Jfrahm

I wanted to get some hatch struts and thought I'd also look for some with a little less force, as the stockers are pretty strong and maybe it'd be just as well to get some less powerful ones. Plus there could be some common struts that serve for a fraction of the price.

Well yes siree there sure is:
2002-2007 Jeep Liberty hood struts. $11:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-2X-Fron...7/122616925109

These are working fine on one of my S4s and the hatch pops up a bit when unlocked but stays in any lifted position, at least at 60F and when new.
Your old hatch struts might work as hood struts but be careful, the aluminum hood is light and takes little force to keep open. Using good hatch struts on the hood equals a bent hood.

If you look up the specs on these they are considerably less powerful than the stockers. I measured my dead stock hatch struts at around 40lbs, close to a good hood strut. The stock hatch struts are like 110 lbs and these are around 70 lbs per each so a lot less force but enough to get the job done and at a lower pressure they will probably last longer and be nicer on the related hardware. The Sachs version of the Liberty hood strut is $25/pair, PM2030 is their part number for the Liberty hood strut or SG306003 for the more powerful (and $40/pr.) stock 928 hatch strut.

Hope this helps someone,
-Joel.

Fogey1

Thank you, Joel. For posterity, the ebay title is: "New 2X Front Hood Lift Supports Shock Strut Prop Arm Rod Jeep Liberty SG314037"

It would be helpful to me, at least, if you described the search technique and/or terms you used to home in on and identify the compatible struts from the world of struts out there. Off the top of my head, the specs are length open and closed, power, and mounting ball size - but I've never had great success searching by specs.

Your method might work for other parts.

Jfrahm

Good point Will, however people should check any info they get off the 'net. PArts can also be wrong or mislabled or defective so check the operation carefully as a body related part like this could damage something expensive.
I measured the struts on the car and also looked up the specs of the typical replacements, there are some good sites for this.

Sachs version of the stock 928 hatch strut (shows a lower opening force than some specs for the 928 I found):
https://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/st...-strut-20533w/

On a chart of universal replacements I found the same numbers, or close enough without being too long or short, and googled up those part numbers to find a vehicle they fit. I found the Liberty hood strut that way. Universals seem to cost more than struts for a specific, common vehicle.

The Sachs version of the Liberty hood strut (not a bad price at $12 each actually):
https://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/li...strut-pm2030w/

Then I double checked the specs of the Liberty hood strut, found some cheap, ordered them up, and checked them again before installing, size-wise they are a great fit and very easy to install if you have a prop rod to support the hatch while you replace the struts one at a time. The only tool I needed was a small screwdriver to pop the old strut retention clips partway off, I do not recommend forcing them off with the clip in place. I also put some grease on the ball-ends.
It will be interesting to see if the el-cheapo ones I got last decently, maybe it's smarter to get a better brand name, we shall see. I had a new Boxi brand hood strut fail within days on my S8 but they replaced it with a pair w/o complaint and the replacements have been fine. I got Boxi struts for the hood of my 968s also and so far those have been fine also. The $11 struts are my first foray into the no-name bottom-feeder hatch strut part world, hopefully if they survive a week or so (or fail in-warranty) they'll then last a good long time.

Maybe if new struts are actually supposed to make the hatch rise up full you'll not be happy with the lower force struts, never owned a pair of new struts with the full OEM force so I do not know what that is like but I am happy just having it pop up an inch or two and then stay put.

Cheers,
-Joel.