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Date:         Tue, 5 Mar 2002 08:24:01 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Rear hatch struts revisted. Why do they fail?
In-Reply-To:  <022101c1c403$c7602f00$6401a8c0@vista1.sdca.home.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Okay, more than you ever wanted to know about hatch struts ...

Here's what I have learned about hatch struts, after selling a few thousand of them. Yes, this is empirical evidence, not scientifically proven, but based on a very large sample size.

I'm not sure why VW went to a dedicated left and right strut (left side weaker) on later Vanagons.

Early Vans used two standard duty struts (251 829 331A). Shortly into 1982, they replaced this setup with a weak left / strong right configuration, a 251 829 331B on the left and a 251 829 332 on the right. What is the difference between the "both-sides" 331A and the "left side only" 331B? Originally, the difference was the position that it mounted (which side had the hole and which had the tab). The later one matched the mounting orientation of the right-side 332. Also, there is a big price difference (from the dealer), as the 331A retails for $78, versus $33 for the B. This is probably attributable to the fact that VW changed suppliers when they went from the A to the B, and not to any real difference in manufacturing cost. Other than manufacturer and mounting orientation, there is no difference that I have ever seen between the two versions. And in the aftermarket the 331A and B interchange, so any differences that may have existed 20 years ago, no longer do anyway. For what it's worth, the one we ship is sold as a 331A (but also crosses to a 331B).

Why did VW switch to a weak strut / strong strut combination? I've never spoken to anyone who knew for sure. Some have said that it was to support the optional rear wiper, but the data on the fiche does not bear this out. More likely VW simply did it to increase service life, I would guess. I will say that I have never heard that "one side raises the hatch and one lowers it." My initial reaction is that this is highly implausible and probably the wild guess of somebody who has no more clue as to why VW made the change than I do.

When replacing the struts, you can use any of three configurations. As VW did, you can use two standard struts (251 829 331A), or a weak left / strong right configuration (251 829 331A on the left, 251 829 332 on the right). I have not found that using the latter configuration makes the hatch significantly harder to open/close than using the former. I have found that it does seem to increase service life somewhat.

The third choise is to put the heavier duty right-side strut (211 829 332) on both sides. This is what most of my customers do. This will make the hatch a bit harder to open and close. The difference may be more dramatic at first than after a little while when they wear in slightly. Using two heavy duty struts will make it stay open better, even able to support a bike rack (without bikes). It also tends to allow the hatch to stay open in any position, which can be useful when camping, etc. In my experience, two right struts will last notably longer than a left/right pair. I have had a _very_ small number of people complain that this arrangement made the hatch too difficult to close. Not surprisingly, most of them were petite women. So if you are a petite woman, or your significant other is, you may want to consider the left/right arrangement.

I have seen (and sales have confirmed) that it is more common for a strut to fail prematurely when only one is replaced at a time. Why? My theory is that the side that isn't replaced is either already weaker than it should be, or at some point becomes weaker due to age, forcing the new strut to handle more of the weight than it is intended to, which in turn causes the new one to fail more quickly. Therefore I recommend replacing them in pairs, which seems to result in the longest lifespan. Otherwise you end up replacing one at a time on a much more frequent basis.

Is there a difference in brands of struts? Well, there have been mixed reports on the aftermarket brands on this list; some have reported that they lasted fine, others reported early failure. There is not enough brand data to identify which non-OEM brands last and which don't. And I cannot provide any input there since I have never sold anything but the OEM ones. But assuming comparable build quality, the performance of a strut is determined by its pressure capacity. The lower its rating, the less weight it can hold, which will mean the hatch will close more easily and it will probably wear out sooner. Probably some aftermarket companies are just selling off-the-shelf struts that don't quite match VW spec, but are "close enough" in their estimation, hence the early failure. Rather than chance it, I just sell the OEM ones, since the price is about the same anyway.

- Ron Salmon The Bus Depot, Inc. (215) 234-VWVW www.busdepot.com

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