Universal Lift Supports
A gas lift support is the purest universal part there is. It has four numbers: how long it is open, how short it closes, how hard it pushes, and what is on each end. Nothing else about it is vehicle-specific at all.
That is why the same strut turns up holding a hood, a liftgate, a tonneau cover, a toolbox lid, a truck topper, a boat hatch and a piece of shop equipment. Match the four numbers and it works. Shopping by year, make and model hides that completely, because it shows you one part number and never tells you that two hundred others are the same strut.
Every lift support below is listed by those four numbers, including the force rating in pounds, which is the figure that decides whether your lid actually stays up.
straighten How to Measure
Measure the old strut from the centre of one end fitting to the centre of the other, and read the force off its body if it is still legible.
- Extended length. Fully open. Start here: it sets how far the lid travels and where it stops.
- Compressed length. Fully closed. If this is too long the lid will not shut; the strut becomes the stop.
- Stroke. The difference between the two. On most struts it is close to half the extended length.
- Force, in pounds. How hard it pushes. Too little and the lid drifts down on you; too much and you fight it closed, or it strains the hinges and the glass.
- Both end fittings. A ball socket (clips over a ball stud), an eyelet (a hole over a pin), or a blade or bracket that bolts on. Each end can be different.
If the old strut is long gone, measure the open and closed distance between the two mounting points instead, and start from the force the vehicle originally used, because a heavier lid or an aftermarket topper usually wants more, not less.
A gas strut with the right extended length, stroke, force and end fittings works wherever it is mounted. Lengths run from the centre of one end fitting to the centre of the other; stroke is the extended length less the compressed length. Force is the strut’s rated push at full extension, and it does not change with the inch and mm toggle because it is a weight, not a length. Hover a photo for the part number and a larger picture.
No lift supports match those measurements.
Other ways to find a lift support
For other parts sold by measurement, see universal shocks and struts by length, universal steering dampers, or all universal parts by size.
