Rear Deck HD Shock Strut

[dmac]

I bought the heavy duty rear deck shock strut from Pelican (Weltmeister). I tried to install last night - got the old ones off easy enough. The new one is about 1/4" longer than the distance between the bolts, so I need to compress it slightly when installing. However, this thing is hard as a rock - I can't get it to budge when it's out of the car while pushing against the garage floor as hard as I can. There is no way I'll be able to compress it in the car. Has anyone installed one of these, how?

[cary]

You won't be able to easily compress it by hand. It's one of those
angle of the dangle deals.

I don't quite understand the dilemma. 1/4 " too long front to back or side to side.

The bolt should have a nylock nut. Just tighten it down till everything is compressed together. Not jammed tight. Everything needs to rotate as you close the lid.

[Rot 911]

I assume you have lifted the engine lid up as high as you can and and the strut is still too long? If so you might have been sent a front trunk lid strut by mistake.

[cary]

My comments were based on the heavy duty dual shock kit.

[dmac]

I bought a single, heavy-duty strut. The length of the strut (eyelet-to-eyelet) is 1/4" longer than the distance between the hole in the deck bracket to the hole in the firewall bracket when the lid is open ALL the way. I need to compress the new strut 1/4" so the holes will line up enough to put the bolts through. It's like this:

Strut: O=====----O
Brkts: O.............O

It's hard as a rock - like a a zillion PSI in the strut.

My problem is the overall length of the strut, not the width of the eyelets.

[cary]

Is one of the ground straps keeping you from getting it open far enough ?
They're hooked to the bolts that hold the lid on. If someone's had them off. It might be twisted around. There by shortened.

[dmac]

Thanks for the idea - but no the ground strap is not the limiting factor. The deck hinge hits the body when the deck is fully opend in my effort to get the strut installed. If I push harder on the deck lid I'll damage the hinge or the body.

Maybe I'll have time to take a picture tonight.

[expat]

Mate,

I can almost guarentee you that you won't compress it. Its a leverage thing.

I had the same problem as you. I have no answer except to say that after lifting the deck lid till it was nearly twisted off its hinges, I finally got it in. To close it is still very stiff but it does hold the deck lid up now.

A down side for me and others (several emailed me with the same problem/concerns) I've spoken to, is that is presses one side of the deck lid up, not making it sit flush with the fender on the side the new shock is fitted.

I also found that the mounting bracket closest to the firewall bends a little if your not careful.

So thats the depressing news.

On a more psoitive note, many say they have no problem installing the heavy duty shock so maybe with a bit of persistance (rather than persuation) you'll get your on.

In hindsight I'd rather have left it off than get my lid out of flush, and put up with the broomstick approach.

Also as a hint, someone the other day on this same topic suggested loosening the hinge brackets to fit the shock. I don't like this idea as it will still result in miss alignmement on what is something that wasn't a problem (except for the broomstick issue!)

If you do a search I'm sure you'll turn up at least three people who have raised this thread with the same problem, in recent months. There's gotta be something in that as there's not much you can do wrong.

Good luck and keep us posted. I'd be curious to find out if you found something you were doing wrong. Just out of curiosity what year in your car?

Cheers
Mark

[MarkY]

There are more doggone posts in this forum having to do with non-OEM deck shocks not fitting correctly. This is the exact reason that I purchased the OEM shocks and had ZERO problems. They might not last as long but who cares, you might have to replace the things every 5 years. Also, if your deck lid doesn't sit flush due to the "new" shocks, you've got problems.

Go with the OEM shocks and be done with this aggravation.

[surflvr911sc]

I had this problem and used two standard shocks, (neither of them would hold up the deck lid by them selves) two 2" bolts, four washers and two 1/2" spacers. I mounted one in the standard location. The other mounted on the inside of the other on the longer bolts with the spacers in between. Fit really nice.

I also had the problem of the deck lid not sitting equally flush with the body when closed. I ordered two new rubber stops (the ones that are on the underside of the deck lid) and adjusted them until every thing lined up.

Everything looks great and my deck lid stays up w/ no problem.

[expat]

MarkY,

Mate, I agree with everything you suggested but........

I live in Hong Kong. I didn't want to pay the post costs to return the shock, and buying the original from the Dealer here is an absolute rip-off.

The lack of a flush fit is a real pisser and I'm going to take it off again.

Cheers
Mark

[targa911man]

dmac--

Ditto Mark. I had the same problem a few months ago. There may be another way to do it, but I disconnected the clamp that holds that line to the cooler near the strut on the left side to get a little more play, then just forced the deck up that extra quarter inch with strong language. That's on an '85.

[Thomas Owen]

On my last 911 the PO had installed a double unit on the left which did nothing but cause problems with alignment. I took the second shock off, found the correct hinge for the RIGHT side and added the second standard duty oem shock on the right side. On my '88 with tail that is the setup as well.
Good luck,

[s_wilwerding]

dmac,

How tough was it to get the old shocks off? I have a dual shock setup on the left hinge and just ordered two new heavy duty shocks (I'm told they hold up the whale tail). Looks like a daunting task to replace them, especially if I have the same problems you do.

[71T Targa]

Just a thought, but could you take a zip tie and run it around the strut ‘length ways’? That way you could compress the strut a little with the zip tie on. Install the strut, then cut the zip tie.

Strut: O=====----O
__________
W/Zip tie (O=====---O)
---------------
Pretend that the ( and ___ and ---- are all connected. I love ASCII art…

Again, just a thought…

[dmac]

Maybe a giant C-clamp to compress it, zip-tie it, then install. The zip-tie may interfere with the installation though.

ACSII art would work better if the spaces didn't get removed by the messaging software!

[Paul Valcourt]

Just another thought for you, the shock is not in a critical application so why can't you take a die grinder to each of the strut eyelets and oblong them 1/16-1/8". This may give you the space required to install and should not be visible after installation. That is if there is enough material there to remove.

[MarkY]

Originally posted by Paul Valcourt
Just another thought for you, the shock is not in a critical application so why can't you take a die grinder to each of the strut eyelets and oblong them 1/16-1/8". This may give you the space required to install and should not be visible after installation. That is if there is enough material there to remove.

Talk about complicating the simple. Dmac live in the states. Return the shocks and buy the OEM ones. Problem solved. Our Hong Kong friend might have to explore other options.

[dmac]

I appreciate all ideas... if I oblong the eyelets than I can't return the unit, so I'll avoid that for now. I have sent Pelican a message asking for help, so we'll see what they suggest. I may try loosening the deck hinge to get the strut on, then struggle to get the deck realigned, or alternatively return the strut and get the OEM-type dual strut setup.