C5 estate tailgate springs

Julz · Post by **Julz** » 28 Oct 2010, 15:40

Is it possible to adjust the spring tension on the rear tailgate or do they have gas struts somewhere? Mine have become very lazy since it's got colder outside.

mooseshaver · Post by **mooseshaver** » 28 Oct 2010, 18:09

Don't have an answer, but both my C5 Estates, and friends Pic also do this every year when the weather is cold, so you are not alone.

VertVega · Post by **VertVega** » 28 Oct 2010, 18:57

If I remember correct Xantia tailgate strut has fixed force of 480 N, each.
C5 strut might have even more force.

Post by **RichardW** » 28 Oct 2010, 20:15

C5 estate appears to use a gas strut fitted inside the roof behind the hinge (there are two - one for the glass and one for the main part). God only knows how you replace it - remove the head lining???

In any case, Citroen want nearly a ton each for the main ones (8731F4), glass ones are 'only' half that (8731F7), so I'd just have a piece of wood in the car to hold the door up!

cachaciero · Post by **cachaciero** » 29 Oct 2010, 14:42

RichardW wrote: In any case, Citroën want nearly a ton each for the main ones (8731F4), glass ones are 'only' half that (8731F7), so I'd just have a piece of wood in the car to hold the door up!

Go and look at www.strutsdirect.co.uk/ I am sure that they will have a solution somewhat cheaper than Citroens prices.

cachaciero

Julz · Post by **Julz** » 29 Oct 2010, 15:34

cachaciero wrote:
Go and look at www.strutsdirect.co.uk/ I am sure that they will have a solution somewhat cheaper than Citroëns prices.
cachaciero

unfortunately not got my struts, found another site www.sgs-engineering.com
that has the glass ones but not the main ones at £12.99

addo · Post by **addo** » 30 Oct 2010, 02:15

Can't you regas? That's really common here.

Gassers work on the proinciple of the unit seals being like a "one way valve". Of course, damaged or excessively aged seals aren't good prospects.

Julz · Post by **Julz** » 15 Nov 2010, 13:45

Had a reply from www.sgs-engineering.com

Unfortunately we cannot supply new struts for the whole tailgate. The spring around the outside of the strut is unique to the C5 and we do not supply an equivalent. We may however be able to re-gas your original struts depending on their condition.

A re-gas is £25.03 delivered for the pair (£7.50 per strut plus £6.30 carriage and VAT) and struts are usually turned around within three working days.

Just need to work out how to get them out without wrecking the head lining

Philjw · Post by **Philjw** » 22 Dec 2010, 19:56

Hi Jules,
Did you have a go at having your struts re-gassed? Mine are playing up in the current cold spell.

Post by **tmead** » 27 Feb 2011, 10:38

Any success with this ? Mine are exactly the same since the weather cooled off, and it's a right pain.
I'm a bit concerned about the end under the headlining - anybody done this ?

Tim

Pleiades · Post by **Pleiades** » 27 Feb 2011, 12:51

Tailgate struts...

Now you all know that I do not want to use this forum for blatent advertising, but I can re-gas tailgate struts for most cars.

The first sign of the struts loosing pressure is that they only hold up on sunny days, ie the heat makes the gas expand and the pressure goes up a little, when they get cold the pressure drops and the boot lid smacks you on the bonce hence reminding you to get them sorted.

If you take the struts off and push them down they will still have a fair bit of resistance, even though they dont work properly, if you push them down on a set of bathroom scales, the point that they start to move is telling you in KG, how much force they still have left. A strut that has the mark 480 nm on the side, should move at about 48kg.

If there is no pressure at all in the strut, ie, the strut collapses down and does not come back out on it's own, then the chances are that the seal in the strut has failed and the strut although will take a charge, will not last.

Run your fingers down the shaft of the strut, If you find any rough bits or rust pits, then these will have torn the seal, again making the strut useless.

As said, we can re-gas struts and have been doing since the days of the GS but you would have to send yours in to be done as we do not carry core units.

Regards
Martin.

Post by **tmead** » 04 Apr 2011, 12:46

Anybody know how to do this without damaging the headlining ?

Tim