Not a how to or DIY - just a simple poll:

How often do you do this? I replaced all of mine, hatch and window, about 3 years ago. Hatch isn't staying up already. It's a PITA job so I used good OEM or Porsche parts and now I have to do it again.

Anyone have a similar experience?
tks

 

Bought my Cayenne in '15 and I think the hatch struts were newer at that time. I remember having to plug a speaker back in where someone forgot to hook it back up.
They were noticeably weaker after about a year. It had the OEM Stabilus which are obviously junk that lasts about 4 years.

I had an Amazon gift card and bought the cheapest set I could find using Prime just for the fun of it. Both main and glass struts came out to $65 total.

One thing I noticed was that the Stabilus seemed to get slightly too weak and stay that way. During cooler weather the hatch needed very little force to stay up, hot summer days and it could hold position.

The new Chinese set I installed a few weeks ago...holy crap. I haven't decided if this is a good thing or not, but the hatch can take your head off coming up. And a smaller stature person will have a very difficult time closing it.
I'm hoping it breaks in after a while and tames down. With any luck, the extra strength will add to its life span. Then again, they may fail in 6 months...we'll see.

 

Great stuff, Thanks.

Since both the glass and the hatch seem to work together maybe used the chinese/amazon you used for one and Stabilus for the other?

And yes - they work better in hot weather than cold weather. Seem bassackwards to me.

 

During daylight hours, does it live outdoors or garaged ?

 

Outdoors, all time. Texas. Under a parking awning about 1/2 the days during the day.

 

I would think the heat is not kind.
Ours are getting more time ...but lives inside, and never out for any length of time during the day.
When BILs german transitioned to outdoors here, it was most unhappy.

 

We have a 2006 CS bought in 2011. I've replaced the rear hatch struts twice in the nine years of ownership, with the last replacement in 2018 so approximately every 4 or so years. The replacement struts were sourced from Suncoast Porsche Parts both times.

BTW, we have never open the rear glass and as such don't know if the strut that supports that window is functional or not.

 

Works better when it's hot because the gas inside the struts expands in the heat and exerts more pressure. Simple Pressure, Temperature, Volume equation. Boyle's Law I think.

 

I recently purchased a 2008 CTT and replaced the hood shock, emergency brake shock, and the liftgate shocks. Since I have a power liftgate, I only replaced the two window shocks and the shock on the right side. That was a longer procedure than I expected, and to do it right I think getting new foam baffles (which come with the sealant on them) is a good idea. It's also a nice opportunity to clean debris out of the headliner and some drains.

I hope I get at least 3 years out of those hatch shocks!

 

Turbo23dog-
I suspect the glass struts help because when I originally only replaced my hatch struts they were not quite strong enough to do the job. I then replaced the glass struts/shocks and the rear hatch then worked perfect. Seemed to me changing only the hatch lift wasn't enough until I changed all 4.

 

Based on my testing while replacing all 3 shocks, the glass shocks do a lot of lifting when closed.

 

Agreed, thats what I saw too.

 

4 years of life here as well. Only two good years. After that average performance.

3 Cayennes here... All three same thing.

They work best in mild temps. Both extreme heat as well as (normal) cold affect them negatively.

The window ones do a lot of the work as well. So replace them together. I condsider the parts reasonably priced, but the time to replace them is not insignificant.

 

What is the PArt number or search needed to find the foam inserts?


YES the glass struts assist the Power GATE. My gate wouldn't lift the first .5" unassisted when my glass struts went out. A year later i finally replaced the glass struts and the Rear Gate started to lift as expected when buttons were pressed

 

Part numbers:

955-512-583-00-OEM - Left
955-512-584-00-OEM - Right