pilot2

I installed a pair of aftermarket (Ebay) $37.99 rear lift-gate hatch supports. Significantly less expensive than the OEM part. What I discovered was, if I replaced both, the hatch came-up VERY enthusiastically and I had to invite Arnold Schwarzenegger over to close the hatch; previously, with the tired-out OEM originals, I had to have Arnold open the hatch. I then removed one of the new supports and re-installed ONE of the original supports...perfect, hatch comes-up smoothly on its own and is easy for my wife to close the hatch. Plus, I have a spare! No need for Arnold any more.

trhs75

I know what you mean -- I practically had to swing from the hatch to close it after I replaced the struts. I guess replacing just one shouldn't harm anything, but I would be tempted to tug on the "new strut side" to close it rather than tugging on the other side and torqueing the liftgate and/or stressing the hinge and strut mounts. I'm glad your solution worked. If you bought two, save the other one for when another strut fails!

SVRX300

I found and did exactly the same. One new plus one original weakened is a well balanced support.
I forgot what the new brand is but it's a bit noisier than the original support.