Ok my bad. I noticed your VIN up there and really should have looked for it before. The answer is no I've never seen your car before so they were a mail order customer. I like to ask but don't always get VINS from them unlike that certain left coast vendor back in the day.
BTW if I can get a revised set with a quicker takeup in the near future we can do a swap if it really bothers you. Just don't tell anybody
Rob

Quote Originally Posted by PJ Grady Inc. View Post
Hi George,

Thank you for providing your honest opinions as I appreciate all feedback both good and less so as well.
Actually your original pistons are about 9 years old as the first build # on the label is the year built not the last as that's SOP in Europe.

I would need your VIN to see if the car was serviced here so you could PM me that if you're really interested. It could be that they were strictly a mail order customer but it would be easy to to find out.

I checked a car in the shop and it just happened to have hood pistons on it from the same supplier that are a year newer (200 and they behave very differently! They need help all the way up and after 1/2 way if you let go they hold that postion binding slightly. Once up they stay up but are rather weak. I never really cared for that supplier but it's strange how your old ones are so different from these. Maybe you got the turbo model! Yours are doing pretty well for 8 to 9 year old pistons but maybe the southern climate has helped a bit with that.

I swapped out to my new ones and as I paid attention to when the piston takes hold on their own I must agree that you are correct but once they engage they are strong and controlled. I didn't notice this initially and can look into a revision on the opening engagement if the design allows it.

Honestly you are the first person to notice this and I'm not sure it's really an issue but I will pursue the matter with my manufacturer to see what they have to say about it. if it can be revised with no drawbacks it could be changed on the next batch. IMHO it's not really a problem...however things can always stand improving.

Using your/that criteria for gas spring happiness I think you'll be OK with the sunshade pistons as they take over after about 10" or so of travel.
BTW why drag out the install as it only takes a few minutes to swap out a set of hood or sunshade pistons? Please advise ASAP.

I really appreciate the feedback as it's the fastest way for me to incorporate improvements in the parts I have made. Please keep it coming if you want the best future products possible. I'm on a mission from who? No actually I just like making things the best they can be. Thanks again.
Rob Grady