Gas struts for the hood and trunk on the Lancer X

I cannot say that gas struts for the hood is an important part of the car, but immediately after installation I convinced that is convenient.

 

But the reinforced trunk shock absorbers will definitely facilitate the opening of the trunk lid. They allow to open the trunk lid immediately after pressing the trunk open button. To be honest, that is my the second attempt to install reinforced trunk struts, I will tell you why a little bit later.

 

For easy reference, this instruction is represented in 2 versions: text and video at the end.

For the hood, I purchased gas struts from the company Autoupor UMILAN012.

 

For the trunk I bought reinforced gas struts from PATRON PGS246557. But one have to improve them a little.

 

These struts are suitable for all Mitsubishi Lancer X from 2007 year made.

 

The set with the given struts contains all the necessary fasteners, brackets and a very detailed instruction. Installation itself is simple, coherent and easy to read.

 

Before installing, check the seating positions on the hood and fenders, if there is any dirt on them, be sure to remove it.

 

Install the brackets on the hood. Unscrew the nut and install the hood bracket, but do not tighten it too much. A little later, you may have to adjust them. Do the same from the other side.

Now install the fender bracket, also fasten it, but do not tighten it too much. And in the same way fasten the bracket on the other side.

Next, before installing, pump the shock absorber several times, resting it on the floor. I didn't manage to squeeze it all the way, but there is not a big deal, I will finally pump them after installation on the car.

Install the gas struts with the rods down, according to the instructions. The rods easily snap into the fender and hood brackets.

 

Pump over the gas struts by opening and closing the trunk lid several times.

 

Then close the hood lid completely and look at the gaps. In my case, everything worked out perfectly, now one can finally tighten the brackets on the hood and trunk.

 

With the reinforced shock absorbers of the PATRON PGS246557 trunk it is a little more difficult. I tried to install them a year ago when I installed the electronic latch and the trunk open button. But I did not like then how trunk lid was closed and opened. Therefore, I removed these reinforced stops and returned the standard ones.

I decided on a second attempt to install them. But, it should be noted right away that these shock absorbers differ from the standard ones in the following parameters:

 

- reinforced shock absorbers are 2 times more powerful, 490 newtons, against 240 Newtons for standard ones.

- reinforced struts are slightly longer than standard ones.

- reinforced shock absorbers have no braking when the trunk lid reaches its end position.

 

Also, in order for the trunk lid to open automatically, it is necessary to modify them by installing springs and washers. This revision gives impetus to the opening, for this we need:

 

1. Retaining ring - Inner diameter 17 - 18 mm. - 2 pcs. It was bought at the car market.

2. Valve spring VAZ 2101 (required to push when opening the trunk) - Inner diameter 17 mm. - 2 pcs. It was bought at the car market.

3. Washers of various thicknesses are needed to adjust the shock absorbers in order to find the optimal push for opening (placed between the retaining ring and the spring). Inner diameter of washers -18 mm. It was bought at the car market.

4. Washers on the stem to prevent the spring from rubbing against the stem retainer. Inner diameter- 8 mm. Outer diameter- 17-18 mm. - 2 pcs. It was bought at the car market.

5. Heat shrinkage to fix everything.

This is how it all looks when assembled.

The standard trunk shock absorbers can be removed simply, pry on the clips and remove.

Installation of reinforced struts in the reverse order, as when removing the standard ones. The only thing, since on a reinforced shock absorber the rod is a little longer, in order to snap it onto the trunk lid bracket, you need to use a lever, in my case it is the handle of the side cutters.

After installing the reinforced gas struts, the trunk lid opens instantly. But, in the extreme position, after opening, there is no braking on the reinforced shock absorbers, as was the case on the standard shock absorbers. This causes a strong blow, so strong that it scratches the metal on the opening mechanism.

Technically, you can stick on some kind of shock-absorbing material, but I repeat that the blow is very strong, nothing will hold there for a long time, any shock-absorbing material will cut it with a plate like a knife. There is only one solution, to shorten the stock itself to the length of the standard one, and it is not a fact that this solution will fix this problem.

 

And the second problem is closing of trunk lid. Like they say, fixes one thing but breaks another.

The trunk opens automatically, but now it takes a lot of effort, a really lot of effort to close it. The trunk lid opens almost from the very extreme position when closed, which means that you get your hands dirty in the fall when you try to close the trunk. And it goes without saying that such a buoyant force will not work for the better on the lock in the closed position.

 

That is why I refused to install reinforced gas shock absorbers again. I returned standard ones.

 

To sum up. I recommend to install gas struts for the hood.

 

And do not recommend to install reinforced trunk shock absorbers. It is necessary to look for other shock absorbers that will be the same length as the standard ones. And, 490 Newtons, this is a very big effort, it is necessary to look for 350-400 newtons.

 

 

I will look for it. If I find, I will complete this article.