Hatchback liftgate struts broken

Are they talking about the pneumatic lifters that raise the liftgate? They slowly lose pressure over time. I recently replaced a pair on the cap of my old pickup truck. If you can obtain the specifications of those lifters, you could probably find a replacement at your local auto parts supply. I don't know about the Prius, but replacing them on the truck was pretty easy, requiring only a flathead screwdriver and some time.

BJJB

 

As posted by Evan and others the cylinders can lose pressure over time and fail to lift or hold the hatch open. It is not a common problem but has been known to happen.

One word of caution is sometimes they can be difficult to remove. My sister's Celica had one fail and needed it replaced under warranty and the Toyota Dealership tried "tapping" it off with a hammer, missed and put a dent right square on the crease of the hatch line. Ooooppps, they took ownership and fixed it but even though the bondo man and painter did a very good job if you look you can still tell.

Chris

 

+1 for what BJJB says. There are many universal lift supports available. It would maybe take some looking to find the correct one. They generally range from $20-$50, depending on the brand name and application.

 

Can you give us a link to their web site or other information about it?

 

Watched the video. So if I have a bag of groceries in one hand and I'm opening the hatch with the other hand, then I need a third hand to tighten the Mighty Tighty stut stopper. Also, what happens if you have the hatch open for a while and you get distracted and forget that you tightened your Might Tighty. Does it just break off or cause damage to the strut itself when the hatch is closed.

 

Interesting comments. Might Tight has sold thousands in the likes of Discount Auto Parts, K-Mart, and other big box retailers under a different brand name. Never has one been returned, nor has a consumer had an issue with the product. In fact, we have received numerous calls thanking us for the low cost simple solution to their problem. Why don't you give it a shot, you just may like it.

 

Damn, this thread turned into "Lets reinvent the wheel thread" I just called my local dealer. The price for the struts is $122 each. You might find them cheaper online. Why don't you just pick up a set and replace them yourself.. you do not need to add fancy shaft locks when a pair of properly working struts will hold the hatch nicely by themselves!!!

Just a thought
KK6PD

 

I'm sick of spammers. If you forget about your mighty tighty you bend the hatch in the middle, but that's better than buying new struts.

 

About $90 each at www.toyotapartsales.com go to 2005 Prius and search "lift cylinder". You can get aftermarket for probably half that but personaly I'd go with Toyota parts on this one. I have ordered parts for my 4Runner these guys a number of times and there have never been any problems.

A saggy hatch is really annoying!

Good luck, John

 

$59 from these guys, for 2 lift struts

eBay Motors: Toyota Prius 2005 to 2006 Rear Hatch Lift Supports (item 330303484885 end time Feb-25-09 07:04:29 PST)

 

Any thoughts on where to go for 2009 parts - other than a Toyota dealer?

It burns me that for previous years they're $121 each from authorized, and $59 for the pair from the ebay seller above (who can't find equivalents released to the aftermarket yet for my year).

Great source of info, by the way - this forum. Glad I stumbled onto it.

 

Does anyone know if these lifts are covered under warranty? I have a 2008 Prius that is still under 36k miles. I have to lift my hatch about half way before the lifts kick in. Also when closing the hatch, it doesn't catch properly. About 1/2 the time I have to open and close it a second time. Appreciate any advice.

 

Both issues are covered under the 3 year / 36K mile warranty. However note that the hatch does require a reasonable amount of force to close.

 

Also I think it seems fairly normal to have to lift the hatch about half way before the gas strut lift fully overcomes the hatch weight. I don’t think it's meant to spring all the way open from a near-closed position.

Gas strut are there to :
1. reduce the force needed to lift the hatch (not necessarily to make it pop-up).

2. To hold the hatch in the fully open position without further assistance. While struts may gradually lose pressure over time I don’t consider them worn out and in need of replacement until they fail to adequately hold the hatch in the fully open position without assistance.

 

Thanks to everyone for their replies. Update: With 35,951 miles, I decided to take it in to ask. They said the struts were worn out and covered them under warranty!

 

I just went through replacing mine and thought I'd summarize what I found out. (The flathead screwdriver hint above and a comment about a clip from a different post helped me figure out how to do it. I'm pretty much auto-repair-challenged.)

Toyota wants you to spend $150 per strut because they not only want to sell you the lifter but the brackets that mount the lifter to the hatch and the body. You can buy just the lifters at any auto parts store. I bought mine for $39 each, $78 for the pair.

Then, I had to figure out how to replace them. (I'd recommend having someone else hold the hatch while doing this, but I managed to do it by myself with only a couple of nervous moments.) Once I figured out how to do it, it only took a couple of minutes per lifter to replace them.

The lifters attach to the mounting brackets as a ball and socket connection. The mounts have the ball and the lifters have the socket. The socket is held onto the ball with a clip that is exposed on the back of the socket.

o Start by fully opening the hatch.

o There is an indentation that allows you to slide a small screwdriver between the clip and the back of the socket on the lifter. A gentle tap with a hammer on the screwdriver will pull the clip out. Do this on both ends of the lifter before attempting to separate the lifter from the mounts.

o Once done on both ends, the lifter can easily be separated from the mounts. (You or someone else should be holding the hatch open before removing the lifter and you should have the new lifter within easy reach. I don't know which end should be unclipped first for maximum safety. I unclipped the end attached to the hatch first.)

o Then, while continuing to hold the hatch open, the new lifter can be pushed onto the ball on each mount. Hand pressure should be enough to cause the clips on the new lifter to lock onto the balls on the mounting brackets. I attached mine to the body mount first and then to the hatch mount. Doing it that way, I had to rotate the lifter slightly and push in a second time to get the clips fully engaged on the hatch mounts.

MikeP

 

I bought a set of these off eBay and I was sent the wrong items. I also wasn't happy with the quality. I'm going to purchase a set of OEMs instead.

 

I bought and installed the ones on EBay and they work great. I would not pay $120 each for them.

---Kent