I'll save you the trouble of measuring - the Rockauto site has a spec listed of 12" extended, 8" compressed.

Thanks for verifying the trunk design not changing.

 

So, can somebody tell me why NOBODY appears to have listings for lift supports past '96 models? ("Nobody" includes Rockauto, Autozone, NAPA, Pep Boys, and Advance Auto.)

The good news is, you can get all kinds of listings for '96 SC300 parts, just not past '96, and, the parts for a '96 do indeed fit into a '99 SC.

Autozone claims to carry them, but all stores in Charlotte were out of stock. Regardless, the Autozone number for the Mighty LIft part is E95270, $23.99 each (w/spoiler).

The store that DOES have them in stock (though not all locations do) is Advance Auto Parts. This is good news for East Coasters, but Advance has no stores in the west. The Strong Arm part number is 4508, and the price at Advance was $26.99 each (w/spoiler).

The hardest part of the replacement was getting the silly trunk liner back in place correctly. I had no problems at all with removing the ball studs.

And, while the new cylinders are pretty strong, they won't launch a beer can when I pull the latch. The trunk stays down until I lift it, but once up a few inches it opens itself.

 

I just ordered a set of the supports from Rockauto.com and they lasted 2 days!!!!

I am checking to see if they are going to replace them for me, but I don't understand what happened. The only thing I can think of was when I installed them they seemed to be about an 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch longer then the stock ones.

Anybody else have this problem?

 

I just installed my new supports and its great. I just stripped the old bolts so I had to order some new ones from Lexus, but no big deal.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB..._BIN_Stores_IT

I bought a pair of trunk struts from that link- installation was a breeze, fitment was perfect, and the struts work great. It also includes brand new bolts and washers too. $44 shipped, and since I'm in so-cal, it arrived in only a day

-Allen

 

Here is a Discount that is still good!!!! Use it up!!!!


Thank you for being a www.RockAuto.com customer!

To show our appreciation, we would like to give you and your friends a special
discount on auto parts.

Here's how it works:

- You give the following discount code to friends, neighbors, relatives, the guy
at the corner garage--anyone you know who works on cars or trucks:

357106335184

- When someone (including yourself) places an order at www.rockauto.com and
enters your discount code, he or she will receive an immediate 5% discount on
that order.
* If you are using our Java Catalog, enter your discount code in the "How did
you hear about us" line of the shopping cart
* If you are using our non-Java Catalog, enter your the discount code in the
"Discount Code" field of the Shopping Cart and click "Calculate Discount"
- The discount code expires on March 7, 2006; so don't wait!

You may use this discount code as often as you wish until it expires, but only
one discount code can be used per order.

**Each month we see people who put the word "discount" in front of their code
and do not get the discount. Please enter ONLY the discount code.**

 

Installed my Sach's 2 months ago, still working great Got them from: mrlousstuff.com in CA. 46 bucks shipped....it's all the guy deals in and he even gave me a call to make sure I got them okay! I don't see that kind of customer service very often!

 

I followed your lead and bought them from the same place. I'm in TN and they were here in 3 days. Installed them today and all went well. Easy swap. No more holding the trunk open with my head!

 

Here's another code from RockAuto ...

Thank you for being a www.RockAuto.com customer!

To show our appreciation, we would like to give you and your friends a special discount on auto parts.

Here's how it works:

- You give the following discount code to friends, neighbors, relatives, the guy at the corner garage--anyone you know who works on cars or trucks:

408896380570

- When someone (including yourself) places an order at www.rockauto.com and enters your discount code, he or she will receive an immediate 5% discount on that order.
* If you are using our Java Catalog, enter your discount code in the "How did you hear about us" line of the shopping cart
* If you are using our non-Java Catalog, enter your the discount code in the "Discount Code" field of the Shopping Cart and click "Calculate Discount"
- The discount code expires on June 13, 2006; so don't wait!

You may use this discount code as often as you wish until it expires, but only one discount code can be used per order.

 

This thread is an oldie but a goodie. Many thanks and good karma to those who started it and took all the pictures.

The project was completed in about 1 hour. I am very slow, with the help of this thread it is not hard.

The propane torch/heating of the ball socket is an absolute must. It makes turning the bolt very easy.

I couldn't get the clips off the stock units so I just bent them. It's amazing how easily they slip off the ends once they are out of the vehicle.

Total Cost - Ebay seller - a pair of new "StrongArm" gas charged cylinders (for a spoilered car) delivered to my front door $45.00

I never cared that the trunk didn't "pop" all the way open when I unlocked it. I hated the way it slammed when I closed it. Now, when unlocked it "pops" up about 1/2" and with just a little encouragment opens the rest of the way on its own, slowing even before hitting the stops. In my opinion - Perfect.

Now I have to close it, it doesn't slam shut on it's own.

Again - thanks to all who have contributed to this thread.

 

hey random add in here since this got revived

has anyone seen the trunk thing where it kind of like just goes straight up and the top lid of the trunk stays horizontal instead of swinging back...

i saw this one time and even though it was on a ricer, it looked pretty cool

its hard to describe so i understand if thats a no, but if anyone has any remote idea what i'm talkin about and knows if it can be applied to our cars then plz fill me in

 

flip trunk and it's tacky imo...but if you must, autoloc.com has a kit or go to home depot

 

thankyou i'll look into it and research it

 

Thanks for this thread. It gave me the courage to attempt replacing the lifts myself instead of paying $$$ to a body shop. Just wanted to share my experience:

Purchased ACDELCO Part #510128 from rockauto.com for $49.74 (includes shipping). Used a 12mm open socket wrench (as recommended) to remove the screws that attach the old lifts to the trunk. They were tight, but I didn't have to melt anything. Remember: counter-clockwise to loosen.

Also, the ACDELCOs require a 7/16" open crescent (not a 12mm -- it took me a few minutes to figure that out) to tighten. Try some WD-40 on the replacement ball-screw provided by ACDELCO to make it easier to screw it in place. VERY IMPORTANT: screw in the ball-screw BEFORE attaching the new lift.

One more thing: don't drop the washer. I did, and it fell deep into the car's body, never to be found. Had to find new washers at Home Depot.

The ACDELCOs make a swooshing sound when the trunk opens. Maybe that will go away. But it's great not having a trunk that falls on your head -- for only $50 and an hour of my time.

 

Ha ha-- I'm such a chimp sometimes--

I installed these the other day, and was pulling and pulling, trying to compress the shock by hand and remove the clip at the same time (the little rubber bumpers are hard to see from that angle) --

Finally, after turning very red, and purple and yelling obscenity's, I glanced and saw the little rubber bumper-- yanked them off, and the trunk lid opened a bit more, and VOILA!! they popped right off after prying the clips just a bit--

CHIMP with a wrench!!