The hatch… and can the height of the opening be limited???

zzz

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jack Straw @ Jun 22 2006, 08:09 PM) [snapback]275613[/snapback]</div>

have the same problems in my garage

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Robert564 @ Jun 22 2006, 09:58 PM) [snapback]275607[/snapback]</div>

Forgive me if you're already aware of this, but there is a little pocket underneath the hatch which is a 'handle' so to speak to pull down the hatch. I didn't measure this but I believe it is about 6'4" or so, which is not quite at the extended range of a 5' individaul, eh?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Robert564 @ Jun 23 2006, 07:11 AM) [snapback]275764[/snapback]</div>

One of my first mods was a trunk handle that is mounted on the bottom of the license plate. My wife found the inside handle combersome to use.

Here is a picture from the old forum.
http://priuschat.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=360

I bought it from:
http://www.540i6.com/trunkhandle.html

It works great and keeps fingerprints off the spoiler and can be reached by a 5"2" person with ease.

 

This won't help your wife, but I put strips of self adhesive rubber weatherstrip insulation on my garage door, because our Outback's hatch hits the garage door. It has worked well, for 10 years. The Prius has never seen the inside of the garage, so I'm not sure how well it would work for it.

 

you weld put a small "peg" on the end of the gas shocks that holds it up and wire up a steel line attatched to another peg or screw on the body of the car, it'd look kinda like part of the shock.

 

I'd go for the shorter strut. They sell several sizes with the same "ball stud" attachment point at Autozone. so you just pry yours off- pull that little metal band out with a screwdriver.

Then ask the kid if you can go back and just "browse" through his selection of struts in back, will likely cost $10-$20 each.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seasalsa @ Jun 23 2006, 09:56 AM) [snapback]275782[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for the link. Mine arrived and I installed it today. (With some modifications.) Seems my car only has holes for the top of the license plate frame. So I got some very short screws with nuts and bolted the handle to the license plate only and glued felt furniture bumpers to the inside. Then I put that inside the frame and put it back on the car. I'll be testing it out the next few days if I can change my habits. I have been pulling the hatch from the inside using the handle but sometimes I don't get it all of the way down. I've been pushing on the spoiler but want to stop doing that. Hopefully this handle will do the trick. What an elegant solution.

 

That got me thinking about a problem I've had. Frequently when I close the hatch, it does not close all the way. The only way I can tell is that the top corner of the spoiler is slightly higher than the stationary panel next to it.

Now, is it normal, that I need to slam the hatch down really hard in order to close it completely? I'm afraid of damaging the car, particularly the spoiler each time from pushing down so hard.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(berylrb @ Jun 22 2006, 08:22 PM) [snapback]275621[/snapback]</div>

I'm five foot nothin', can't reach the handle--didn't even know it was there for the longest time. I pull the hatch down by the lock loop thingy--that's the technical term, innit?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paco-shalom @ Jun 26 2006, 07:43 PM) [snapback]277089[/snapback]</div>

There is no possible way you can be pushing anywhere near as hard as setting a kayak on it. I did. Nothing happened.

Since then, I've moved the kayak rollers & saddles from the middle. That makes lifting & guiding a wet kayak onto the roof quite a bit easier... as well as removing the spoiler from risk.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rufaro @ Jul 13 2006, 01:02 PM) [snapback]285746[/snapback]</div>

I'm 5'1" and tried this lock loop thingy technique and got my fingers covered with grease! :blink: I think I'll stick to my 2-step method of first using the inside handle to bring it down some then using inside bottom edge of the license plate well to slam it shut.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dancekat59 @ Jul 14 2006, 09:52 AM) [snapback]286250[/snapback]</div>

Hmmm...no grease from loop thingy yet...I guess that's a joy yet to come...or maybe it all just wipes off on the black door handles...

And I STILL can't reach the inside handle AT ALL without doing myself an injury!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Robert564 @ Jun 22 2006, 08:58 PM) [snapback]275607[/snapback]</div>

Having witnessed, on 2 occassions now, the result of our garage door being opened with the Prius hatch open, I'm determined to find a solution. So far we've been lucky. The only carnage has been a couple of small marks on the rear edge of the spoiler but those spoiler attach points will only take so much abuse before they fail and depending on where the car is parked, other damage may occur as well such as hatch or hatch hinge integrity.

I'm going to first cover the offending garage door hinges with a durable, protective material of some sort. I'm also considering adding another set of mount points for the hatch end of the hold-open cylinders. The local dealership said the mount points could be special ordered for 4 bucks and change each. I'd install them farther down on the frame of the rear hatch, which would effectively further limit how high the hatch would open. The original mounts would remain in-place in the event we needed to temporarily move them back to the original hatch height for oversized cargo.

I considered the shorter hold-open cylinder solution but adding additional mounts would mean one less set of attach points to disconnect/reconnect to return to factory configuration as well as not having to carry around an extra set of cylinders.

Does anyone see any issues with this proposed solution?


BTW, as you can gather from my signature, I'm a die-hard Michigan Wolverine fan. Please, no negative Michigan football comments. After last Saturday's loss, I'm hurting enough already. As any loyal fan does, I plan to stand by my team with my head held high through this, their darkest hour. Thanks.

 

piece of string near the gas struts to stop ot fully opening

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MtBiker @ Sep 6 2007, 12:04 PM) [snapback]508055[/snapback]</div>

Try investigating the tubular foam insulation used for pipes. It comes in several diameters and can be hot-glued or screwed to surfaces.

I've used it to provide head-protection on a couple of surfaces in my basement that are easy to hit.

 

The next post will show how to do it B)

 

Something like this?


Read about it here.