Just opened hatch got it to about a foot open and it tried to take my jaw off and slammed into the fully open position thought it was going to rip itself off can the gas struts fail like this?.
I've never seen them fail this way - normally they fail to remain upright or don't go all the way up and you wind up hitting your head on the lock mechanism. Either way, I would check them out and most likely replace them
I could've done with that happening many years ago, when a prat was 'in my face' in a supermarket car park. He could see I was going to open the tailgate, but still had to step back smartly. In fact thinking now I'm surprised he didn't try to get me for attempted assault (he was that grade of foolish)
Make sure the on the right way, MK2 have them mounted upside as far as I'm aware and the oil damper in certain designs is only made to work one way. If you've have failed like that on the car, I would guess there is an issue with the oil orifice or piston seals that is letting the oil bypass the piston too quickly. If you're looking for replacements, Stabilus Lift-O-mat are very good
Got a new pair of struts got one of the old one's off when fully compressed and let go snaps to full extension in the blink of an eye the new ones take about a second next problem fitting there the same length as the old but I need to compress it to fit Haynes didn't mention anything about this nor do any of the vids on YouTube.
Both struts fitted and hatch now opens in a smooth non jaw breaking fashion found it impossible to fit so came up with this
How much did you have to compress them? They should just clip straight on EDIT: Golf 2 struts should be 500 mm and 270N force I think
yeah you shouldn't have to squish them to fit, if you were changing one at a time and the new ones are slightly longer then that would explain the issue. take them both off and fit the new ones after, making sure when fully extended the hatch doesn't hit the roof. I had mk3 seat ibiza ones on mine for a while, were a little stronger than stock which is what I needed as I'm running a stealth shelf. also used mk3 golf ones as well. one or both of these sets opens the hatch slightly further than standard as well
Only had to compress about 5mm would have to do the same to refit old ones both are 500mm not sure what's going on there Old ones rated 350nm new 420nm hatch opens and shuts like new my jaw is very happy now thanks for the help everyone.