulic struts. Cheap/weak ones would most likely need more assistance than a high dollar one.

mRVRsport

Yes, the angle is so low that IF a light gust of wind were to whip up the wrong way, it may push the hood down on you unexpectedly...

That's correct.

Better to overbuild than to regret with wimpy units.
I've got struts meant for the BMW X-series because I'm just not very comfortable knowing the amount of force/weight they will have to lift at the angles that I see currently. (I had a Buick Century hood come down on my hand once because its hood strut gave out, and THAT was the most scary moment of my life. I thought I lost my fingers..)

Here's a comparison of the X lifts compared to our stock rear hatch units:

infected

Sigma auto offers a set for RVR's:

http://sigma-speed.co.jp/mt/shop/sho...yno=1283664019

Jasongy

Found the store where they sell the strut in china
Here is the pic of the install strut maybe it will give you guys some idea of where the mounting area is...
Off topic I really like the retractable trunk lid/cover

infected

Nice find Jason!

Do you have a link or address for that vendor? I will be visiting China in 2 weeks and would love to pop by their storefront if they have one.

Jasongy

Here is the website if u read chinese
http://shop.m.taobao.com/shop/shop_a...2a24f0312ed9e9