As I have been restoring my Son's RX7 I found that the rear hatch glass would not stay up. No spares from Mazda Canada, stock depleted. I found similar struts on ebay rated at 60LBS extended. First step is to retrive the ball stud. The Stock strut uses an internal ring to hold the ball stud in. It is not worth trying to dig it out so I used a hack saw to cut the ball fitting. It is heavy steel.

Next step is to cut the old eye off of the old strut and to cut the new strut rod to length and clean for TIG welding. Burn off the paint from the Eye fitting.

The same is done for the rear wiper strut and electrics. Cut the wires near the terminal and to remove the contact section just turn and pull from the strut body. A button is need for the top section and I used a peice of 7/16" alum rod with a 5/16" hole drilled into the centre of it.

Next step is welding. Note the set up. The strut body is insulated so that no current can flow through the strut body and rod piston, this will damage the seal. My TIG set up is over kill here as I am using a water cooled torch with High Frequency start.

After welding paint the rod eye with a rattle can and I used heat shrink tubing to hold the wires in place.

Last step is to install. I now have a rear hatch that stays up,( one new strut will hold the hatch up)

TonyK.

 

Last picture.

Even if you cannot weld this you can still prepare it and take to someone who can.


TonyK.

 

http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icata...l.aspx?page=12

$19

 

That one says without wiper. Is there one that can support the glass with the wiper too?

 

mazdatrix sells some that will support rear wiper and louvers... at the same time!

 

No welding just some cutting.
http://intertron.com/ron/hatchstruts.html

 

Strong Arm Brand @ $49 a pair includes diagram on how to remove old wiper harness from dead strut and mount on theirs, but I think you DO need to cut off the ball/end on the old strut to pull harness hardware.
Best of all, Lifetime Warranty - on my 2nd set - free!
Mazda Canada (or USA) running out of OEM strut was Ark1's best break! They cost a FORTUNE! I bought a SINGLE rear OEM wiper (the one WITH the wiper harness) 5yrs ago, at _dealer_ discount and it was $180!!!! Its mounted as a trophy -too valuable to use! Crikey!
;D
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

that is just a crime to charge that uch for a hatch trut!! Stu, i would never use the thing at that price. you may as well put a chain on it and wear it as jewlery!

 

Searched this company and they only sell to the USA. A lot of companies for some reason have a great web site and exclude Canada. When I searched for struts this was a major problem. Those that sell to Canada want then alot to ship them. The set I purchased cost $22 each and total to ship was $12 for the pair.

There are other companies that have removable ends but searching the Web these too became very pricey and everthing like ball ends were an additional cost. The other issue with USA companies is that some will not ship USPS and only by Courrier. UPS has a policy that items over $20 that cross the boarder from USA must pay $17 Brokerage on a $30 item it is $23 and so on until a $150 fee is maxed out. Rule of thumb for item coming into Canada by UPS is to double the price of the item. This fee is subject to %12 sales tax. USPS charges a flat fee of $5 no matter what the cost of the item is. So in short order that $180 Mazda strut may not be such a bad deal for some that cannot weld if it was available.

Thanks for the comments.

TonyK.

Ark1

 

The "for some reason" has to do with Canadian customs and the strict import tarriffs and outright bans on products from some points of origin. A lot of companies choose to just not deal with it.

Replacement struts for the rear hatch for my 350Z ran over $300 each from the dealer last time I checked. Two years ago I bout a knockoff pair from Ebay. Less than $100 for both.

The knockoffs are now leaking, and need replacement, but seeing as I got 4 years out of the original "$600" factory struts, and 2 years out of the $100 knockoffs... not really much of a decision.