Tailgate Struts

[Kmann]

Hi, I have an issue with my Tailgate Struts. My Cali is just 18 month old and the Tailgate is not able to lift itself more than halfway up. Even though I have removed the original bike rack.

My seller wants me to believe it is due to the cold weather (+2-5C). Well I am aware that the oil in the pumps will float thicker in colder weather, but on the other side I find it hard to believe that VW would not care to dimension the Struts propper?

What is you're experiences?

PS: I first had the imperession they needed to be changed from the 1030N til the stronger 1250N type. But I now learned that the 1250N is the standard already mounted on the Cali.

 

[CannellWalker]

We had some changed under warranty. The dealer took some convincing though.

 

[Alfokla]

IT does depend on the temperature. In summer, mine stays up with a bike on the rack. In winter I have to push the tailgate up. Mounting stronger struts would make it very difficult to close the tailgate in summer. You Will have to hang on the loop to loper the tailgate.

 

[tuono001]

I had to "pump" mine at the weekend to get the tailgate to stay open. It's just the cold weather when I need to do this, lift the tailgate up then pump up and down (only about 6 inches) 4/5 times and voila done. Mine has the bike rack on it too.

 

[Hotel California]

A common problem , you get used to it......

 

[CALI FATE]

A common problem , you get used to it......

When does HC sleep - is he human

 

[calikev]

When does HC sleep - is he human

He is in a different timezone lol

 

[Geezso]

He is in a different timezone lol

Down under???

 

[CALI FATE]

He is in a different timezone lol

Hi Kev - not sure if you picked up my note last eve - please change my 'tag' to Cali Fate thanks Tim

 

[Hotel California]

When does HC sleep - is he human

...maybe he is a urban legend.....

We do have a time diffrence,
when i posted that UK time 4:29 we got 5:29 in Belgium , time to wake up for me and i check the forum first thing ...

Oh ,and i sleep standing up

 

[MattBW]

My van is 6 months old and the struts are certainly lazy in the winter. Hoping they perk up when its warmer.

 

[WelshGas]

They are gas powered struts so pressure varies with temperature. You can get aftermarket struts with a higher pressure to cope with loaded tailgate bike racks but they could be lethal without a rack, when opening, and very difficult to close.
The factory fitted struts may not fully open tailgate in cold weather.
But they should hold it fully open no matter what the temperature.

 

[morfar]

mine is 1250N and they are the ones to be delivered if you opt bike luggage carrier, no problems for me

 

[Kmann]

Oki … sounds like you all got the issue ;-) Well they are easy to click on and off. I will consider if I go for at winterset and summerset? Or just thy to live with it

 

[Yelekreb]

I got a cheapo clothes line prop that keeps the rear open in cold weather and useful for all sorts of things in the summer

 

[calicasas]

Never had to do this in cold weather or otherwise.
Yes, the struts don't perform in winter the same as in summer, but they should hold the tailgate up. They should be fit for purpose - sounds to me like one of your struts may have developed a fault. The tailgate is extremely heavy - I uprated my struts last year to help me with the extra load of bikes on the bike rack, and there was no way I could hold the tailgate on my own with no struts in place!
Insist with the dealer....

 

[Goldie]

Down under???

We have a life down here as well as the All Blacks! The Cali forum is an occasional distraction, not an obsession.

Goldie