Broken/failed Hullavator struts

You should at least call Thule.  I lost a part from a TracRac (Thule subsidiary) ladder rack that wasn't available anywhere, and when I phoned them, they sent me one for free.  They are really good to work with if you phone in.  Email and forums have their limits when asking for this kind of help.  Just saying.

This post is old but just replying in case others may find it helpful.
Used two new gas struts - part number AF042-069 from Grainger (part - 6EYH9), $50 each.
https://www.grainger.com/product/BANSBACH-EASYLIFT-Gas-Spring-Std-6EYH9

Watch this youtube.
from Jay Jeep helped., even though I improvised a bit.

This post is old but just replying in case others may find it helpful.
Used two new gas struts - part number AF042-069 from Grainger (part - 6EYH9), $50 each.
https://www.grainger.com/product/BANSBACH-EASYLIFT-Gas-Spring-Std-6EYH9

Watch this youtube.
from Jay Jeep helped., even though I improvised a bit.

So far mine has been holding up just fine. Thanks for the video, and part number they will be handy if mine takes a turn for the worse.

Good information. I bookmarked this just in case it's ever needed.

Thanks,
Al

After 6 years of use my Hullavator doesn't seem to have the lift it had when new, or I am just getting weaker with age. So I have decided to replace the struts. The after market ones that have been recommended are rated at 130lbs each which is not the amount of assist but should be somewhat more than the advertised 40lbs when new.

Has anyone else done a replacement?

The only tricky part is compressing the strut prior to replacement. I am concerned about the possibility of nicking the shaft with the wire rope clips.

Another video has been posted since this topic was started:   

https://youtu.be/DgeymU18wxQ?si=oKkah0V2Iropscn0

prusik knot and a piece of rubber for grip on the shaft might work fine...

Well one is done. Was a little dismayed that the new strut bodies are 3/4” longer than the stock ones. Holding the new one next to the old one in place it appeared that it would be 1/8” too long.

Worried that it might not work I opted to pull the old ones out without damaging them. Instead of drilling a small hole in the body to release the gas pressure as recommended in the videos. Used a 1”x1” piece of wood, and some shims to release the pressure.

Built a small press using stuff laying around and the scissor lift from my car to compress the new strut. Once everything was back together I put on the rack to try it out. In the down position I needed to give it a push to make up for it being an 1/8” too long but it worked.

Before taking the unit apart I mounted it on my car rack to measure the amount of lift with a spring scale. It measured 16lbs times 2 for a total boost of 32 pounds. The new one has 28lbs measured on the spring scale for a total of 56lbs of boost.

I’ll tackle the second one tomorrow, and will take a few pictures along the way.

Well one is done. Was a little dismayed that the new strut bodies are 3/4” longer than the stock ones. Holding the new one next to the old one in place it appeared that it would be 1/8” too long.

Worried that it might not work I opted to pull the old ones out without damaging them. Instead of drilling a small hole in the body to release the gas pressure as recommended in the videos. Used a 1”x1” piece of wood, and some shims to release the pressure.

Built a small press using stuff laying around and the scissor lift from my car to compress the new strut. Once everything was back together I put on the rack to try it out. In the down position I needed to give it a push to make up for it being an 1/8” too long but it worked.

Before taking the unit apart I mounted it on my car rack to measure the amount of lift with a spring scale. It measured 16lbs times 2 for a total boost of 32 pounds. The new one has 28lbs measured on the spring scale for a total of 56lbs of boost.

I’ll tackle the second one tomorrow, and will take a few pictures along the way.

Thank you for the information.  I am sure that I will need a similar project soon.

Paul

Second one is done. Keep in mind that 130lbs of instant force can cause some serious damage. So it is imperative that everything is secure when compressing the strut. My compressing device is crude being that it was made with crap laying around along with the scissor lift from my Subaru.

One picture is of the wood, and shims used to relieve pressure in order to pull the pin on the old strut.

The other picture is my contraption for compressing the struts.

That jack setup looks hella sketchy Mark, glad it worked out!

I have a high lift jack that can also be used to compress stuff that you can borrow if you ever need to do that again......

That jack setup looks hella sketchy Mark, glad it worked out!

I have a high lift jack that can also be used to compress stuff that you can borrow if you ever need to do that again......

Thanks for the offer.