Tailgate Gas Struts - Please Give Me Good News!
 

Hi there!

I'm a first time poster, but have lurked many a good tip off these forums.
My 07 Fit is as Plain-Jane as they come, but I do so love racking up the kms with consumption less than half my truck's.

My tailgate lifting gas struts have been failed for ages. -40C weather does them no favours, and they're no spring chickens. This wasn't a problem, because I cut some pieces of wood just the right length to hold the tailgate open. This winter, my wife has started taking my car to her hockey games, and after the third piece of wood got snapped, I decided I'd better look into replacing the gas shocks.

This is what's led me here:

The failed gas struts are SHOWA. I was expecting to remove a C-clip and pop them off, but these are not what I expected, they appear to be an assembly that includes the posts on each end of the gas strut. New ones will approach $200CAD, and I'd sure rather not cough that up. So I've come here to ask if anyone else has crossed this bridge. Can the SHOWA gas struts be pried-off their integral posts? Do they need to be cut off? There appears to be a centre piece that might be drilled-out like a rivet. Once that's done, will the posts actually fit aftermarket gas struts? Hoping someone already has this figured.

Thanks for reading!

Gorf

It appears they can be pried/popped off as RockAuto sells the struts by themselves. $32USD gets a pair of Monroes.

If you go OEM, Honda only sells them as a set with the brackets. Bernardiparts.com has them for $85USD each. ($190USD pair)

Maybe try to pop yours off and see how it goes? Nothing to lose. If they come off, order the Monroe's from Rock Auto. If you can't get them to separate for some reason, could then fall back on the $190 OEM option. For the ~$160 difference, I'd be prying pretty hard to see if they come apart.

I don't have our Fit at the house today to confirm, but usually there is a clip that can be released. Then, you will not need to replace the anchor brackets.

This video is for an Element but it clearly shows how the clips retain the lift support. I recommend having a helper when you replace the supports, as the heavy hatch may need to be wiggled up & down to fit them easily.

If I remember right, the "tailgate dampers" as Honda calls them have metal sprung bands in them that lock on to their brackets.

Just a pocket screw driver or small jeweler's flat head screw driver will work with lifting the band up into the unlocked position and allowing the shock to be removed.