Sorry for my hiatus. Been working a contract and really haven’t spent any time on this Aston Martin in the past year. It’s been sitting in storage but since I got back from the US earlier this spring I thought I’d address a little issue that’s bugged me since I bought this 2006 AM V8V. When I first bought it a couple years back it had an issue keeping the rear hatch supported. I figured the fact the car sat for a long time (it only had 7k on it) contributed to the failure of the rear hatch lift supports. No big deal I thought. I’ll call Grand Touring in Toronto. They wanted $500 installed to replace the rear struts. After pausing to laugh hysterically at the quote, I said I’d just buy the parts and DIY. Being in the industry I managed a discount so the total for parts came to $146.63 for two rear lift supports.


After installing these less than 2 years ago I was disappointed. The lid still needed an effort to lift up and the force applied by the struts was barely enough to keep the lid from closing. I shut the lid – the car was parked and I never thought anything more of it. Since then the lid sat closed for most of that time. Well couple days ago I opened up the lid to check the boot connection for the battery tender and it fell down on my head. The new OE lift supports had failed again. Warranty was up with Aston Martin as it was for 1 year.

The original Aston Martin lift supports are made by Stabilus. The part number is 6G33406A10AC. They are a gas strut version lift support. Here is the spec:
Extended Length: 305mm (12”)
Compressed Length: 204.7mm (8.1”)
Lift Force: 122 ft/lbs (165 Nm)
Shaft: 8mm Steel
Connection: 10mm ball

No way am I giving Aston Martin another $146 a pair so I looked for a replacement. The AM strut spec is almost identical to the spec for the following Ford vehicles:
Ford Part Number: 7E5Z54406A10A
2007-2009 Ford Fusion (with spoiler)
2007-2009 Lincoln MKZ (with spoiler)
2007-2009 Mercury Milan (with spoiler)

I ordered two Boxi Gas Charged Lift Supports using the Ford Part number.
Extended Length: 300mm (11.9”)
Compressed Length: 210mm (8.2”)
Lift Force: 153 ft/lbs (207 Nm)
Shaft: 8mm Steel
Connection: 10mm ball

At $20 a pair they are a fraction of the OE price and having a higher Lift Force (153 ft/lbs) means they can better support the weight of the Vantage lift hatch. Replacement was direct plug n’ play, the quality of the 10mm ball connections is much better than the Stabilus and these just pressed on simply locking into place. I can feel the extra support when lifting the hatch. Less manual effort and they support the lid fully open no problem. The crucial element of the extended and compressed lengths are within the variance permitted and these actually work better than the two sets of OE Aston Martin gas charged struts they’ve replaced. I think Aston goofed on specifying the original and did not afford the amount of lift force required.

Quality difference. You bet. The cheap ones actually work. The Aston Martin struts came with a one year warranty. The cheap replacements come with a 3-year warranty. Both Stabilus and Boxi have manufacturing plants in China but both have ISO 9001 manufacturing quality certifications.
If they do fail down the road (which I can’t imagine why they would) they will be no worse than the Aston Martin OE parts but at least replacement will be a fraction of the cost.

BOXI Qty(2) Trunk Lift Supports Struts Shocks for
Ford Fusion 2007-2009,
Lincoln MKZ 2007-2009,
Mercury Milan 2007-2009 Trunk With Spoiler
BOXI#: 6393,
FORD#:7E5Z54406A10A

AMAZON.CA : $29.99 CAD (PAIR- QTY=2)
AMAZON.COM $19.99 USD (PAIR- QTY=2)




Pics: You can see the OE (new ) Aston Martin (Stabilus) struts failed - I'm holing the lid up with a hockey stick. The other pics are self explanatory including the replacements.

 

The Austin dealership is a Texas sized showroom compared to the two dealers in New England.

 

great find BMW-North. ...i just ordered a pair

does anyone have an old door strut to measure extended and compressed lengths ?

 

Did you by any chance find an equivalent for the hood struts? Mine are needing replacement.

Thanks,

matt

 

I hadn't looked for a replacement bonnet/hood strut but I will after opening my hood today and I can feel the Aston Martin OE lift supports aren't too keen on keeping the lid up. I have a fluorescent engine bay fixture that connects under the hood and it did not want to support it today where it has in the past. Stay tuned, I'll post the alternate info as soon I can spec them and find a match.

Edit: So I'm pretty certain that the front hood strut for the Lexus GS300, GS400 & GS430 is almost identical (Spec wise) to the Stabilus stut provided to Aston Martin for the following 6G33-16C826-AB with the exception that they will not be shiny silver but black. You could always spray paint them I suppose. I'm not going to. I just want ones that work.

I'll order a set of the Lexus ones by BOXI and test fit them later this week. I'll report back. Gonna get these:
Qty(2) BOXI Front Hood Lift Supports Struts Shocks Spring Dampers For Lexus GS300 1998 - 2005, Lexus GS400 1998 - 2000, Lexus GS430 2001 - 2005 Hood Boxi#:4536,Lexus OE#:5344039175
by BOXI Amazon.ca $29.99 CAD (Qty=2) ; Amazon.com $19.99 USD (Qty=2) (3-year warranty)


BTW - Scuderia sells these for about $30 USD each (1-year warranty) which isn't bad but the last time I ordered anything from them (AC tube) I paid over $100 for shipping & handling - more than the part cost and it took 8 weeks to arrive as it was back-ordered - which you don't find out till after you've ordered and paid. I imagine my dealer sells them in the neighborhood of $100 -$150 (Grand Touring markup).

 

It’s information like this that I appreciate. Members Sharing knowledge that not only finds a better product but saves a few dollars.

BMW, well done.

 

BMW-North - I've replaced the bonnet, boot, and door struts on my DB9 Volante (with AM parts), but I have no doubt that I'll need to do it again some day. Having new door struts was a revelation and made every entry and exit to and from the car so much more pleasant!
Can you tell me HOW you found the performance specs for your V8V struts? Was it just a Google search or something more involved? Thanks!

 

The hood and trunk for the V8 were easy to measure Ext Length and Compressed length but you also want to know the specified force. I use search techniques often using various oe cross reference sites, vendor catalogs etc.

It's always good to start with the OE provider to get their product number for the part and search using that - not the Aston Martin part number.

I.e. Let's try the DB9 door strut. You get the stabilus (Sachs) reference number for the part (3265YV) here:

http://www.stabilus.com/products/search-for-spare-parts/passenger-cars/"]Stabilus Product Catelog

Now if you searched using the reference number you will get more hits on competitive products. Here's one

https://www.hinscha.com/en/products/gas-springs/gas-springs/gas-spring-by-reference/

However the above site ALSO provided the detailed strut specifications - so now you can search other strut manufacturers product catalogs for a suitable replacement since you now have all the details including the Ext Length, Compressed Length, Force. etc.

 

Thanks BMW-North, great find. Just ordered mine from Amazon.ca.

 

Hopefully you're talking about the trunk/boot lift supports mentioned above? Those I've installed and can confirm a direct swap. I just ordered the replacement hood/bonnet struts and won't get them till Wednesday. After I replace and test them I'll report back confirmation of a direct swap replacement (or not).

 

Sorry for not being specific, yes just the trunk struts.

 

I just ordered a set of the hood struts. Now my door strut is getting a bit weak - it never ends.....

 

Hood Strut replacements: Ok so Amazon is amazing. I ordered these on Sunday night and they are here already. Sent by air - free?? How can that be?

Ok so if you read above you will note that I ordered struts for a Lexus GS300 to try as a replacement for the Aston Martin hood strut. Long and short - they fit pretty well and work fine and can be an acceptable replacement. There are a couple of differences though that I should point out.





One difference is extended length. The replacement struts are about 0.380" longer than the AM. Well within tolerance however and it has no impact on install. The tube on the AM OE is about 10mm shorter whereas the Boxi shaft is about 10mm longer - these offset each other. There is no issue in operation or opening or closing as a result.

Second difference is shaft diameter. The AM struts have a 8mm shaft. The replacements have a 10mm shaft. It provides a little more strength but the drawback is added weight. The AM struts being aluminum are already very light weighing in at 171 grams each. The replacement strut is steel and heavier weighing in at 295 grams.






The last difference is the slight angled end at one of the ball fittings on the replacement. Difficult to explain but due to the tapered AM hood when closed, the original struts don't actually sit parallel to each other (see rough diagram to visualize). The replacements have an angle for that purpose. Doesn’t effect operation of either original or replacement though.








Conclusion: these will work fine but if you are an OE nut - you'll be disappointed that they are not super light, shiny silver or stamped Aston Martin, after all that's what we paid for when we bought these cars. However, at less than $20 USD delivered in a day and a half, and they work ok, what's there to complain about?

Seeing this was a fast trial for the hood strut match I may take a crack at finding a more exact match (closer weight) but in the meantime these will suffice. With a 10mm shaft and steel tube they are much more robust than the OE Aston Martin hood/bonnet struts, but with that comes the extra weight. I'll have no concern hanging my engine bay light fixture - which crashed down already due to the failing OE struts, smashing the glass tubes - I cleaned up broken glass for an hour. If I find a closer match for the hood I’ll update here. If I need to replace the door struts I’ll also add that too. The trunk struts are a great match.

 

Mine came yesterday too! got them on ebay "lift struts store canada", free shipping
which is always a bonus for us north of the border. same thing came in 2 days
installed no problem.good strong strut, you could probably lift the engine out with the hood.lol

 

Replaced the hood struts over the weekend - perfect fit.

Thanks for sharing the details BMW-North.

Matt