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Tailgate on Ocean.

P

Pixcels

Lifetime VIP Member
Messages
52
Location
SW London
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 150
Anyone else feel that man/woman handling the rear tailgate on the Ocean is a fight ?
Bought our Ocean in late November'19 and we were looking forward to touring France this Spring - fat chance of that !
However we did take it for a shake down trip to a damp Norfolk right at the start of the year and the thing I noticed immediately was the weight and resistance of the tailgate.
It is a real task pulling it up and down.
I'm not in the first flush of youth but still strong enough but this is a heavy weight job.

Is there anyway to ease the pain ?
 
You could take the chairs out and put the tailgate open, facing the hot sun. Then try to close it. Good luck.

The gas struts open to about 45°, the rest you will have to push to open completely. If you want to clos the lid, you will have to overcome the weight blocking part of the gas struts. This is needed to keep the lid open with the chairs in, and even with a bike rack on the lid, in warm weather even with 2 light bikes on it.
You can mount the lighter gas struts of 920N, but then the lid will never stay open with the chairs in, and weigh a lot more to open.
The 2 1250N gas struts are there for a reason, and yes, you need some force to certainly close it.
 
You could take the chairs out and put the tailgate open, facing the hot sun. Then try to close it. Good luck.

The gas struts open to about 45°, the rest you will have to push to open completely. If you want to clos the lid, you will have to overcome the weight blocking part of the gas struts. This is needed to keep the lid open with the chairs in, and even with a bike rack on the lid, in warm weather even with 2 light bikes on it.
You can mount the lighter gas struts of 920N, but then the lid will never stay open with the chairs in, and weigh a lot more to open.
The 2 1250N gas struts are there for a reason, and yes, you need some force to certainly close it.

So a power assist is out of the question then !!
I'd have thought our German chums would have employed some clever engineering to sort this.
My daughter's Mercedes has a button - you just push it and it opens with grace and no sweat with a gentle pinging noise.
I am so impressed.
 
My son closed it today at West Wittering and shouted ‘I’m a MAN!!’ (13)
 
So a power assist is out of the question then !!
I'd have thought our German chums would have employed some clever engineering to sort this.
My daughter's Mercedes has a button - you just push it and it opens with grace and no sweat with a gentle pinging noise.
I am so impressed.

Until it doesn’t go ping and you have a trip to the dealers.
Same goes for the electric roof on my Ocean. I’d exchange it for a manual in a heartbeat.

One of the reasons for the strong struts is as mentioned the chairs and for the common bike rack.
No bike rack for me and in the hot weather it does need a bit of tug.
All these fancy motors all add to the weight and reduced mpg.



Mike
 
So a power assist is out of the question then !!
I'd have thought our German chums would have employed some clever engineering to sort this.
My daughter's Mercedes has a button - you just push it and it opens with grace and no sweat with a gentle pinging noise.
I am so impressed.
On a normal Transporter tailgate you can have an electric open/close system, but not on the California because of the weight carried of the chairs and possible double glazing glass.

If you find it too difficult to close try putting some extra things packed in between the chairs. A ground sheet, the Topper if you have one, or a bike rack.
I’m afraid it’s all a compromise. Easy to open - difficult to close. If you weaken the gas struts then it won’t stay open on its own.
 
Indeed he is !
What a brute ;-)
It's all down to the ambient temperature.
Winter - difficult to Open easy to Shut.
Summer - easy to Open difficult to Shut.
 
Anyone else feel that man/woman handling the rear tailgate on the Ocean is a fight ?
Bought our Ocean in late November'19 and we were looking forward to touring France this Spring - fat chance of that !
However we did take it for a shake down trip to a damp Norfolk right at the start of the year and the thing I noticed immediately was the weight and resistance of the tailgate.
It is a real task pulling it up and down.
I'm not in the first flush of youth but still strong enough but this is a heavy weight job.

Is there anyway to ease the pain ?

Is the VW bike rack fitted?
 
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