After a helpful furniture store employee tied down the hatch on my 2000 Civic several years ago, the hatch refused to stay up.

Honda wanted $80+ each for the lifts, and I was told it would be 1/2 hour labor ($50) to replace them. After they were ordered and came in, I returned to the dealer and was told, oh no, it will take 2 hours to replace your lifts ($200 labor). So I told them what they could do with their lifts and left...

When a friend was visiting last week, he said it'd take him 5 minutes to replace them for me but the two auto parts stores we tried didn't have the right part. He wound up shipping me 2 lifts he bought at Pep Boys in California.

I put them on this afternoon, but the rear hatch still won't stay up. The hatch feels like it weighs 200 lb. when the lifts are off....What am I missing? Is there some adjustment that needs to be done to them first? Is there some spring mechanism hidden in the top of the hatch that is broken? What's up?

Any help? Thanks.

 

Purchase carbon fiber hatch matched with some Tien lift dampeners!!! Kidding, nothing is broken, most likely you'll probably need some good old WD-40 in the crevice. Or it could be that the aftermarket lifts are complete **** which means you'll have to purchase oem or stronger aftermarket such as Tien...

 

the aftermarket shocks are garbage or they gave you the wrong ones.

 

just get the oem ones from a dealer or a junk yard. you already know how to install them.