The rear hatch on my 2014 PiP has gotten harder to lift, and unless you get it more than halfway up has gotten into the bad habit of closing on top of my head - ouch! Toyota quoted $140 to replace, I found these - for $22.09 on Amazon and swapped them out in 5 minutes - pry the clip off of the ends, pull them off, and snap on the new ones. If you do it yourself, watch the YouTube videos and either have a friend hold the hatch up or use a board to hold it up. It's so refreshing having the hatch open like it used to.
The aftermarket ones are not as good as the original ones. They open with way too much force, unlike the soft gentle OEM ones. But for the price, it may be a good alternative
I'd like to 2nd and 3rd that comment about the aftermarket ones opening up way too hard. For years I hold back the lift gate, I wish I bought OEM pistons.
I am not in front of the car but I purchased them from Rock Auto, I think (99%) they are Sachs struts. They open with a hard bounce bounce if I just lift up and let go. It's nice to hear you have no issues as the OEM are pricey.
If they're behaving like OEM sounds good. They're only currently available on US Amazon, and they won't ship to Canada. CDN Amazon did allow me to put them on wish list. Our OEM's still "function", but lost about 50% of their oomph after maybe a couple of years.
See that you're a bit obsessed with perfection, I would recommend you avoid these things. The strong force of these aftermarket struts will make your hatch seem like it'll get ripped off the hinges every time they open (I mean that literally).
In light of this: Maybe it's a different manufacturer, or it's been revised? But yeah, thanks for the caution. And I suspect they'll be on "wish list" for quite some time.
I read some reviews mentioning that so I installed just one aftermarket and saved the other till either the other original or that first aftermarket strut gives out. Works great; about $25 online for the pair.
In my 2010 the struts wouldn’t fully open when it was cold outside, and I’d bump my head on the hatch. So these different rates of opening speed may be temperature dependent.
I replaced my 2012's with the aftermarket ones and they open very fast, I agree. I can't see that being something to complain about or spend 500% more $ on to buy OEM, are you worried about getting hit in the face? Who cares? Eventually they will get old and worn and calm down, I like it spring open, I just don't like how you still have to initiate the opening tho and raise it a few inches, major design flaw, I like trunks you can pop to place stuff in when your hands are full, I shouldn't have to assist the trunk to open.
I just called my local Toyota parts dealer for my 2010 model, they're $42 a piece. So not obscene, but a little over 3 times the price.
