My rear hatch will not stay open more than a minute before self closing. What is the consensus...Mazda OE or is there a less expensive but decent quality lift?

 

some how the guys at my body shop got the hatch to open as soon as you pull the latch. I will ask them what they did to do that.

 

You can be really gheto, like what I did working on my 912. Take a piece of PVC pipe and a t joint. Jam the t-joint on one end, put the hole of the pipe (on the other end) on the latch, and then use the t to prop up the hatch. Works great while working on a car, but looks REALLY ugly... just my .02

john

PS. please dont actually do something this ugly to your FD

 

I dont know how much the OE ones are, but you can get Mighty Lift brand ones from Autozone for about $33 each. I havn't seen this brand on an FD, but they hold just fine on other cars.

 

Yea, my new FD has done that since I got it. But only on warm days. Semi-fresh gas tubes, I guess...

 

I've seen listings for the FD's hatch struts at Pep Boys when trying to find hatch struts for my wife's convertible trunk. Of course they don't have the 2nd gen struts, but they do have 3rd gen ones...

Dale

 

If you have a wing on the back, I don't think it's going to matter.

 

That's good to hear, because I just called Mazda and they are $115 each!

 

i acutlly bough a pair from the mazda..with tax $135 ..2day later i returned it, and decide to not use strut at all plus i dun pop my trunk often..

 

sorry to bring this thread back from the dead.... im going to be buying a 99 wing for my car sometime soon, but my current struts sont even open the hatch as it is... if i lift it by hand it will stay up... only on a really hot day will i hit the trunk release and it will open itself. i really like that though, walking to your car, deactivate the alarm, and pop the trunk open as you walk up to it.

so is there any new infor on this?? stronger struts that may do the job, or possibly beefy ones from another car that can be modified to fit for the FD trunk?

any aftermarket companies making these? struts on the hood would also be too for those of us where other things live where the hood prop used to be

 

I have struts that opened the hatch as soon as I pulled the lever without a spoiler, but once I installed the 99 spec spoiler it doesn't come up, It will stay in place if I lift it, but I don't think mazda made any stronger lifts for the 99spec winged cars.
Art

 

what struts are you using ?? stock? howold?

 

They have different part numbers for the different struts needed to hold the hatch alone, and with accesories such as the wiper and/or wing. For the right side of the hatch, Mazda quoted $91, while the left side (holding the wiper) was about $30 extra. I was quoted the heaviest duty struts for my touring model with R1 wing.

 

thats very odd. i wonder if the aftermarket manufacturers know this?? did you get them? and how do they open the hatch w/ the wing? im assuming the 99 wing is slightly heavier. maybe i need to buy some from mazda japan.....

 

What is odd about it? Dealer/OEM prices will usually be a bit more expensive when there is profit to be made. I ended up not getting them, as I'm doing a bit of price checking. I believe those prices are a bit absurd for a pair of struts, so I'm taking aftermarket ones into consideration.

The struts would hold the entire hatch up fine before, but time has passed, and they are old now, so the hatch falls under its own weight. As for the 99spec wing, I speculate the 99spec will weigh more judging by its physical size, but I have no clue on how much its material weight is. Perhaps contacting JT-imports would provide some useful information on its weight, and the respective struts part number.

 

What about with the RB Type II wing? My struts are completely gone and have always been since I've had the car. Would the ones from Advance help at all?

 

If anyone want OEM there are a couple on EBAY. Not my listing BTW.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2471483856

$31.95 + $8.95 s&h

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2471483827

$22.95 + $8.95 s&h

He lists both as 8BF8-62-620. I could not find that number in the parts fiche. The numbers I found are:

8BFA-62-620 Right Sunroof/Hard Susp.
8BF9-62-620 Right W/O Sunroof/Nor Susp.

8BF5-63-620 Left W/O Sunroof/Nor Susp.
8BF6-63-620 Left Sunroof/Hard Susp.

 

I bought a pair of the struts on ebay. Was looking at the car to see how to install. It appears that some panels neet to be removed to mount the part that fits bolts to the car. Any idea of how to pry off the panels to get access to the bolts?

 

Actually they did. In the parts book there is 2 different parts numbers either with or without the spoiler.

 

Yeah those PNs arent for the 99spec spoiler. One is for NO spoiler and the other is for the 93-95 style one.

 

This worked on an old toyota I used to have, If all you want is to keep the hatch up without falling:
Take some small hose clamps and put them around the end of the tube where the seal is. Tighten till it holds the shaft enough to hold up the hatch.
Will it work on our cars? Mabey, but it's cheap and worth a try if you have the parts laying around.