2006 XC70 Tailgate Strut recommend brands?

Post by **scot850** » 04 Oct 2021, 19:26

After having issues with the tailgate latch, I do notice the now 16 year old tailgate struts are getting tired and allow the tailgate to slam pretty hard.

Other than Volvo OE what more affordable struts are out there that you would use on your own vehicle? I will avoid URO for example unless this is something they magically made well or re-brand from a good supplier. I see good old Pro Parts Sweden also sell them but again their parts can be variable as they tend to swap suppliers of parts. There is someone locally selling a pair of these for $50 CDN.

I am looking for something that will last. How about Stabilius? I think they are OEM but not sure these days.

Appreciate any guidance available!

Neil.

chris11211 · Post by **chris11211** » 05 Oct 2021, 02:11

A hood/trunk strut is not and engineering nightmare or something you should put a lot of thought in replacing. Just get the right strut from FCP; it should be Stabilius because the Volvo price is ridiculous. and call it a day.

Post by **abscate** » 05 Oct 2021, 06:01

Stabilus have been good on my P80s

Post by **scot850** » 05 Oct 2021, 08:17

I have use Stabilius before and not had any issues. So that is what I will go for. Interesting there is one company in Canada selling for $25 + tax + shipping, and Amazon.ca (totally rip-off in Canada) selling for $95 + tax + shipping each. There is even one company selling for $995 for a pair?? A new Volvo OE is $105 + tax + free shipping!!

Prices are all over the place, but Amazon is one of the last places I buy from these days as they really screw Canadians.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the wisdom as usual!

Neil.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 05 Oct 2021, 13:37

Buy once from FCP and you are set for life ( until they change the life time replacement policy). Even the best gas strut brands go bad in about 15 to 20 years. Change them and avoid real headaches.

volvolugnut

Post by **cn90** » 05 Oct 2021, 16:07

- Car came from factory with Stabilus.

- My sister who lives in Canada uses "Autopartsway", she is happy with their service.
They sell Stabilus for CAD $58/each...

https://www.autopartsway.ca/partlist.cf ... enum1/tabs

Post by **scot850** » 05 Oct 2021, 16:54

Thanks cn90. Appreciate the link. I hopefully am getting from a place in Canada for $48 for a pair including taxes and free shipping.
I'll see if they turn up and are not copies if you can tell! The current ones on the car are the originals as we have the full history for the car from Volvo. Thanks for clarifying that Stabilius is the OEM. I was fairly certain but who knows what Volvo supply today!

I used to buy a lot of stuff from FCP, but with the shipping and border taxes they are way too expensive. Returns are also expensive from here. In fairness to them they have told me not to bother returning stuff in the past. Problem comes with stuff that has a core price on it like brake calipers.

Shipping to Canada used to be not too bad from the US but about 5 years ago USPS doubled their shipping prices to Canada and reduced the service efficiency as well. IPD has some options that are not too horrible in terms of shipping but even then I can buy parts from on-line Volvo dealers with free shipping for less in many cases.

Neil.

Post by **scot850** » 27 Oct 2021, 17:43

So yesterday I got up the courage to install the new Stabilus tailgate struts. What a faff that is. Only Volvo could come up with a system that interlocks 4 flimsy plastic covers to be able to swap the struts.

Removed the center top cover. Removed the load area light first. Then the T25 screw in the base of the hole where the light came out of. Then carefully removed the panel. It is held in with 4 clips to the inner part of the load area and 6 at the back edge. At least the clips are steel, but naturally someone has been in there before so one was missing. It is a heart stopping process as the clips are very tight and the plastic really flimsy. I found removing the inner 4 first and then using a line straight flat screw driver from in the load area to prize each clip out.

Then the You have to remove the 8mm bolt at the front of the lower side window panel in the hole where the load cover sits.

It can then be pulled loose. You need to do this as the is a plastic pin that goes through a hole in the rear side sections by the tailgate.

Next pulled out the upper cover above the side window. It has a T25 screw in it into the roof. After removing that, the cover can be pulled down and out. It has molded plastic clips are part of the cover.

Finally the corner section can be removed. It is a bugger! It has 4 flimsy plastic clips down the outer edge. These are likely to break and at 2 naturally did. Looking at them they looked familiar. I realise they are the same as the those used in the P80 section of the load area cover in the same position. Fortunately I had a bunch of them.

I propped the door up with a 2" x 4" and finally removed the locking pin on the rear strut mount. These again are designed to frustrate especially on the LHS as they are hidden from view. I removed the rear one and popped the strut off the mount. It is then much easier to remove the front mount as you can drop it down vertical making the lock pin easier to access.

Installing the new strut is easiest done with fitting the front mount first and fit the pin when vertical. Then fit the rear one. Again access to the LHS rear lock pin is hard as you can't see the 2 small holes you have to slide it into.

Re-assembly is the reverse.

There are a couple of You-tube videos on this but I found them mostly helpful, the one from A1-parts is possibly the best.

Neil.

Post by **br0dy519** » 27 Oct 2021, 18:19

Slightly off-topic but I have learned to only source from three places being Canadian. Rockauto, Volvo Toronto, and local Carquest.

Rockauto has been fantastic for me. Return policy is top-notch. Shipping takes a maximum of two days to my door. I had a defective part in a kit one time and they reimbursed me the part cost at my local Carquest without needing me to return anything. Part cost including shipping and taxes is always 1/3 or less of the cost at my local parts house (don't forget to use the 5% off coupon!). Volvo Toronto has free shipping on all of those dealer-only items that I can't source elsewhere, and has lower markup than other dealerships. If the part can be had at my local Carquest at a good cost (request they look in WorldPac for better pricing), then I can have it next-day if it's an emergency.

Once the border opens back up, I will be adding the Detroit U-pull "Parts Galore" to that list. But Kenny U-pull is too far and has such low volvo inventory.

Post by **scot850** » 28 Oct 2021, 16:34

I have bought little for my Volvos from Rock Auto. They sometimes have a few parts that are OEM suppliers like Bosch at a reasonable price.

I have used Volvo Toronto and Volvo Vancouver do a similar thing with parts and shipping, however Toronto has been good over the last few years and the free shipping helps. I have found our new dealer here in Calgary is willing to price match which means a quicker receipt for parts than shipping from Toronto.

I have also used Autopartsway as sometimes they have sales which makes parts prices competitive.

Recently I have used PartsAvatar. They clearly have little stocked as it takes a couple of days or so to ship and they use Puralator but there shipping is free over $50 CDN. So if not in a rush then they are worth a look and for you in Ontario that may help also.

Appreciate the help though. Saving makes this old Scot/Canadian very happy!!

Neil.