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More powerful hatch gas lift support strut things

n1ywb

NAXJA Forum User
I'm trying to mount a rather heavy ham radio antenna to my hatch. Why? That's not what this thread is about, but the gist is that the rear is the only place on the jeep that will offer it sufficient protection from smashing, and I don't want to have to remove it or swing it out to open the hatch.

It is to heavy for my lift supports. I tried resting it on my open hatch and it probably closed about half way. This is not acceptable. Neither is a prop-rod.

Is it possible to buy a more powerful set of lift supports? Are they totally vehicle specific or could I shop by length, lifting force, and end joint type? Or retrofit some other type in there? Anybody done this before?

Thanks
 
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Check out McMaster Carr. They have all sorts of struts that vary in length and strength.

I'm going to be mounting my CB antenna to the hatch soon as well. I've almost ripped it off the side 3-4 times. Mine isn't very heavy though...
 
do you have a rear swing out tire carrier that you can mount the ham antenna to? You could also do a pimping Quad gas lift setup with 2 on each side. :)
 
What sort of antenna? (I'm curious, as a fellow ham...)

You could probably tandem up stock ones so there are two on each side somehow... not sure how. Maybe yours are just tired though? RockAuto sells brand new ones for very reasonable prices.

If that doesn't work, see if you can find a huge old commercial photocopier to disassemble, they usually have one or two extremely strong air rams inside them to support the upper half while a technician is working on the bottom half, corona wires, photo drum, paper path etc.
 
The ones I have ARE tired, of course new ones will get tired too, even faster probably with 20ish pounds of extra weight on the hatch. I should just replace them and try again, though. If it's still not enough, and I feel sufficiently motivated, I may try adding a second set of them.

I emailed one vendor and he said the XJ lifters are already high pressure and are basically oddballs, and that generic lifters wouldn't have enough travel to allow the hatch to fully open. He suggesting adding a second set of stock lifters.

It's a Hi-Q 5-80 RT: http://www.hiqantennas.com/

Covers 80-6m continuously. Super low loss high Q coil. Kicks the snot out of pretty much any other HF mobile antenna. One guy hit an owl with his; the owl lost. Plus Charlie is just an awesome guy. Sells a ton of them to the military. Check out his photo album. One troupe in Iraq sent him this plaque, said his antenna single handedly made HF useful for them again.

plaque.jpg
 
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Well I found a pair of strong arm lift supports at advance auto, installed them, and experimentally bar-clamped the antenna to the hatch. It's not that bad. With the antenna on there, it lifts almost all the way, needs a little help with the last few inches. That's how the OLD lifts were WITHOUT the antenna, which I've been living with them for years.

It helps that most of the weight is at the top of the antenna in the loading coil. It's much closer to the fulcrum than the base of the antenna, so the lifters aren't really lifting the full weight of it.

Now I need to fab a mounting bracket...
 
you might try the GC or 97+ struts since they have to support the heavier metal hatch, dunno about length issues though

I just checked the part numbers for the early hatch replacements and the +'97 replacements-- they are different. I'm pretty sure I've used one in place of the other (not positive, though) so I'd assume the mounting is the same.
 
How old are your struts that are on their? My brand new OE replacements hold the hatch open with a Gobi ladder installed on it, which weigh 13 lbs. Might just looking at putting new OEM ones on.

Cheers,

Curtis
 
How old are your struts that are on their? My brand new OE replacements hold the hatch open with a Gobi ladder installed on it, which weigh 13 lbs. Might just looking at putting new OEM ones on.

Cheers,

Curtis

Never-mind. Saw your later quote about trying strongarm struts. I have the Monroe replacements.

Curtis
 
I just checked the part numbers for the early hatch replacements and the +'97 replacements-- they are different. I'm pretty sure I've used one in place of the other (not positive, though) so I'd assume the mounting is the same.
Early hatch rams have a ball stud they clip onto at each end, using a small wire retainer. 97up rams have a ball stud (possibly of a different size, retained using a spring steel clip) at the body end and a small sheetmetal bracket held down with two 10mm-head bolts at the hatch end. You could probably retrofit easily enough, may have to put a weight distributing panel on the fiberglass, not sure how they compare lengthwise. The new ones are a LOT stronger though - probably for the steel hatch. I can compress an old-style ram easily, while I have to exert some serious effort to compress a late-model ram. Using late model rams on an early model is a great idea, can't believe I didn't even think of that.

winkosmosis - if it points straight up from the bottom of the hatch, it might clear the roof if it doesn't open all the way... not sure. I'll just point forward down the roof.
 
Thanks kastein, good info. I'll have to file that one away for when I replace them next time.
 
Some guy I knew in tech school a few years back used some HD sturts from a Freightliner or some other industrial type on his vehicle. You really had to use a bit of force to close the darn thing. But would probably stay up and not budge while driving down the road at 80mph
 
What's going to happen to the antenna when the hatch is open? Bend?

It won't have to bend; it will sit roughly parallel to the roof. Regardless only the first 3 feet of the antenna are rigid, above that it is a stainless CB-type whip.
 
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