Originally Posted by
dedwards0323
Sorry to hear about the damaged hatch glass encountered by a couple of Crossfire Owners while attempting to change the hatch struts. Surprising how heavy the rear hatch is - guess it justifies why there are 2 support struts holding it up. Anyway, I encourage any Crossfire Owner that is attempting a DIY repair that he/she has never executed before, to download a copy of one of the Service Manuals listed on this Forum and review the Service Procedure for that repair and/or see if a fellow Crossfire Owner has already documented that DIY repair somewhere in this Forum. A major disaster could most likely be avoided .I've attached a copy of the page from the 2007 Service Manual that clearly states to support the hatch in the open position with a suitable prop device before attempting to remove a strut. I was fortunate that by the time I needed to replace the hatch struts on my coupe, the existing struts would not support the hatch in the open position. So I knew I had to support the hatch with a prop device (2x4) before attempting to remove & replace the struts one at a time. I held the hatch open while my wife snapped the new struts (one at a time) in place for me. Team Work!!
Not trying to poke fun at anyone as I've pulled some 'bone-head' steps over the years while executing DIY repairs on my 2007 Coupe. Been There; Done That!
Don't worry, poke away! I made it a point to post on this thread and share my stupidity to hopefully prevent someone else from making the same mistake.
I've changed plenty of struts over the years and I would never change struts on a hood without bracing, but SUV windows that are vertical and small I will sometimes just hold up with my shoulder. I feel I broke 3 cardinal rules today. All were easily preventable and if any one didn't happen, I may have come out OK, but all three was too much and did me in.
1) Cardinal sin #1, rushing. The struts were delivered just when I was ready to leave. Instead of waiting when I had proper time, I thought they will be so quick, I'll just pop them in before I go.
2) Cardinal sin #2, taking a short cut. Instead of taking the time to go to the garage and find an appropriate board to brace it, I talked myself into believing it was more like an SUV hatch and dramatically underestimated the weight from it containing the spoiler and it being nearly horizontal instead of vertical.
3) Cardinal sin #3, using the wrong tool. Yes, even though the required tool is just a regular screwdriver, what I had immediately on hand was a ratcheting screwdriver. I love that thing for being a screwdriver, but it actually fails as a pry bar, because it can only lift on one edge, not both. I needed just the simplest twist left and right to pop off the old strut, but the ratchet would only let it pry one direction. The answer was to get get a proper, simple screwdriver. what I did, was to use my other hand to switch the ratchet the other direction. Because of that, my shoulder shifted just enough that when it popped and I flinched, the hatch slipped off my shoulder.
Every bit just a little wrong. Serves me right. I hope it can be an example for others. Take your time, don't take shortcuts and use the right tool for the job. It's gonna cost me $325, but surely could have been a lot worse.