Rear hatch struts 2001 GTS

[plumcrazy]

ebay ones worked fine for me

[viperer]

Anyone know what the sensor on the left hatch strut is for?

[ViperGTS]

Alarm.

[viperer]

Ah, so in case they break the glass, the hatch strut would extend and set off the alarm. Sound right? Btw, the MaxPow struts I got through eBay are pretty nice. Good lifting power, relatively easy to close with easy install. Only down side is that the piston shaft is larger than on, so this alarm sensor bracket will not fit unless enlarged.

[MH60M]

*****Long term review*****

I am now buying the OEM lift struts because the MaxPower or eBay/Amazon ones are warping my glass. The metal mounts are still bonded fine, but the excessive lift generated by these struts seems to be slightly lifting the glass off the seal at the rear/upper mount areas.

Just my experience....

[soundkillr]

When Cory Gehling came over to my house to check out my Viper, one thing he said was to always store the Viper with the rear hatch open/not latched shut.

He said he has seen many situations where the pressure of it closed and slight temperature change etc. had actually shattered the rear window instead of the separation.

Curious if anyone has heard of this or had it happen. Needless to say, after that I unlatched the rear hatch and just set it down as far as it would go without latching and then covered the car.

There should be more concern and discussion about this issue. This happened to me in the middle of the night, in a warm garage. My rear window apparently flexed and exploded. This was on a low mileage car with oem struts. Ruined the paint. So if you're storing the car, I'd suggest not leaving the glass latched. I don't know of any Gen Viper other than Gen 1 that doesn't have glass breakage issues. Gen 2 rear windows can pop, Gen 3 and 4 front windows, and Gen 5 rear windows....

[98RedGTS]

Shouldn't the vents in the hatch expel any rise in pressure well before glass break? Only issue I've heard about has been the issue of the glass coming unglued. There's nothing special about the G2 hatch as a lot of cars of that era had glass hatches. So if temp differences was the cause it seems like it would be a widespread issue across multiple cars. For instance, I would expect the same from my C4 Corvette.

For G5, those hatches were breaking due to the rear defroster.

[Lalmeida617]

There should be more concern and discussion about this issue. This happened to me in the middle of the night, in a warm garage. My rear window apparently flexed and exploded. This was on a low mileage car with oem struts. Ruined the paint. So if you're storing the car, I'd suggest not leaving the glass latched. I don't know of any Gen Viper other than Gen 1 that doesn't have glass breakage issues. Gen 2 rear windows can pop, Gen 3 and 4 front windows, and Gen 5 rear windows....

Guys I have an Rt/10 so I don’t know if my suggestion will work.....Can you disconnect the struts before storing your cars (just pull the struts off and latch the glass? Is it a PIA? Or is it the latching itself that breaks them (being pulled down to hard) can the latch be shimmed up .010-.020 to ease the pressure pulling down on the glass? Just wondering

[soundkillr]

The struts can be unhooked easily. But if you watch the back glass when closing it will bow out anyway. My solution was to unhook struts and leave glass propped against the seal. In some cases the rear glass hinge will unglue from the glass, and in some cases it won't and the glass will explode outwards from the pressure...
I've had a few c4s, rx7s etc.. of that Era and never an issue. Needless to say I was shocked. In my glass the rear hinge piece was still very secured to what was left of my window...

[MH60M]

Shouldn't the vents in the hatch expel any rise in pressure well before glass break? Only issue I've heard about has been the issue of the glass coming unglued. There's nothing special about the G2 hatch as a lot of cars of that era had glass hatches. So if temp differences was the cause it seems like it would be a widespread issue across multiple cars. For instance, I would expect the same from my C4 Corvette.

For G5, those hatches were breaking due to the rear defroster.

The Viper vents work fine. It's the elevated pressure in the aftermarket struts that is lifting, warping, and breaking the glass. This problem is worse with summer heat or direct sunlight.

[AZTVR]

It's the elevated pressure in the aftermarket struts that is lifting, warping, and breaking the glass. This problem is worse with summer heat or direct sunlight.

This concern is exactly why I decided to buy the MOPAR struts instead of the cheaper generic ones. You never know whether the engineers specified a specific pressure due to their calculations, testing, or experience. Of course, that is always the problem/risk with buying aftermarket products.

[BLRDViper]

1st Pic is removed original strut. 2nd and 3rd Pics of replacement strut. Bought from Rock Auto Jan 2016 for $14.56 each. Been in 3 years and all is well.
1997 GTS.
BLRD
removed OEM Strut in new strut bag.jpgreplacement strut rear hatch 97 GTS.jpgreplacement Strut rear hatch.jpg

[capevettes]

I see my old thread has been revived. Might as well give a status/update. Over 2 years later and the OEM replacements are working great. No glass problems either.

[MH60M]

OEM ones were $27ea online and my local Dodge dealer had them for $32ea. They had a build date of 2015. While changing them out, the OEM ones are clearly much less powerful than the MAXLift Amazon struts. I feel better now....It's irritating to wash your car and have the water shoot all over in the trunk because of the glass is lifted off the seal.

[Taximan1]

ALL of the aftermarket options I have seen are too long on the driver side, and will not allow the alarm switch. this will result in battery drain, and of course alarm will not work.. The OEMS are the way to go... MAXPOW (amazon) are super powerful, and as mentioned, the glass separation is always a concern on these cars..

As with many Gen2 parts. Last time I checked, the OEM struts were VERY limited. (dealer told me 6 left in the country). so I'm not sure if they are still making these... ?? maybe they have restocked since then.. I grabbed all 6,PM me if anyone needs a set. Brand new in package 4763387AB