Brcobrem

Hi 1st Gen Forum.

I noticed some squeaking when opening the rear "door" (ie. trunk gate). Turns out the nylon/plastic bushing on the pressurized arm/strut was missing on one side and the other side is about ready to fall out. This bushing is where the arm attaches to the body.

My interim fix was to oil the little shaft where the arm is attached (ie. minus the bushing). Crude, but effective.

Anyone know if there is a repair kit available for just the bushings?

I suppose I could fabricate some sort of split bushing and get them to fit around the shaft and over/past the shaft's head. I would also need a stack of appropriately sized "C" clips to keep the split halves centered. Sounds like a clean, but pita job to to correctly.

I see these arms are under extreme pressure. I also see there's a square groove around the arm closer to the door. Is there some special tool to compress these arms for removal/installation ?

I also see the arm/strut assembly available aftermarket ~$40US for two.

I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

Regards,
Brcobrem

thomas1

The aftermarkets work great....just wanted to tell you...

01rxwhite

My '01 has the same issue. It sure would be nice to be able to buy the bushings for a few bucks, as opposed to buying the whole assembly for $40. I thought about wrapping electrical tape around the stud a few hundred times!