The Nissan Path

So when I opened the rear hatch on my friend's '05 Pathfinder, I discovered that, as part of the design refresh in '08, Nissan changed the material of the rear hatch from cardboard to solid concrete.

Does anyone know if they changed the rear struts to account for this extra weight or are the struts the same?

When I pull the latch on his (2005), the lid zips right open; when I unlatch mine (2008), I have to rent a construction crane to lift the lid up. And when I close his, it closes like a normal hatch; when I close mine, it closes with such force that it feels like all of the windows are going to blow out.

I'm wondering if, when I replaced my hatch struts, I got the wrong (weaker) ones.

I replaced my original hatch struts about six months ago.....went OEM part# 40450-ZS09E and really have no complaints about opening/closing the hatch. Wife is petite and has no problems...says it's easier than her Acura which has electric hatch but occasionally craps itself and she has to close it by hand.

Here's a great thread about the rear hatch struts. A lot of people are getting higher tension struts (including myself) from McMaster-Carr:

http://thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=2551