[mcwpdl]

i bought a pair of trunk lift supports for almost $300

thinking that it should be a simple replacement.

damn........

one of them they gave me had the ball end already placed on the support

the other one had the ball end separated in little vinyl bag but i accidently

placed it on the support myself b4 i realized that i can't take the ball end off.

Yeah i realized i messed with something i didn't even know

so i came to this forum looking for an advise and there it was!!!

telling me it's not a easy job to replace those....$%#%@#$%^@#$

Hopefully they will take them back when i take those back for refund.

So.....it might save you money and time if you just pay the labor for them to

do the work.

 

[gAngsTa]

NO. you are suppose to put the ball ends into the struts. Then screw the other end of the ball end part to the hatch. It's a SIMPLE install, don't bring it to the dealer!!!

 

[kkrkeith7]

You are supposed to attach the bolt in the upper lift gate first before attaching the ball to it, if you attach the ball first, you can still do it it just makes it a little harder to tighten the bolt that goes into the upper liftgate. the bottom part just has 2 bolts that go in. The old nuts DO have locktite on them, or at least mine did.

 

[mcwpdl]

Oh~~~
hmmm.....i tried unscrewing the upper liftgate sideways for older parts but it wouldn't move a bit. maybe those were tightened too much or becuz of locktight....
and ended up messing up the bolts on the upper liftgates....dammit....
i feel really stupid T_T
but thank you guys tho
i tired to save some money but might end up spending more money
good ol trial and error.....i won't make the same mistake again on those lift supports
when the time comes to replace them again in future (in next 5years??)

 

[Tuppuguy]

I stripped my bolt trying to unscrew them off the hatch.

 

[Kauchipoteto]

If Toyota used Loctite to hold the strut bolts in place, then the only way to get them apart easily is with heat, according to their FAQ :

Q: How can I remove a fastener that is "permanently" locked in?

A: The application of heat is needed to remove a fastener that can't be removed with a hand tool. Temperatures of 325F and above is needed to break down a standard anaerobic, 500F for high temperature Anaerobics. A heat gun or propane torch is commonly used to do this process, and careful disassembly should occur while parts are still hot.

I don't know a safe way to apply that kind of heat where it's needed without damaging the surrounding materials...maybe a big soldering iron would do it? The fumes from the heated loctite wouldn't be pleasant either.

 

[gAngsTa]

just spray WD-40 to the bolt and get the right # wrench(I believe it's 12). At first I can't get it out due to incorrect wrench, then i bring the car to Autozone and ask them to open it for me with the right one.

 

[Carbonized_GT]

Psh, Who needs trunk supports, use a 2x4.

 

[kkrkeith7]

Actually, if I remember correctly, in order to get the old ones off, I couldnt remove the ball from the bolt so I could use an impact wrench, so I trie to use a standard open end wrench and that didnt work at all. Then I ended up rounding over the corners of the bolt. So I was like sh*t. So I drilled sideways through the bolt and cut it off, then used a screw extractor and backed it out. It was a pretty big PITA for such a small job. Im not sure why they decided to use Loctite on something like that doesnt get a whole lot of torque applied to it in normal use.

 

[mcwpdl]

yeah.........i stripped the bolts.....both sides
tried it after i spray some wb40 and didn't work
and i dont even have a impact wrench T_T
how much does an impact wrench cost? like $50? hmmm....
damn it all toyota!!! such tricksters....
but i love my car tho haha