Hatchback Struts Too Stiff??

I haven't checked, but I would guess that for simplicity's sake, they used the same struts for the carbon fiber Prime hatch as for the aluminum Prius hatch.

My wife would disagree strongly, but I don't consider the Prime's hatch hard to close, although it takes more effort than seems typical. Kind of like my last motorcycle's center stand. People said it was nearly impossible to put the bike on the stand. So, before I bought it, I tried that out. Because of all the horror stories, I put extra effort into it. And left about 3-4" of white skid marks in the concrete because, when the 600+ pound bike came up & back and hit the stops on the stand, it wanted to keep going and slid backward. And I'm a little guy! It wasn't hard at all. People just did't know how to do it.

On the hatch, I usually just reach up and grab either one of the handles or the bottom of the exterior and swing it down in one motion. If both hands are free and I'm feeling lazy, I'll put it part way down with a handle and then finish it gently with the other hand on the spoiler.

 

Stabilus is the provider for the OEM struts - Lift-O-Mat is the name. OEM struts shown in the attached pictures. Check your struts and see if they are OEM or replacements.

8L is the left, 8R is the right.

 

Zactly like mine.

 

Could the problem be the hinges, not the struts? (Our 2017 hatch feels fine, up & down.)

 

definitely.