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10 minute read
CHEAP Scirocco hatch struts replacement aka gas springs lifts lifters etc
Compliments of JonnyPhenomenon @ vwvortex.com
12-8-2012
I am about to tell you where to get replacement hatch struts (gas springs) for your rocco, for under 35$ a pair. so if you want your rocco hatch to do this.....
...then take a seat and read on.
(Or just skip to the end if you don't have time to read.)
Many of you fellow rocco owners know full well the agony of having the back of your head bashed in by a falling hatch. Between the frame of the hatch, the window glass, the rear wiper motor and the massive rubber monstrosity VW called a "spoiler", the total weight of the rocco hatch is absolutely insane. Its HEAVY. like, almost TOO heavy to lift by yourself heavy.
if you also tack on the extra weight of the rear deck lid, you very quickly go beyond the force that the stock hatch struts can lift. if you went so far as replacing your deck lid with a home made pegboard jobby like I did, you can forget about it. The stock lifters will NOT hold up. and god forbid you stuck a set of speakers in there. you will be just another rocco owner who keeps a broom handle in the trunk.
Brand new OEM lifters will not work either. you quickly find yourself with another dent in your skull and an even bigger dent in your wallet.
Hatch trauma is no laughing matter...
go ahead and just check for pricing and availability of the stock part numbers. I'll wait.
c533827550 or 533827550a
But fear not. I have done all of the *Cough* "heavy lifting" for you and I present you with a fantastic solution. IE: Better, stronger, cheaper.
I went over to www.mcmaster.com and started looking at my options for gas-filled springs fittings and found all sorts of great stuff. the mcmaster site is very informative and has a good explanation of the way these work and a rudimentary guide on selecting the right force required for your application.
Since I didn't know exactly how much my hatch weighed, I did a sort of halfassed test on my old spring by standing over a weighing scale and pressing down on the strut with just enough weight to get it to break free and I kept the force steady until the strut was fully compressed. that weight was just about 90 lbs. Two of these together should therefore be able to lift 180 lbs. My hatch must weight about 185 with my deck lid attached then, because it wont stay up. Ive had to carry one before, and knowing how much of a bear that was, I'd say 185 is a pretty damned close guess.
Then I measured the length of the stock lifter while compressed and while extended and I selected a lift strut that had the same lengths but with a higher lifting force. in my case, I went with 120 lbs because I thought I might install speakers in my deck lid some day, and I didn't want to have to do it again.
note: you could go with a strut that had a longer reach of you wanted to, but if your compressed length was longer than your stock one, you would be in big trouble the first time you tried to close your hatch. also, the measured lengths of the replacements does not include the length of the fittings on the ends, so I had to consider those measurements when selecting the lifter.
Next I had to select the fittings for the end of the strut. these struts come with a threaded end (metric M6) so you pick your ends. Awesome.
they have all sorts of ends to choose from. I bought a handfull of different ones, and an assortment pack too. (I thought the extras might come in handy and they already have more than once!)
The ends I finally settled on were perfect. As good as the stock fittings. Better even. for starters, the eyelet I selected for the end that mounts to the car had the perfect width and hole size while only being one piece. (not like the stock ones with a plastic cap that slipped over the end)
The ball socket end that I selected for the "hatch" side was a perfect fit as well. it is nylon and has a lock that you can release by sticking a little screwdriver under a ways before you pull the socket off the ball.
Note: all modern VW's come with this type of ends on their lifters.
here are the part numbers and current prices for the struts and ends.
PN: 9416K185 Gas Spring with Threaded Ends 120lb Force, 18.22" Extended Length, 7.87" Stroke $14.27 Each
PN: 9416K86 10 mm Nylon Ball Socket (for M6 Thread Gas Spring with Threaded Ends) $1.28 each
PN: 6465K26 Nylon Eyelet End Fitting for M6 Thread Reducible-Force Gas Spring 0.32" 0.83" 0.44" 0.39" $1.49 each
for two each of all of these, your total would be a whopping $34.08. but here is the awesome part:
I didn't need two. when I test fitted my first one, my hatch lifted so magnificently, I didn't even bother to put the other one on. take another look at the video above. In fact, I have the other one holding up the hatch in my 91 vanagon. and I'm willing to bet the vanagon hatch is even heavier than the rocco hatch. it certainly sticks OUT farther.
a word about MCmaster.com
I order stuff from mcmaster all the time. Their site is awesome. they have EVERYTHING. and lots of useful information too. you can thank me later. 
Helpful tip taken straight from the mcmaster site: mount the struts so the rod end is attached to the hatch. that way when the hatch is closed(like, all of the time) the rod end is facing down. this will extend the life of your struts.
So thats basically it. if your existing struts are just too tired to securely hold your hatch up, order up one of these from mcmaster.com. if they are totally blown, go ahead and order two. I haven't installed two in my car, so I cant tell you how hard it would be to close the hatch with two 120 lb lifters in there, but I bet it wouldn't be a problem.
that's all for this DIY. hope it proves helpful for someone.
12-12-2012
ahh yes, the infamous MCMASTER book. they used to send me TWO copies of it every quarter. it took me FOUR phone calls and over a year (and a half?) to get them to STOP sending me the "dead tree edition" of their catalog. Most of my phone calls to them were like "Dude seriously, save a tree man. I have "THE INTERNET", I dont need a GIANT FRIGGING DOOR STOP!"
their website is so much better to navigate through and search than the book is. I dont know why they even bother to print it at all.
When Im not tinkering on VW's I do a lot of electronics stuff too, and Digikey and Mouser have books just as big. Mousers book is about 4 inches thick and full color glossy on almost every single page. I bet that book cost about 100$ a piece to print. I might spent 50$ a year there...
mouser
digikey
mcmaster, at 7 lbs 10.5 oz
12-26-2012
Yes, S1's and S2's use the same lifter strut.
Looking at the parts catalog at vagcat.com, you can see the part number for the s1 tailgate lifter strut is 533827550 (no A)
the parts catalog says that 533827550 is no longer available, and that 533827550A is the replacement part.
My guess is that the A revision was developed when the original ones were too under powered...
12-31-2012
Ironically, absolutely nothing. I cant think of anything really useful to use them for, and most useful things have already done. most things I really want or need to do, the Arduino either cant do, or something way way simpler would do just fine.
I will send you a message and tell you all about it, but here is a teaser of more things to come...
6-8-2013
I want to thank Fruitbat and mozcar for their contributions to this DIY. I will edit my original post to include this info.
Note: when determining the force needed on the struts, the only method I had available was to stand the strut over a bathroom scale and measure how much weight I needed to apply in order to get it to compress. I cant imagine that this is the "right way" to do it, but it was the best I could come up with. Also, the strut I was "testing" was not strong enough to hold up the hatch, so I rounded up.
I have stumbled across another site today that offers replacements by make and model, I am sending them an email right now asking them what the lifting force is of their Rocco struts. I will post back if I get a reply. (that site is http://www.autogasspringsstore.com/ )