how far up does your hatch open?

kramer · Postby **kramer** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:01 am

I'm 6' tall and I have to duck a little to get under the hatch when its fully open... which is incredibly stupid. Im wondering if its just mine, or if all of them barely open beyond 90 degrees?

I also have to buy new hatch struts because they're not holding the thing open... so I thought maybe there's something longer out there to let it open further?

08 pathy · Postby **08 pathy** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:13 pm

kramer wrote:I'm 6' tall and I have to duck a little to get under the hatch when its fully open... which is incredibly stupid. Im wondering if its just mine, or if all of them barely open beyond 90 degrees?

I also have to buy new hatch struts because they're not holding the thing open... so I thought maybe there's something longer out there to let it open further?

Mine opens all the way... Then falls about a foot.

Waiting on dealer for new struts...

NVRDONE · Postby **NVRDONE** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:23 pm

I'm 6'2" & clear mine fine.
Try pushing the hatch up & see how far it goes & how far it drops down.
My struts on my 06 are original

kramer · Postby **kramer** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 1:51 pm

My struts are basically shot so they don't keep it fully open... but if I force it all the way up it still grazes the top of my head when Im under it. There's no way that's normal....?

If you're 6'2" and clear it fine, then I guess I have my answer. I wonder why though..

Don Danger · Postby **Don Danger** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:40 pm

My 05 was pretty saggy when I bought it so I had the dealer replace the struts. Now it holds all the way open like it should. At 6'1", I still feel like I have to duck a little bit every time I walk under it though.

SilverGhost · Postby **SilverGhost** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 7:54 am

I had mine replaced on my '06, under warranty, in December. The hatch would only support itself about 3/4 of the way up. I could push it up to the limits of the struts, but it would drop back down again. After replacement, the hatch opens on its own all the way. I'm exactly 6' tall, and I don't have to duck to avoid it.

BamaRed · Postby **BamaRed** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:45 am

Just replaced the struts on my 05 SE, and it made a huge difference. The thing now actually opens like it should.

$11 bucks or so a piece from Courtesy Nissan.

-BR

dmasini · Postby **dmasini** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:01 am

Cold weather kills my struts. If it gets below 30 the gas in the struts barely hold the rear open for me. And I'm 6'5"... In the summer they work fine though.

shv2sail · Postby **shv2sail** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:27 am

I'm 6-1" and it grazes my head when open...and have to fully duck when it's cold. This is after the initial struts were replaced which barely openend the hatch at all...seems to open 'most' of the way now.

Time for the OME kit and larger wheels/tires to give me a bit more head clearance

macbell7 · Postby **macbell7** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:22 am

These factory hatch struts are absolutely horrible.
Heres a how-to thread off the newx.org forum on buying heavier load rated struts that fix this problem for good.
I've been meaning to get around to doing this since my struts have shown some weakness this winter, but I rarely open the lift gate enough to want to spend $40 replacing something on a 1year old vehicle. Anyways, check this thread out and if someone does this fix, post some pictures.

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread ... ight=hatch

shv2sail · Postby **shv2sail** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:41 pm

Thanks macbell7! I may just do this mod...even with the 'replaced' struts (which are just the non-total-junk-version of the original struts) I'm still less than happy with the hatch performance.

Since I'm opening this ALL the time (3 kids, new baby, dogs, hauling stuff, etc, etc) making the change to my 1 year old pathy would definitely make a difference.

I'll report my findings!

shv2sail · Postby **shv2sail** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:53 am

OK, my "new" OEM struts are starting to die now too (hit my head 2x this weekend).

I took a look at the McMaster-Carr site per the Xterra folks, but not sure what strut to order. I measured the stock struts - 19 1/4"L extended, 13 3/4"L closed (5 1/2" stroke)...and I'm not seeing anything close to that. Any suggestions??

Guess I'm going to delve into the WWW to see what else I can find...

falcondrgn · Postby **falcondrgn** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:56 pm

Hi shv2sail,

Were u able to find which ones would be best for our pathfinder on the Mcmaster-Carr site? I am in desperate need of new shocks for the hatch as well. Thanks so much.

shv2sail wrote:OK, my "new" OEM struts are starting to die now too (hit my head 2x this weekend).

I took a look at the McMaster-Carr site per the Xterra folks, but not sure what strut to order. I measured the stock struts - 19 1/4"L extended, 13 3/4"L closed (5 1/2" stroke)...and I'm not seeing anything close to that. Any suggestions??

Guess I'm going to delve into the WWW to see what else I can find...

shv2sail · Postby **shv2sail** » Mon May 03, 2010 12:14 pm

No luck so far...been sidetracked by other projects, though. I think I'll remeasure and get back to the search - tired of having to push the hatch up to keep from hitting my head!

how far up does your hatch open?

how far up does your hatch open?

Re: how far up does your hatch open?

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