I have done a writeup with pics on how to install bonnet & boot struts for VL's. I did it in the walkinshaw.net technical section, and you can get to it from the link below. http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showth...276#post260276 (http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/showthread.php?p=260276#post260276) Cheers, Craig

very good craig the bonnet struts seem to be at a very acute angle , do they cope with the weight of the bonnet fine , and is the bonnet extended up as much as it used to with the original steel arm. cheers andrew

Yeah andy they work great like that. I find that my bonnet sits maybe a little higher than when the steel pole was in there.

There is no difference in the way my bonnet sits at all.... The bonnet actually sits a fraction higher (about 1/2 a cm) that with the pole.

good article mate. Just wondering when u went to the wreckers were the vl wagon tailgate struts abundant or did they only have a couple ??

i got some the other day - plenty around - anything form vb to vl wagon!

excellent cheers for the advice illusiv will be doing it myself very soon

Make sure that you get good gas struts if you are getting them from the wreckers. Some will be old and won't be able to hold the weight of the bonnet, and getting hit by a bonnet in the back of the head hurts. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Yeah there was plenty of em.... and yeah check that they still hold a bit of weight!

I've just done my boot, using a new VS strut and ball joints - using the same mounting points from your write up (which is excellent - cheers). But now I find that the corner of the boot, when shut, sits about 5mm up from flush - as the strut is pushing the hinge up with its pressure. Any ideas how to resolve this? I'm guessing this is why the factory Walky ones went from the hinge to the back of the boot instead of straight down?

Hmmm im not 2 sure... I'll measure the length of my boot strut tomorrow. Mine sits fine, with no probs at all. Quote: Originally Posted by Scott I've just done my boot, using a new VS strut and ball joints - using the same mounting points from your write up (which is excellent - cheers). But now I find that the corner of the boot, when shut, sits about 5mm up from flush - as the strut is pushing the hinge up with its pressure. Any ideas how to resolve this? I'm guessing this is why the factory Walky ones went from the hinge to the back of the boot instead of straight down?

I did have some issues with it being flush before hand, had to push down on the corner every now and then. Maybe I had a problem with the hinges to start with, which has been made more obvious by the strut. I shut myself in the boot (hehe) and gave the hinge a "tweek" down with a crowbar, seems to have helped - but still interested if anyone out there knows how to fix this type of problem properly.

Did it on my bros car, the strut is heaps stiff, so im going to change it with a softer one and she will be sweet.

How did it go?

Hey ILLUSIV - could you possibly tell me what size the boot strut is? I went to super cheap auto but only saw really long ones... Thanks

I'll have to measure mine... i'll do it over the weekend and get back to u...

Awesome! Thanks mate!

i like ur ideas ill will do that soon to my car thx

i spotted your how-to on walkinshaw.net and did it, easiest and quickest mod I've ever done and it makes things so much better. Thanks man!

I did this to my car and came with 2 problems... The second problem was the struts i brought from thw wreakers were F##ked . Brought brand new ones. Fixed the problem. The first problem was the ball joints from the VL tailgate wasnt long enough to fully go into the bonnet. (didnt have enough thread). We overcame this by using ones of a Ford XE/XF tailgate as the thread is longer. Cant fully close the locking pins on them tho but they are holding nicely and tight enough not to come off. The pics are of the struts on bonnet. And also the factory bonnet bolt. The ford ball joint bolt. Then the VL ball joint bolt. U can clearly see the VL has not much thread. Thanks ILLUSIV for putting this thread . Great info. Great help. Looks Great .