Hadoken

They have the hatch shocks in Victoria British but it says it's for the one without the wiper, I'm not really sure what the difference is since I've never seen one without a wiper.

Anyone know where I can get 2?

blueraven

Power and ground for the wiper comes off the strut. The way mazda did this (the door light is the same way) sucks, once the area gets dirty, it doesn't make contact and the wiper doesn't work. At the base of your strut you will find a 12vdc wire and a ground. Cut these wires, install non-wiper struts, then run the 12vdc and ground wires up to the wiper, (place the hatch fully open to determine length), incase the wires in flexable plastic wire covering and tie wrap the wire covering to the inside of the new strut so when the hatch closes the wire covering bends to the inside. By the way, the 12vdc is always there whenever you turn on the key, so this is also a good place to power stuff up that's located in the back.

MarkPerez

I've never seen a hatch with the whole wiper deal intact
and working being held up by the struts. too heavy. it would be nice. on my -SE with everything on the hatch i ended up useing a house window sliding screw-on lock.
you know with the thumb screw ?... i opened it up off the car then placed it on the metal strut shaft and used vice grips to squese it back together. works good. holds up the hatch and was cheap too.. yeah.

murdo

I use a toilet plunger handle to hold my hatch up, lol!
It has done the job for almost 7 years now and I'm not about to change my approach anytime soon. I bought used hatch shocks about 5 or 6 years ago from an autowrecker and they didn't work so I just said to hell with it.

Hadoken

Currently I'm using PVC pipe to hold it open, but sometimes I need to open the hatch with my hands full and it'd be nice for it to pop open when I turn the key...

jays83gsl

IT would open all the way when you turned the key? That is so cool!
If you can't tell, my hatch don't work either.
Currently being held up by a big metal pole. Came free with the car! Be good for thrashing stuff in the future

r0tary noob

check mazda trix, idk if they have the stuff for the wipers, but they are supposedly stronger struts than most of em

faye x7

Unless Mazda still has them in stock somewhere, you aren't going to fine a pair just like the original equipment. Goto Victoria British or MazdaTrix if you want replacement shocks that will at least hold up the glass. And then as others have said, just rewire the wiper motor another way.

GavinJuice

Mazdatrix sells strongarm brand, which you can get at your local Advance Auto store. You can get it from their website. Supposively they have done alot of testing on which brands hold up to the heavy hatch glass, and i guess they do. This is for the 13B, but you can choose from the 1.1ltr http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDeta...pe=565&PTSet=C
" Returns and exchanges are simple and convenient! Return your items to any Advance Auto, Checker, Schuck's, or Kragen store near you or ship them back to our warehouse." I guess you can get them about anywhere.

gsl-se85fb

I got my strut at the local autozone note I said strut once I determined that one would hold the hatch up I returned the other <cheap bastard

Hadoken

Thanks for the input guys, I'm sure I could find a way to rewire the wiper as long as I knew it would hold up the extra weight with no problems.

Mine is a 13b Gavin

Anyone else have a testimonial for the Strongarm brand of hatch shocks?

Therotaryrocket85

one of those replies mentioned using non wiper shocks in place of the wiper shocks. I tried this and it didnt work because the non wiper shocks are about 3/4 of an inch longer than wiper shocks and in doing so it will close but theres lots of stress on the glass and theres so much pressure that it will in fact seperate the glass from pressing against the rubber molding, creating a rain problem! I tried to find some wiper shocks but all i ran into was prices around 200 plus dollars so i did what everyone else has done and thats rig up something. I got a heavy duty paper clip ( the kind thats spring loaded) and cut a spark plug boot and put it inside that clip and it held it like a charm.

Hadoken

Thats some real handywork...
I might try buying some of those hatch shocks and see if they're long like that and return them if they are...

Therotaryrocket85

I was told that theres a certain tolerance in the length that the shocks can be, none are the same size when compressed or out all the way. So if you can find some that are as close as possible it might work, but for me i tried 3 different sets, 2 from autozone and 1 set from pep boys and didnt have any luck. It was also 3 different brands too. And if you live in a big town you might can find one of those places that recharges them but its like freon in airconditioners and is very pricey now to have done. I couldnt recommend a good thing to do without draining your wallet. And just from past experience, be careful with the non wiper shocks when you install them because with there added length they will be under pressure and if your not careful it will either launch off and smack ya in the face or you will scratch the shocks and then they wont give ya a refund. Not that this happened to me though Just a little warning because i ended up with a black eye installing one of them. lol

Hadoken

Thanks for the warning, I wish I didn't have a wiper on my back hatch now lol. I never use it, nor do I plan to.

Is it really obvious if that the shocks are too long?
I don't wanna buy them and then screw something up without realizing it.

85rotarypower

I have strongarm struts and they are great. No rear wiper connections, but I just rewired in the mannor stated above. They aren't too long, and they are plenty strong enough to hold the hatch glass up.

Hadoken

Sweet, I'll be getting some of those then, I'll just leave my rear wiper unhooked...I don't want it or need it, and I'm not even sure it works

chedda47

My wiper struts on my 83 still work but only if If I open and close it about 3 times in the summer and about 10 times in the winter like pumping them up. I'll keep doing this until they totally fail but at least I have all your info when they finally do.

high-RPM

mine closes reaaaaaaaaaaalllllllyyy slowly
i can open it grab what i need, forget that it closes itself and it ends up hitting my head

Hadoken

I haven't tried "pumping" my hatch struts up, but sometimes when it's really hot they'll stay open by themselves, but I don't trust it to not drop on my head.

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

Hmm..

I just replaced the left one, and it holds it up fine.
I've done this on several of my past sevens, without
any problems.

Therotaryrocket85

sorry it took so long to reply to ur question about how hard it is to tell on the length. Its pretty obvious because if you replace just one with the wrong size and then close it....... the side u replaced will stick up about a quarter of an inch! pretty sad looking. Id rig up something to prevent breaking something expensive

Junia

I just gave the left strut a smack with my hand(bent it just enought to hold it but where you can't tell by looking).

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

same here ...

7aull

iTrader: (2)

I bought a set of Strong Arm struts for my '80. The instructions included detailed how to install the wiring and bracketry from your old, wiper-wired strut and mount on the Strong Arm. never did it my self (no rear wiper - yet) but the Strong Arm seemed ready to accept the old hardware...
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska