98 V70-XC hatchback support shocks

[FlyingVolvo]

You could have him uninstall one of them and see if that's easier. I should hold the tailgate up. Keep in mind, this will wear out that one much faster, at which point maybe you could have the second one reinstalled.

[JRL]

It's a problem but it will get better. If you can't wait for them to break in, (takes a while), replace one with a used one or your old one if he still has it.
I usually only replace one at a time
Your mechanic overcharged you, they can be bought at FCP for about $20 per shock (and they're very good quality)

[abscate]

Apologies to Sonic for completely reposting her/his idea

What a silly bunt I am sometimes.

[Chai]

You could have him uninstall one of them and see if that's easier. I should hold the tailgate up. Keep in mind, this will wear out that one much faster, at which point maybe you could have the second one reinstalled.

Thanks, I think we'll try that.

[Chai]

It's a problem but it will get better. If you can't wait for them to break in, (takes a while), replace one with a used one or your old one if he still has it.
I usually only replace one at a time
Your mechanic overcharged you, they can be bought at FCP for about $20 per shock (and they're very good quality)

Thanks. I'm going to ask my mechanic to do that. Thanks for the pricing info. It never occurred to me to check out parts prices online

[Chai]

Apologies to Sonic for completely reposting her/his idea

What a silly bunt I am sometimes.

That's not silly

[MrAl]

Hello Fellow Volvo Owners,
I've had my 1998 V70-XC for about two years. The hatchback kept falling down on me, so I recently had the "rear hatch support shocks" replaced. The cost was $102.80 for the shocks and $96 for the labor. My mechanic tells me he gave me a discount price on the shocks. They work fine. The hatchback pops up and stays up. The problem is that now I can't close the hatchback by myself. I'm an older woman with back & shoulder issues. I've tried twice, and I can see I'll be injuring myself if I try again. I went to see my mechanic and asked him to adjust the tension on the shocks. He said that is not possible. This means I have a station wagon that I can't use for all the station wagon type of things I love to do. I can't imagine how I would be able to arrange having someone around to close the door for me every time I wanted to use my car. Does anyone have any suggestions? What if I ask my mechanic to remove one of the support shocks? Would that be ok for the car? Are there other support shocks that are less strong? I'm sure my mechanic has thrown out the old parts by now. In some ways, it was easier having a hatch that didn't stay up than having one that won't close. Thanks!

Hi,

Sorry to hear about that.

You can try adding a weight to the door near the bottom where it wont get in the way of anything else.
The weight will counter balance some of the force that opens the door, and thus also make it easier to close.
That's just natural physics.
If you can get someone you know to help you with this, you could ask them to change the weight little by little until you get the right weight.

Just one catch, the force of the two 'shocks' may decrease with time and so you might have to reduce the weight over time. That means you may have to repeat the process of choosing the weight at a later date.

Ultimately a motorized open/close mechanism would work well, but you would have to get someone to install that and also to design it just for this type of car. That could cost a lot.

There's also the possibility of a catch/release mechanism, which would catch when up, release when you press a lever. There's a little risk here though because if the catch ever lets loose by itself it could come down too fast and cause injury.

[Chai]

Wow. Thanks for the suggestions!