Curious...

Arkady001

Arkady001

Club Member
Apr 2, 2013
461
129
Iserlohn, Germany
Not a problem, more the absence of one.
I replaced my tailgate struts on Saturday and only got to drive it this morning for the first time since.
I immediately noticed that the car is quieter - a lot quieter. It's like driving with foam earplugs in compared to previously.
Also an annoying but unidentified rattle which manifested over rough road at slow speeds has gone.
I would have thought the tailgate hinges and release catch were sufficient in themselves to hold it fast, regardless of the condition of the gas-struts, but apparently not.

Any thoughts on this?
 
Maurice said:
Perhaps the old struts were causing a rattle?
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That definitely seems more likely.

My perception is that the struts don't actually do anything when they're in full compression, so shouldn't be applying any pressure to the tailgate. And if they were, I would expect the car to be louder, since the only possible effect would be to push the hatch up and away from the seals.

Arkady, did you do anything else to the car when you replaced them?
 
Not a thing. The old struts were shot in that the tailgate fell on my head at the slightest provocation, but they weren't loose in the sense that they could be wiggled by hand. I had to push up against the tailgate to fit the new ones, but once fitted they compressed slightly so the tailgate now sits in the same place as before when open. The parcel shelf also seems to bounce a little less than previously.
Perhaps when the struts are compressed the tailgate is held slightly under tension?

It's wierd.
 
Arkady001 said:
The parcel shelf also seems to bounce a little less than previously.
Perhaps when the struts are compressed the tailgate is held slightly under tension?
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Yes, that might be it. Possibly my assumption about force from the struts when they're compressed is wrong.

Actually come to think of it, Al Pid had a problem with his boot release after he fitted SGS struts - they were pulling up so hard on the tailgate that the lock struggled to operate.

That's probably your answer. In all likelihood, you car now sounds the way it was originally supposed to.
 
Just to throw another idea in the mix, which hopefully isn't the case: are you sure the rattle has gone? If it's external and you're now much better insulated from the sound, perhaps it's still happening but you can't hear it.

I just say this because at least one of my brake calipers rattles like crazy over rough ground and with the window down it's rather embarrassing. But with the windows up, I can't hear a thing :)
 
When you removed the old struts, did you check the security of the ball head studs in the tailgate frame as these can work loose and cause the rattle, especially with old weak struts but the new tighter struts with that extra compression will kill any vibration from them.
 
Pid_16V said:
When you removed the old struts, did you check the security of the ball head studs in the tailgate frame as these can work loose and cause the rattle, especially with old weak struts but the new tighter struts with that extra compression will kill any vibration from them.
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Absolutely. The lower ones are in pretty good nick: LH still had paint on it which made it a very tight fit with the new strut... RH was slightly corroded where some of the paint had flaked off. Wire wooled all the remaining paint and surface rust off then greased it. Upper mounts - which appear to be removable and which are black, were both tight in the tailgate frame and showed very little sign of wear, bar a slight silvering where the socket had been in contact.
All sockets were well greased before fitting.

- - - Updated - - -

Jack said:
Just to throw another idea in the mix, which hopefully isn't the case: are you sure the rattle has gone? If it's external and you're now much better insulated from the sound, perhaps it's still happening but you can't hear it.

I just say this because at least one of my brake calipers rattles like crazy over rough ground and with the window down it's rather embarrassing. But with the windows up, I can't hear a thing :)
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No, this was a bloody loud, distinct metallic 'clonk', which almost always occurred at slow speed - 15mph-ish when turning left over uneven roads. Lots of shoddy, crumbling pothole repairs on the junctions in town, coupled with the slack German habit of thinly tarmacking over the older cobbled streets in towns here, means urban streets in smaller towns here are pretty dismal, so I have ample opportunities to listen for it. I still get a quieter clunk as the exhaust clobbers the rear subframe over these ******* roads, but the really big clunk has gone.
The rear droplinks were swapped out three months ago as they were both broken, and I'd assumed that was the culprit, but the noise remainied. Until now.
 
ive noticed a rattle too, but Ive reduced its radius down to either where the rubber of the boot shelf meets the back panel, or where it hinges to behind the seat. Its a pathetic sound to have
 
elipton said:
ive noticed a rattle too, but Ive reduced its radius down to either where the rubber of the boot shelf meets the back panel, or where it hinges to behind the seat. Its a pathetic sound to have
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Experience from my previous Cougar led me to use those stick on felt pads you put under chair legs to prevent scratching laminate floors to bolster the parcel shelf contact points adjacent to the hinges and the two plastic circles where it hits the tailgate by the rear screen...
 
Like this...
16324291105_ce7e991332_c.jpg
 
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