Best door struts?

[Redsquall]

I See that DMC now has the stabilis door struts that slow down as they close for $30 a piece it appears.
Here’s the thing, John Hervey offered these several years ago and they appear they look exactly the same and they were the same brand and had the slow closing feature but one of them has already gotten weak on me. Are these the best ones to get or is there an alternative that works well? Thanks

[Timeless]

PJ Grady or Delorean Go are good options.

[Chris 16409]

Stabilus was the original equipment manufacturer for all lift struts on the car. I have always had best results with Stabilus. You can get the correct Stabilus door struts on RockAuto for about $20. They hold up well over time.

[David T]

I just got a pair from PJ Grady and they do have the nice "slow down" at the top of the stroke so the doors don't bounce when they open. They cost more than Rock Auto. Figure if you get 5 years out of a set you are doing OK. It is impossible to tell what you are getting by comparing the outside appearance.

[Mark D]

+1 on the PJ Grady struts. I've had them on my car for about three years now and the doors still open quickly even in colder temps. As already mentioned, they have the soft stop at the end of travel so the door doesn't bounce at the top. I believe they are also the correct colors to match the original factory look.

Prior to the Grady struts I had a pair from DMCH... They were good for about a year but after that the doors wouldn't fully lift on their own were were drooping when it got cold. After two 1/2 years I had to lift the doors up by hand and the doors would not stay up all the way regardless of temperature. Sounds like they are no longer carrying these though if they've switched to Stabilus

[mluder]

+2 on the Grady ones.
I've tried DMCH, and Jonh Hervey's and the Grady ones have lasted the longest and worked he best in cold weather.
Of course I bought them maybe 3 years ago so I can't speak about what he offers today.

Cheers
Steve

[DL4567]

Anyone bought door struts from DMCH lately? I just received a set, and they have no slow-down at all at the top of travel, despite that promise on the sales page.
Is there something wrong or is this normal? I see people love theirs from Grady -- wondering if I need to switch.

My previous set was from DMCH, and I was very happy with them. In fact, they lasted forever! I installed them in 2004.

[dmcerik]

Mine are from DMCH. I got them about 5 years ago and yeah, they bounce at the top.

[David T]

You can't always go by the description on the website. When the stock runs out sometimes they have to change vendors or the part is not exactly the same as previously ordered. If you want the latest information, it is best to call. From my experience the struts PJ Grady offers seem to be the best but not the cheapest. They do seem to last longer, compensate for temperature, and have the soft stop when opening. The last set I ordered, one was stronger than the other. I just switched sides and it seemed to be OK. You can't adjust both door torsion bars to be exactly the same. If you need struts for the bonnet and the engine cover too, some vendors have a deal if you buy a whole set of 6.

[Patrick C]

You want PJ Grady's struts....accept no substitute! The absolute best and custom manufactured for his specifications. And they dampen very well at the top, even after several years.

https://pjgrady.com/product/lift-piston-set/

[Mark D]

Checking in to say the set I got from PJ Grady are still working flawlessly after around 4 years.

[Grover]

Checking in to say the set I got from PJ Grady are still working flawlessly after around 4 years.

Just my experience here with the PJ Grady struts. I installed a set and they lasted a few months and then lost a lot of lifting ability. I brought the set to PJ Grady and they were tested on some other cars and proved to be bad. I got a replacement set when a new batch came in and installed them on my car and had the same issue. The passenger side now barely opens (note: torsion bar torque has been checked, reinforcement strut mounts are installed as well and struts are installed with proper orientation).

I only was replacing because my Northwest Temp adjusting struts were over 5 years old and starting to loose some lifting ability, however these old sturts work better than the PJ Grady struts I have on the car after only a few months.

I will be trying the DeLoreanGo struts this driving season.

[steve]

Just my experience here with the PJ Grady struts. I installed a set and they lasted a few months and then lost a lot of lifting ability. I brought the set to PJ Grady and they were tested on some other cars and proved to be bad. I got a replacement set when a new batch came in and installed them on my car and had the same issue. The passenger side now barely opens (note: torsion bar torque has been checked, reinforcement strut mounts are installed as well and struts are installed with proper orientation).

I only was replacing because my Northwest Temp adjusting struts were over 5 years old and starting to loose some lifting ability, however these old sturts work better than the PJ Grady struts I have on the car after only a few months.

I will be trying the DeLoreanGo struts this driving season.

I also had poor results with the PJ Grady. Pass. door only 1 year and 1/2 of lift disappeared and this door is not used that much.
Have since replaced driver door after poor results in 2nd year. Went with the MaxPower. Very satisfied, pass. door after 1.5 years as good as day installed
I believe bar torque is also up to date and orientation correct. Maybe my doors are heavier.

Steve

[dn010]

Checking in to say the set I got from PJ Grady are still working flawlessly after around 4 years.

Same here, I've had Grady struts installed since 2016, no problems.

[DMC-81]

Same here, I've had Grady struts installed since 2016, no problems.

+1. Might as well add to the chorus. 2016 for me too. I'm not sure if Rob changed suppliers, etc. since then, but you can call to verify and ensure stock.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=63640&d=1589028899

[SS Spoiler]

Don't know what's going on, but at 168,000 miles I'm still running
on my original angle drive and my Hervey door struts are 18? 20?
years old and the passenger door sags just a little. It must be the
clear Montana air, the lack of government interference and very little
virus....or what?....

[Chris 16409]

You can get the OE supplier Stabilus brand on RockAuto for les than $20 each. That’s what Toby was selling. My car doors always seemed to work best with Stabilus struts.

[Elvis]

Hi, which brand of gas struts is Grady selling ?

I am looking for the Stabilus ones with soft stop that John Hervey sold - these are the best.
(Stabilus made in Mexiko)

Is Grady selling them, too ?
Can someone please share a piture of these from Grady ?
On the website they look different.

Thanks a lot,
Elvis & 6548

[mark w]

Hi, which brand of gas struts is Grady selling ?

I am looking for the Stabilus ones with soft stop that John Hervey sold - these are the best.
(Stabilus made in Mexiko)

Is Grady selling them, too ?
Can someone please share a piture of these from Grady ?
On the website they look different.

Thanks a lot,
Elvis & 6548

Gradys struts are custom made to his specs, not off the shelf or same as others are selling.

[Elvis]

Pictures ? Details ? anybody ?

thanks

[dn010]

The ones I got from Rob stop softly. The doors open with force and near the end slow the door down so it doesn't shake the entire car. I can take some photos but it will look the same as what Dana already posted. I do not know the source Rob uses, it may be easier to call him and ask him about them.

[Elvis]

OK, thank you for the reply.

So they are not like original and the ones Hervey sold - with black pistons,
but otherwise you seem happy with them ?

Still some sell these without the damping feature and way too strong.

BR
Elvis

[Rich]

Anyone bought door struts from DMCH lately? I just received a set, and they have no slow-down at all at the top of travel, despite that promise on the sales page.
Is there something wrong or is this normal? I see people love theirs from Grady -- wondering if I need to switch.

My previous set was from DMCH, and I was very happy with them. In fact, they lasted forever! I installed them in 2004.

DMCH door struts have been my go-to's for some time now. The current ones are ~4yrs old, so not "lately" bought. They work fine. Little or no bounce.

My torsion bars are set to minimize the force needed to close the doors from inside while still opening the door to the top hands-free. As a result it's easy to latch the doors from inside on the first pull and the door doesn't fly up and bounce when opened.

A separate factor with lift struts is the color of the components. At least the door struts, as noted in this thread, can vary in their color details from vendor to vendor. Aside from performance, durability and price this may be a factor to buyers.

My DMCH units are all-black, including black piston shaft and end-mounts. This appears to still be the case at DMCH: https://store.delorean.com...door-strut (https://store.delorean.com/p-9411-door-strut.aspx)

[ssdelorean]

Don't know what's going on, but at 168,000 miles I'm still running
on my original angle drive and my Hervey door struts are 18? 20?
years old and the passenger door sags just a little. It must be the
clear Montana air, the lack of government interference and very little
virus....or what?....


I need to move to Montana just for the clean air angle drive life!

[Trstno1]

Just had my PJ Grady door strut on my drivers door start to sag after only a couple of years. I really liked them because they seemed to be the strongest on the market out of the others I had tried.

Anyone heard from Rob lately? I want to order another, but they say out of stock on his website and nobody is answering the parts order hotline.

[andyo]

Just had my PJ Grady door strut on my drivers door start to sag after only a couple of years. I really liked them because they seemed to be the strongest on the market out of the others I had tried.

Anyone heard from Rob lately? I want to order another, but they say out of stock on his website and nobody is answering the parts order hotline.

Rob was responding on a FB post in the tech help group the other day. He stated that he has sold the majority of his parts stock to Delorean EU, and isn't currently working on DMCs, but hasn't totally retired. He stated he was considering moving out of state and may open a smaller DMC operation wherever he ends up.

[andyo]

Facebook conversation can be seem here.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/290720127800158/permalink/1715052522033571/


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[Rich]

Just had my PJ Grady door strut on my drivers door start to sag after only a couple of years. I really liked them because they seemed to be the strongest on the market out of the others I had tried.

I can't answer your question about Rob's availability.

You may want to try DMCH. My last set of DMCH door struts lasted 7 years, a record for the car over the decades. Stabilus brand is what they supplied.

Replaced them last week with a new DMCH pair, again Stabilus and again with the same all-black finish that I prefer.

I noticed this set has the open-arrest feature. They lift the door quickly until the last few inches of travel when there's more dampening. No door bounce. So these DMCH units are now similar to PJ Grady door struts, and perhaps others, in that respect.

[L3V3L1]

I recently got the stainless steel door struts from deloreango. I really like them, so much so I immediately ordered the louver struts and the hood ones also. I wish I just bought the entire set from the get go.

[Timeless]

I recently got the stainless steel door struts from deloreango. I really like them, so much so I immediately ordered the louver struts and the hood ones also. I wish I just bought the entire set from the get go.
Is there any statement from them about increased longevity vs. black ones? With the higher price that may lead some to think so.

[L3V3L1]

Is there any statement from them about increased longevity vs. black ones? With the higher price that may lead some to think so.
The website has the same description for the black and the stainless struts.

[Helirich]

Just found this thread and read through it. I have another project that I used gas struts on and did quite a bit of research on them. The part that might be of interest to you guys is “oil filled gas struts”. Regular gas struts use compressed gas as the spring. The rate and power of the spring is related to the psi of the gas and size of the cylinder.

Oil filled gas springs have oil in them (obviously) that slows the spring rate down without decreasing the power. When I was sourcing the springs for my project, they had both styles in McMaster-Carr. I just went there now and can’t find the dampened ones. It would seem like they would be a good choice for our doors to stop the door from “slamming” open.

IÂ’m going to do some more research on this when I get a chance. If there is a proper one for our application, I will post it here.

[DrWin]

Just found this thread and read through it. I have another project that I used gas struts on and did quite a bit of research on them. The part that might be of interest to you guys is “oil filled gas struts”. Regular gas struts use compressed gas as the spring. The rate and power of the spring is related to the psi of the gas and size of the cylinder.

Oil filled gas springs have oil in them (obviously) that slows the spring rate down without decreasing the power. When I was sourcing the springs for my project, they had both styles in McMaster-Carr. I just went there now and can’t find the dampened ones. It would seem like they would be a good choice for our doors to stop the door from “slamming” open.

IÂ’m going to do some more research on this when I get a chance. If there is a proper one for our application, I will post it here.

Would oil filled springs also lower the difference in power of the strut, related to temperature changes, b/c of the difference in rate of thermo-expansion between the gas and the oil?


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[Bitsyncmaster]

Just found this thread and read through it. I have another project that I used gas struts on and did quite a bit of research on them. The part that might be of interest to you guys is “oil filled gas struts”. Regular gas struts use compressed gas as the spring. The rate and power of the spring is related to the psi of the gas and size of the cylinder.

Oil filled gas springs have oil in them (obviously) that slows the spring rate down without decreasing the power. When I was sourcing the springs for my project, they had both styles in McMaster-Carr. I just went there now and can’t find the dampened ones. It would seem like they would be a good choice for our doors to stop the door from “slamming” open.

IÂ’m going to do some more research on this when I get a chance. If there is a proper one for our application, I will post it here.

So are the ones you are taking about have a coiled spring in them? I would think all the struts that slow down at the end of the stroke have some oil to provide that function and they all use gas to work as a spring.

[Helirich]

So are the ones you are taking about have a coiled spring in them? I would think all the struts that slow down at the end of the stroke have some oil to provide that function and they all use gas to work as a spring.

No, I think they were gas sprung also. It is my understanding that all gas springs have some oil in them. But the ones I was referring to had more oil. On my other project, I could not get the right size, so I never got to feel one. If you use McMasterCarr, you know they have a little section explaining about things they sell. But now that they don’t seem to offer the oil filled kind, they took the explanation down also.