I am 6'1" and have no problem reaching the hatch door to close it. However my wife is 4'10" and cannot easely reach the door. I am thinking of installing some kind of strap. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!

 

I'm 5'4" and I have no problem closing it. A strap would be a good idea. I know other vehicles have straps for the shorter-than-average.

 

You shoudl just lower the car, that'll make it easier to reach. Just kidding, you could probably pop out one of the push pins in holding the panel to the hatch and replace it with a screw holding the strap in place.

 

haha i'm 5'2" and yeah i have to go on my tippy toes to close it. a strap is actually a good idea! is there somewhere to tie one on? I'll have to look at it today...

 

I'm 5'5" and am ok. Although I could see being 7 inches shorter making it a lot harder. You already know about the handle that's recessed into the hatch though right? It's towards the right.

 

[quote=yeamans17;299676]You shoudl just lower the car, that'll make it easier to reach.

Actually, I am prob gonna lower the car ASAP. However I still want to come up with a quality OEM looking solution.
I'll Google "straps are us" and see what pops.

 

dnguyen826,
Yeah, that's the one my wife can't reach.
Think I'm gonna check the garage sales & try to find some 1970's Platform Shoes!

 

i dont have problems reaching the gate while it's open, but i think the
damper they used is too strong.

i have to like throw the gate downwards or else it'll just fling back up
again... and my legacy wgn's gate is the opposite, so i accidentally
slam the legacy's gate and the wife looks at me like 'are you pissed off
at something?' lol

 

Although a strap is the simplist method, (but maybe getting in the way when closing), is there a way of limiting the extension of the hatch?

 

just curious, when you guys close your hatch do you just reach and grab the hatch to pull it down (the outer painted metal), or do you reach and grab that little cutout in the plastic on the right side? i always use the little cutout (i think it was meant to be used for closing the hatch), but everybody else seems to just grab the painted hatch when they close my hatch. and smudge it all up!

 

Really? My hatch is AWESOME! All I do is bring it down about half way. It will get to the point where the weight of the hatch and gravity takes over and I can let it go and it will slowly decend the rest of the way and latch closed. No force required whatsoever and it latches down almost like it's mechanical.

Give it a try. Just hold it until it gets about mid way down. You'll be able to feel the transition point from where it will want to go back up and where it will go down on its own. Once it's at that point, no force is required to close it. Just let it go and it will do it's thing.

 

no way will it do that. ive tried that numerous times while i was at
homedepot while i was carrying some more stuff in my other hand.
lol it will just spring right back up.

i might take off one of the dampers and see how it is with just one. lol

 

Maybe my dampers are the oddball . . . LOL

I'd be curious to see how the hatches are of other Fit owners. It doesn't seem like something that should be that inconsistent.

Just thought I'd post a quick update. I had to open and close the hatch a few times here today and I was a little off in regards to where it engages and falls down on it's own. It's not half way, but rather about a foot or so from the fully down position. In any event, it still closes perfectly fine under it's own weight once it gets to that point.

 

Now I'm thinking I will try to find and install a Handle instead of a strap which could get in the way. I want to find a nice OEM looking handle, then finding a reinforced area to attach it a little below the cut-out handhold.

 

You could just keep a small stool in the back.

 

imagine putting the handle on just the plastic panel and the
panel just comes off with the handle when she pulls down...
yet the gate remains open.

 

HAHA I had a girlfriend that was 4'10" once.... i nicknamed her "ottoman"

 

I have a feeling you'll be disappointed with the results



Alternate answer: "I have a feeling you'll come up short."