This is by far the best mod I have done to our GX470. I have all but forgot the days of getting smacked in the head by a rogue self-closing rear door while parked on my slight hill of a driveway.
The trick to this mod was finding a strut with the right dimensions and force (extended / compressed lengths, and rod / cylinder diameters)
Full credit to this thread on Pradopoint for the idea:
Rear door gas strut mod - Page 5
Since I only took this “after” pic I’m going to borrow J Janke’s install pictures from that thread
Steps:
1. Order the parts:
2. Remove the factory rear door bracket.
3. Cut off the upper part of the bracket mount stud on the bumper at the base of the “step” (remove the upper part of the stud where the bracket rides on). When you take off the bracket you will understand the “step”. I used a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel. Clean up the M8 threads left in the stud. Paint the exposed bare metal to prevent rust. It should look like this before paint:
4. Install the two 10mm Ball studs into the bracket mount stud on the bumper and the vacant bracket mount point on the door.
5. Add some grease on the ball studs or in the gas strut ball sockets.
6. Install the gas strut onto the ball studs (install retention pins for the optional stainless sockets)
7. Enjoy not being hit by the rogue self-closing door anymore.
Note on my gas strut selection:
The Pradopoint guys experimented with different gas struts to get the correct force. While it’s subjective, they came to the conclusion that 150-200N of force is ideal.
I chose a 178N strut. My wife thinks it’s a little strong while she is one-handing it with a baby in her other arm, but it’s not too bad. It has enough force to open the door slowly parked on a downhill by itself. When you open the door it fully opens, it cannot stay half open. It also doesn’t have a lock which I haven’t needed given its force rating. I think it could handle pretty strong winds.
If you wanted less force then the 60701S10W may be better (133N,30lbs), but I am not sure it will have enough force to keep the door open on a hill. I think 150N would be ideal, but I couldn’t find one with the right dimensions (extended / compressed lengths, and rod / cylinder diameters)
Also, some of the Pradopoint guys added bracing near the door mount point because they saw the metal flexing. I tested and did not observe the door metal flexing. They do have a different door that holds a spare so that different design may be the cause.
The trick to this mod was finding a strut with the right dimensions and force (extended / compressed lengths, and rod / cylinder diameters)
Full credit to this thread on Pradopoint for the idea:
Rear door gas strut mod - Page 5
Since I only took this “after” pic I’m going to borrow J Janke’s install pictures from that thread
Steps:
1. Order the parts:
- 10mm Ball Studs, M8 X 1.25
- part number: H93607AW
- order quantity: 2
- Gas Strut with ball sockets (178N, 40lbs) *see my note below for selection reasoning
- part number: 60702S10W (SE244P40S10)
- order quantity: 1
Optional Stainless Ball Sockets:
- 10mm SS Ball Socket End M6x1.0 Thread
- I ordered these since I couldn’t tell the quality of the black ball sockets included with the strut. In hindsight I should not have ordered these stainless ball sockets, but they do look pretty.
- part number: H00022W
- order quantity 2
2. Remove the factory rear door bracket.
3. Cut off the upper part of the bracket mount stud on the bumper at the base of the “step” (remove the upper part of the stud where the bracket rides on). When you take off the bracket you will understand the “step”. I used a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel. Clean up the M8 threads left in the stud. Paint the exposed bare metal to prevent rust. It should look like this before paint:
4. Install the two 10mm Ball studs into the bracket mount stud on the bumper and the vacant bracket mount point on the door.
5. Add some grease on the ball studs or in the gas strut ball sockets.
6. Install the gas strut onto the ball studs (install retention pins for the optional stainless sockets)
7. Enjoy not being hit by the rogue self-closing door anymore.
Note on my gas strut selection:
The Pradopoint guys experimented with different gas struts to get the correct force. While it’s subjective, they came to the conclusion that 150-200N of force is ideal.
I chose a 178N strut. My wife thinks it’s a little strong while she is one-handing it with a baby in her other arm, but it’s not too bad. It has enough force to open the door slowly parked on a downhill by itself. When you open the door it fully opens, it cannot stay half open. It also doesn’t have a lock which I haven’t needed given its force rating. I think it could handle pretty strong winds.
If you wanted less force then the 60701S10W may be better (133N,30lbs), but I am not sure it will have enough force to keep the door open on a hill. I think 150N would be ideal, but I couldn’t find one with the right dimensions (extended / compressed lengths, and rod / cylinder diameters)
Also, some of the Pradopoint guys added bracing near the door mount point because they saw the metal flexing. I tested and did not observe the door metal flexing. They do have a different door that holds a spare so that different design may be the cause.
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