My hatch shocks worked when I first bought the car but then I added the jdm crx spoiler and the added weight of the spoiler caused them to blow out quickly. I didn't want to spend money on new shocks because with the added weight of the wing, they would not last long. I have been using vise grips to hold up the hatch for years but recently JamesS suggested a creative solution to the problem - Drill a hole in the shaft and use a cotter pin. It works great and best of all, it's absolutely free.

 

was that hole always there or did you drill it? my ef hatch supports suck ***** too..i dont remember there being a lil hole in the body

 

A lot better then the $10 DIY PVC pipe prop haha

Was the hole already there or no?

 

To drill the hole, I held one side of the hatch up with my vise grips and I had to scuff the surface a little so the drill bit would catch. Then I chamfered the hole to make it a little easier for the pin to line up.

 

Really AWESOME idea..never crossed my mind..i just got some new ones for my rex, for free that is..friends working at autoparts store..but if it fails, then i knw what to do now.
COOL.

 

HMMM YEAAA i think ill just spend the 30 bucks on some new ones..

 

plus the new ones come with a lifetime warranty

 

its over 50 for the set, but thats an awesome way to do it. the douche before me drilled some **** in the tail light and used a metal rod jammed in the hatch and tail light to hold it up (i still need new ones ). i picked up new lifts last year and still work great. My sisters VW has something just like that to hold the hood propped up.

 

really, 50? we sell them for 20/each

 

yea..and since when do they come in a set?

 

lol

 

he must be talkin with the 10 dollar JDM tax for both

 

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Good job gringo. I still have to get around to doing mine. Was the shaft that you drilled thru solid material, and what size is that alan head key?

I think I'm going to use a hairpin cotter pin on mine so it locks on the shaft:


You probably could just ditch your other strut too and go single style - you know, start a trend ...paint the strut that you are using a particular shade of green.

 

Are you planning to drive with your hatch open?
I don't think a simple pin is going to fly out when you have the weight of the hatch pressing down out it while you are digging around in the back of your car.

 

im talking about regular auto parts store. plus with my discount i get them both for 35

 

when i had my crx the struts were blown out and i used visegrips.. pretty common and like dude said, much better than a 10 dollar pvc pipe rig..
The problem with not getting new struts is you have to either use your key or jam something under the trunk popper so you can walk around to the back of the car and pull it up.. what do you do about this? drill a hole in the latch and stick a pin in it? =P

 

you cant close the hatch with the allen wrench in there...so do you put it in every time u open the hatch?

 

^ is that a serious question

 

kinda, im getting a little confused...i had an ef hatch a couple years ago and my hatch was kinda whacked out. if you close the hatch, the lifters will compress, pushing the shaft into the cylinder. it LOOKS as if the allen wrench is not allowing this to happen.

 

I think you are serious.
Not sure if I should laugh or just feel bad for you because everyone on here is reading this too.
Your best bet to avoid the flames is to blame it on Monday.

Just say NO to drugs!

He put the allen wrench in there to lock the hatch open due to having blown hatch shocks.
This keeps the hatch up without using a pole or something to prop it open.

 

ok well yea that makes more obvious sense, to be honest i didnt read the entire post and whether or not he stated "i put the allen wrench in there every time i open it".

so yea, at first i was just thinking this was a "permanent" fix, not just something you slide in there every single time u open the hatch.

 

great DIY

 

loled

 

I used a 5/64" drill bit and the shaft is solid metal.