Good afternoon fellow AM devotees! I learned this trick 20 yrs ago with the engine struts on my 1987 3.2 Porsche Carerra, discovering that if I left the engine cover UP, it would allow the struts to "unload" and thus lengthen its life. This was later done on other 911's that I owned and I swear by it today. I have zero empirical evidence that it works other than my own experiences w/ said struts on multiple cars over 17 yr period.
My only concern is that, w/ my 2010 V8V, that the interior lights don't seem to go out very quickly.....(Yup, my OCD kickin' in here!)......thoughts?
P.S. I have already had to replace both door struts and the gas cap cover strut, sooo......

 

It would be interesting to know what kind of an internal pressure change takes place between compressed and extended. On my own DB9 I've seen where an old strut will initially hold up the hood or trunk, then send it crashing closed on its own a few minutes later. Not something I want to repeat.

They're a wear item like tires, and seem to last about 5-6 years in my experience. They're not that expensive so I just change them on a ~5 year schedule. When you put the new ones on you realize just how weak the old ones were.

 

Yes, just went through this on my DB11. Trunk wouldn't stay open and both doors were weak. I replaced all four struts. Not very expensive doing a DIY.

Not meaning to impugn the suggestion of leaving everything open as that could very well work as suggested. On my car, and in my current garage arrangement, I wouldn't be able to leave both doors open all the time without causing a serious garage real estate issue. Also, do not want to expose my interior to constant ambient environment although I'm sure some Volante guys/girls do all the time.

 

Replace struts or battery. Your choice.

 

Who wants to look at a car in the garage with everything open? Lose a lot of space as well.

 

You do make a good point-----

 

Anyone have a source for struts for my 14 Rapide S?

Reading this, I'm hearing my wife complain about getting the door open and out of the car. I thought it was just the nature of the "swan" doors and her small frame but maybe the struts are weak. And the rear hatch is pretty difficult to lift too ....

Hoping there are non-AM branded struts available at a reasonable price, thanks Steve

 

The usual sources for genuine AM parts: astonmartinbits dot com and scuderiacarparts dot com are generally a lot less costly than dealer prices.

 

So for winter storage disconnect the battery and remove all the gas assisted struts?

 

On my DB11 I got the door struts from Redpants. On the trunk/boot I did custom struts that I configured close to OEM but chosen from a large Strut distributor in the US.

 

I happen to have replaced these on my cars a couple of weeks ago.
AM part number is AD43-F23504-AB.
OEM supplier is Stabilus with part number 031286:
Total length = 326 mm
Stroke = 110 mm
Eject force = 160 N

 

THANK you EJ. Great info - many here appreciate it I am certain.....