New hood shocks.. hard to compress?

[Jon K]

Are these things supposed to compress by hand? I cannot compress them... I am sort of concerned these are broken... but two? They are from Meistersatz.

Ordered two of them from AutohausAZ and the part # i have match the part # they list online....

I have to like put my body weight on them in order to begin to compress... is this right?

[wingman]

Are these things supposed to compress by hand? I cannot compress them... I am sort of concerned these are broken... but two? They are from Meistersatz.

Ordered two of them from AutohausAZ and the part # i have match the part # they list online....

I have to like put my body weight on them in order to begin to compress... is this right?

No they wont compress by hand. Stick them on and they'll work as they should. Be aware that your bonnet will 'bounce' open when you pull the release. I'm sure there's a way to fix it but I haven't been bothered yet.

[rob101]

No they wont compress by hand. Stick them on and they'll work as they should. Be aware that your bonnet will 'bounce' open when you pull the release. I'm sure there's a way to fix it but I haven't been bothered yet.
thats a bit scary should be getting some new ones this week too from BMA, time to retire the faithful stick.

[wingman]

I got mine off the bay. A guy in SA shipped them to me for about the same price as BMA. I got the Meyle brand though the OEM is Stabilus. This guy does shocks for a living and his service was excellent.

[athflying79]

If you can compress by hand, then I would be concerned. They are supposed to be that stiff. It is pretty cool when you first put them in and pull the lever....the hood pops right open. Definitely beats the broomstick method. Make sure you get the little tab in the groove or they will keep popping off when you close the hood.

[Jon K]

They're in - I got the Meistersatz brand from AutoHausAZ... they came with clips that were not very effective - I ended up re-using the original clips, they held the pins SO much better. I was worried that they were the type of shock that doesn't come to then end of its travel when the hood is up and I'd have to install them partially compressed - turned out not to be the case, they went right in, installation took 10 mins. Sister pulled the hood latch and whoosh up pops the hood! Stable as hell. Now I can pop the hood without taking peoples heads off. The old ones were compressable by hand, very easily at that.

[337090535auctionprice]

sounds right

[337090535auctionprice]

how about the nut behind the steering wheel to tighten it where is it under the wheel does anyone know?

[Jon K]

its by the floor, but what the **** does that have to do with hood shocks?

[t_marat]

he has been asking this question in other unrelated threads also

[GoldenOne]

Sister pulled the hood latch and whoosh up pops the hood! Stable as hell. Now I can pop the hood without taking peoples heads off. The old ones were compressable by hand, very easily at that.
Im kinda confused in a good way, so when you pull the latch, *all by itself* the hood will push itself up and out, then flip open? If so, thats pretty freakin sweet, I am ordering some soon, how much did you pay Jon? Also did you do the trunk also?

[Booster]

Jon,
Does the vendor whom you bought these through also carry the proper trunk shocks as well ?
And if so , are you thinking the construction of the hood versions you bought are decent, good,great ?
I've seen some of these things so cheeply stamped together ....I'd be wondering about them leakin/leaching out again too soon.:(
.............Vincent

[632 Regal]

Yeam them clips suck, used the originals but one bit the dist so I ended up cliping a safety pin over the groove. Worked for months now.


They're in - I got the Meistersatz brand from AutoHausAZ... they came with clips that were not very effective - I ended up re-using the original clips, they held the pins SO much better. I was worried that they were the type of shock that doesn't come to then end of its travel when the hood is up and I'd have to install them partially compressed - turned out not to be the case, they went right in, installation took 10 mins. Sister pulled the hood latch and whoosh up pops the hood! Stable as hell. Now I can pop the hood without taking peoples heads off. The old ones were compressable by hand, very easily at that.

[KenB]

Got mine from BMA 3 years ago, less than $100 for all 4. Still work good but found one of them clips in the trunk yesterday when I cleaned it out, they DO suck. When the shock were new, the trunk you'd have to catch as it would really fly after the initial lift, thought it was gonna bend the hinges. The hood pops up in front but it doesn't swing it open, don't think they're supposed to, but stays open well without a slight breeze slamming it into yo head.

[genphreak]

Got mine from BMA 3 years ago, less than $100 for all 4. Still work good but found one of them clips in the trunk yesterday when I cleaned it out, they DO suck. When the shock were new, the trunk you'd have to catch as it would really fly after the initial lift, thought it was gonna bend the hinges. The hood pops up in front but it doesn't swing it open, don't think they're supposed to, but stays open well without a slight breeze slamming it into yo head.Depends if they are hot really- more heat in them more pressure. You have to watch the trunk doesn't cut your head off if in the cold- like parking uphill at the snow one night and needing to get stuff out of the back (when shocks are new). When they are old you just have to hold it yourself anyway... so you at least know to take care in not losing your head.

Doesn't mean it won't happen by accident tho... :D

[pgrindstaff]

Are these things supposed to compress by hand? I cannot compress them... I am sort of concerned these are broken... but two? They are from Meistersatz.

Ordered two of them from AutohausAZ and the part # i have match the part # they list online....

I have to like put my body weight on them in order to begin to compress... is this right?

Yes, that is how they are supposed to be. When I got my car (2 months ago) I had to replace the hood shocks. The ones I took off were loose and could be compressed easily by hand, the new ones were very hard to compress but thats how they work.

-Patrick

[Jon K]

Yeah they're installed now, everything is great. The quality of the meistersatz product seems to be good. The hood pops up when released whereas I used to hear the hood unlatch but would have to lift it myself. For clarification, I do not mean the hood stands up by itself, it merely comes up to the "unlatched" position where it is about 5" off the fenders. I am glad I finally got to this repair because i pulled my AC condenser today and I didn't hvae to prop the hood with aluminum square stock :)

[Incantation]

get in the gym wuss

[Jon K]

get in the gym wuss


obviously never tried to compress them, but thanks for playing!

[BlackOnBlack]

Because of my worn out shocks, I had to buy a new radiator cap! When adding some coolant I put the rad cap on the fuse box. Well, I walked away to get a rag and sure enough, the hood slammed down and broke the pressure valve off the cap! Still was able to use the cap as two parts instead of one.
Anyway, my new shocks, radiator cap and a couple of sway bar links are on their way from BavAuto to me in CA.

[rob101]

got mine how the hell do you get those retainers to get in the groove, do i need to use a hammer?
definitely worth replacing!

[Vanguard]

I ordered mine from AutohausAZ.com and was pleased. Miestersatz brand as well. Quick shipping and no tax.

The installation was quick about 5 mins and the clips seemed fine. Thanks for the original post. The hood now opens and lifts itself out of the brackets to the point where it's ready to opened by hand.

I couldn't compress the new ones or the old ones by hand. The old ones were definitely weak though, wouldn't even raise the hood slightly.

[swenpro]

Yeah they're installed now, everything is great. The quality of the meistersatz product seems to be good. The hood pops up when released whereas I used to hear the hood unlatch but would have to lift it myself. For clarification, I do not mean the hood stands up by itself, it merely comes up to the "unlatched" position where it is about 5" off the fenders. I am glad I finally got to this repair because i pulled my AC condenser today and I didn't hvae to prop the hood with aluminum square stock :)


This is definitely helpful. One question: is the hood latch supposed to spring back into place? After pulling the latch, I then have to push the latch back into place otherwise the hood won't lock when closed.

[KenB]

Yes, the latch should go back into place.

[632 Regal]

you must have a sticky cable or latch, use PB Blaster and douse the thing.

This is definitely helpful. One question: is the hood latch supposed to spring back into place? After pulling the latch, I then have to push the latch back into place otherwise the hood won't lock when closed.