Gas struts

[Phil Peters]

Hi all,

It's been a while (6+ years) since I've bought gas struts for a DeLorean but it's that time again and I'm looking at the options currently available for a full set (hood, doors, louvre).

It looks like DMCH are now selling struts with the original Stabilus/Liftomat logo on which looks cool. I think Toby Peterson offered a set of struts a while back that were temperature compensating which I liked from a practical point of view but it doesn't look like he sells them for the doors anymore?

Based on your experiences, what's the best buy on the market at the moment?

Cheers,

Phil

[Guinney1971]

Phil, I *think* mine in a roundabout sorta way came from John Hervey at Special T Auto in Texas.

They have nice action and work really well.

[Rissy]

I need new Louvre gas struts. Is the consensus to just buy from Eurotec, Ed, or DMC sources in the states, or does anyone have a nice cross referenced equivalent from a more conventional source which is a damn-sight cheaper?

[Rich H]

I'm not entirely convinced by Special T's door struts.
They seem to loose their damping when they are cold, and sometimes completely at random.

Having recently seen them on another car, the door struts from DMC Europe seem to be too long and have no damping. I can't say I'd recommend them.

The Houston ones I bought ten years ago were excellent and lasted a long time, the struts I have on the bonnet and louvres are still working perfectly.

I don't know if the ones they sell now are still as good....

[MikeWard]

RichH Wrote:I'm not entirely convinced by Special T's door struts.
They seem to loose their damping when they are cold, and sometimes completely at random.

I had Johns 'soft lift' struts on my car until a few months ago, never had a problem with them.

RichH Wrote:Having recently seen them on another car, the door struts from DMC Europe seem to be too long and have no damping. I can't say I'd recommend them

Were these struts new? I fitted a set of Ed's struts to my car in May, they are both the correct length, and have a 'braking' action in them at the top end to prevent the door swinging up too quickly and bouncing. I would recommend them.

[Chris Williams]

Quote:I had Johns 'soft lift' struts on my car until a few months ago, never had a problem with them.

I have these to with no issues, other than waiting for Mr H to sort out my door alignment. :wink: :wink: I think the problem with thee struts is the manufacturers change them so often as well so it's difficult for the vendors to keep up with the specs being changed. (that's how I have always understood it)
Chris

[JamesRGUK]

MikeWard Wrote:

RichH Wrote:I'm not entirely convinced by Special T's door struts.
They seem to loose their damping when they are cold, and sometimes completely at random.

I had Johns 'soft lift' struts on my car until a few months ago, never had a problem with them.

RichH Wrote:Having recently seen them on another car, the door struts from DMC Europe seem to be too long and have no damping. I can't say I'd recommend them

Were these struts new? I fitted a set of Ed's struts to my car in May, they are both the correct length, and have a 'braking' action in them at the top end to prevent the door swinging up too quickly and bouncing. I would recommend them.

+1

I've had the DMC Europe struts on my car for about 5years now, they are the correct length and have the dampening action.

Very happy with them

J

[Chris P]

No matter who's struts you have, I have been told that it is important to fit them the correct way up, that is with the thin chrome shaft to the bottom.
This insures that the shaft seal doesn't "dry out" and cause premature failure. Not sure if its true, but it makes sense to me.

[TBRM]

The torsion struts on my car's doors are beginning to fail now too. As there is a recommendation for Ed's struts I shall get in touch with him. Only question is, who is he? Oh, and how do I contact him please?

When it comes to fitting them I presume it is sensible to get a garage to do it as opposed to trying to do it myself (with a friend to hold the doors). Would you agree with that?

Thanks you for your help

Richard

[Chris Williams]

Ed Uding @ delorean.eu
Fairly easy job to do but an extra pair of hands is needed to support the weight of the door. At the end of each door strut where they connect to the little ball there is a tiny little pin that hold the strut to the ball, just remove these (whilst some one supports the weight of the door) fit new ones. There was a video how to from DMCH but it now appears to be private? http://delorean.com/portfolio/youtube/#!lightbox[gallery]/6/
Chris

[TBRM]

Great, thanks Chris, I'll look Ed up.

I was looking around on the internet and saw a driver's side strut for sale at $850 although many others seem loads cheaper. Presumably the reason for the $850 price tag is that that is an original part whereas the others are self built.

[Rissy]

Richard, I think you're getting Torsion bars mixed up with gas struts. Gas struts are nowhere near the cost you're quoting. They start failing due to the gas escaping over time. Torsion bars however don't start to fail, they just suddenly go without warning. This means breaking. But this isn't something which happens very often. So which is it you think you need? Strut or torsion bar? I think you mean gas strut...

[Chris P]

Morning Richard, have a quick word with your Dad!

As Chris has just said, droopy doors are usually down to tired door gas struts.

The doors were designed for the torsion bars to take about half the weight and the gas struts the other half ( approximately) . The torsion bars either work correctly (and they mostly do) or they snap completely ( not a common problem) causing the door to come down very heavily....but not as disastrously as it would have been, had there not been a gas strut as well! (New torsion bars are very rare and expensive, but we do have stock in the UK)

Brian Ricks, the Lotus engineer responsible for designing the door opening, tells me that the original design was to let the torsion bar do all the work....and it did, but the engineers quickly realised that if it did fail, then someone could loose a limb....or even worse! So they redesigned it completely to accommodate the gas strut as well.

My advice would to be NEVER to mess with the torsion bars or big heavy door hinges. It needs an expert, or you will end up in all sorts of trouble.

As Chris W says, fitting new gas struts is a much simpler matter ...that even i can do...with a friend helping.

[TBRM]

Many thanks indeed Chris M and P. You're quite right - it is indeed gas struts I need as opposed to torsion bars.

Sorry about my endless questions but on looking at the delorean.eu page they have three different gas struts. I'm guessing one of those is for the engine cover and the other two are for each door. I think the parts ref numbers are 108209 and 105063. Does that look right to you please?

[Chris Williams]

108209 are for the louvres x2
105063 are for the luggage cmp x2
100592 are the ones for the doors X2
never be afraid to ask that's what everyone is hear for.

Chris