Automatic boot - Completed

[vRS_Pagey]

You're as sharp as a tack what a cracking idea

Very nice of you to say

I have just ordered a 1 metre length of 25mm black heat shrink from e of the bay, bargain at 2 quid delivered, once it arrives I will post a pictorial 'how to' guide for fitting.

[Gizmo]

How are you guys fixing the spring to the strut??

I will be experimenting during the next few days, black electrical tape would be an obvious choice, but I may try a large diameter heat shrink around the spring and on to the damper, that way the spring will be entirely concealed but will will still work as the heat shrink should flex when the spring is compressed.

Yes heat shrink is perfect for this, this is what i used on the Golf

[prolfe]

I wanna see a hatch with this done. Do you think the springs will 'spring' enough?

[james26]

Hi All,

How easy is it to close now with these that have done yet on there cars?

James.

[vRS_Pagey]

I wanna see a hatch with this done. Do you think the springs will 'spring' enough?

I think the hatch will work exactly the same, the HD springs I am using have more than enough 'spring'.

Hi All,

How easy is it to close now with these that have done yet on there cars?

James.

That is a very good and valid question, just at the point of closure you can feel a bit of resistance which will not allow the boot to shut as normal, to give you an idea the HD springs have a 3.4kg tolerance whereas the medium duty type are 2.6kg, so not a massive difference.

I have noticed that now they have settled, boot closure has got easier but to be fair my 6 year old could mange it anyway!

HTH

Edited 13 July, 2010 by Pagey1255

[rob_e]

if you open the boot "normally" ie press the button on the tailgate, does it "spring" open and bash your hand with the springs in place?

Is it harder to close the boot with the springs in the way?

[chr1staylor]

Is it harder to close the boot with the springs in the way?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/164486-automatic-boot-completed/page__view__findpost__p__2040786

[rossm]

Impressed with the ingenuity to come up with this – well done!

I’ve got the same question as Rob above though. If you open the boot using the release handle (rather than the key fob), is it likely to bash your hand.

Okay…not going to bother me much, but if say a small child wanted to open the boot, will they get a bloody nose. Or worse….will it break one of the missus’ nails?

[vRS_Pagey]

HOT TIP:

Just tried the Blue (medium duty) springs, unfortunately not enough grunt to open the boot all the way :( so back on with the red ones, I will probably use the blue ones on the work horse.

Regarding the force when just opening the boot with the handle, my wife still uses that 'primative method' as she doesn't realise I've added the springs so far without incident, hopefully that will compound all your concerns.

[prolfe]

I think the hatch will work exactly the same, the HD springs I am using have more than enough 'spring'.

That is a very good and valid question, just at the point of closure you can feel a bit of resistance which will not allow the boot to shut as normal, to give you an idea the HD springs have a 3.4kg tolerance whereas the medium duty type are 2.6kg, so not a massive difference.

I have noticed that now they have settled, boot closure has got easier but to be fair my 6 year old could mange it anyway!

HTH

Thanks

[prolfe]

All ordered. I'll let you know how it goes on a hatch.

[Mute]

Just tried the Blue (medium duty) springs, unfortunately not enough grunt to open the boot all the way :( so back on with the red ones, I will probably use the blue ones on the work horse.

:-( i'm really surprised the blue doesn't work so well. I just recieved mine through the door and they're pretty tough little things. I can't fully squash one even standing on it.

I don't think there's much scope to add pre-load to the spring either if blue's aren't strong enough. According to the data sheet the spring shouldn't be compressed more than 22mm regularly or it will wear out sooner, and i measure the compressed state at ~20mm deflection, so building up a platform at either end to increase preload wont be good for the life of the spring so looks like reds after all :-(

I'll fit the blues anyways since they're here and see if i can come up with anything to make them work.

[vRS_Pagey]

:-( i'm really surprised the blue doesn't work so well. I just recieved mine through the door and they're pretty tough little things. I can't fully squash one even standing on it.

I don't think there's much scope to add pre-load to the spring either if blue's aren't strong enough. According to the data sheet the spring shouldn't be compressed more than 22mm regularly or it will wear out sooner, and i measure the compressed state at ~20mm deflection, so building up a platform at either end to increase preload wont be good for the life of the spring so looks like reds after all :-(

I'll fit the blues anyways since they're here and see if i can come up with anything to make them work.

I've just realised I've parked the car on a different part of the drive which slopes downward, just gone to open the boot and the red ones struggled as well................. :S

I going to give the blue ones another go in the morning!

Edit: Couldn't wait til morning, just tried the blue again on level ground...........no cigar! :no:

Edited 13 July, 2010 by Pagey1255

[Mute]

Lol you don't know how crestfallen i was after reading your post about the blue's being no good, ssssshhhhh, zip it, don't tell me if you retry and they still don't work :-P

[vRS_Pagey]

Lol you don't know how crestfallen i was after reading your post about the blue's being no good, ssssshhhhh, zip it, don't tell me if you retry and they still don't work :-P

OOppps, sorry, was writing the post at the same time as you.........ignore what I said, they are great!

[Mute]

Woohoo! I'm done. Drove home, jumped out the car, it immediately started raining, right then (and it was already dark), but it didn't matter, a force 10 gale wouldn't have stopped me Less than 12 mins both sides done, nothing concentrates the mind like cold rain

The good news: the blue springs work!!

Steps i took:

1. Pop the circlip off the back of the connector at the tailgate end (as opposed to the body end) using a flat blade screwdriver. Catch it so it doesn't ping into your neighbours driveway though
   
2. The opposite strut's strong enough to hold the bootlid by itself, but only just i think
   
3. Mess about with mole grips on the inner shaft of the spring damper strut until you get them just tight enough to stop the shaft turning while using an adjustable spanner on the plastic end cap to turn it off.
   
4. Release the moleys, slide on the spring (absolutely perfect fit btw! The squared ends mean it sits perfectly flat against the end stops too)
   
5. Do up the plastic end cap by hand. Pop on the moleys again and adjustable spanner to tighten up the last few turns
   
6. Pop the damper back in place on the tailgate end
   
7. Pop the circlip back on, this was the hardest / longest bit of the whole job, i fetched angled needle nose pliers out the garage which weren't ideal but weren't too bad either, didn't have anything else to hand that would have made it any easier
   
8. Repeat for the other side
   

Then admire the auto boot open!!

I'm a very happy man, i'm even gonna update my sig since my first proper mod is complete!

Many thanks to everyone who made this possible (but not to pagey the wind up merchant! :-O only kidding pagey )

[vRS_Pagey]

Many thanks to everyone who made this possible (but not to pagey the wind up merchant! :-O only kidding pagey )

Glad you're happy with it, thinking about it the blue probably didn't work on mine because of the age of the dampers.

Will you be concealing the spring with heat shrink? This is what I have ordered.

[rob_e]

Ok, i'm going to do this mod :-)

Am I right, i need 2 of "R16x51 Heavy Load Die Spring" from the link on Lee's post #15?

TIA

[james26]

Hi all

I don't want to put a down on this mod but the catch that holds boot down was not I am thinking designed to stand up to a spring always keen to open the boot. I can see one day the catch giving away under the strain with the boot flying open at 70mph!

Mybe I am wrong, it will be fine. is the catch on the boot the same as surperb with the self open/closing boot or rest of vag cars that have this?

[Raglits]

If it works for prolfe I'll be doing this on my hatch too

[Mute]

Will you be concealing the spring with heat shrink? This is what I have ordered.

Yeah definitely i'm 99% sure i've got some heatshrink that'll do the trick but i'll need to have a dig through my soldering box

Am I right, i need 2 of "R16x51 Heavy Load Die Spring" from the link on Lee's post #15?

Yip, those are the ones. I'd go with the reds because 1) pagey had problems with the blues not being strong enough and 2) when you feel how strong the spring dampers that hold the boot open are you kinda realise an extra hundred newtons or so of force is pretty small beer.

Hi all

I don't want to put a down on this mod but the catch that holds boot down was not I am thinking designed to stand up to a spring always keen to open the boot. I can see one day the catch giving away under the strain with the boot flying open at 70mph!

Mybe I am wrong, it will be fine. is the catch on the boot the same as surperb with the self open/closing boot or rest of vag cars that have this?

James i'm pretty paranoid myself, i wont do anything unless i'm convinced of it. The spring dampers that do the boot already are themselves much stronger than these springs (i can squash the springs a bit but the spring dampers take so much effort to get them moving).

Someone mentioned before that the spring dampers may wear out sooner or be put under stress, i can't see this myself, the load of the springs is transferred via the platforms on the spring dampers to the mounts on the body and the bootlid. These mounts are very strong, they have to be to withstand the much larger force exerted by the spring dampers. Also the platforms are bearing the same load so they have to be very strong to (and they do feel very substantial).

As for the lock, it's designed in a way that it doesn't matter how much you push it, even if the electric mechanism fails, it will fail in the closed position.

Hope this helps!

[vRS_Pagey]

Yeah definitely i'm 99% sure i've got some heatshrink that'll do the trick but i'll need to have a dig through my soldering box

Yip, those are the ones. I'd go with the reds because 1) pagey had problems with the blues not being strong enough and 2) when you feel how strong the spring dampers that hold the boot open are you kinda realise an extra hundred newtons or so of force is pretty small beer.

James i'm pretty paranoid myself, i wont do anything unless i'm convinced of it. The spring dampers that do the boot already are themselves much stronger than these springs (i can squash the springs a bit but the spring dampers take so much effort to get them moving).

Someone mentioned before that the spring dampers may wear out sooner or be put under stress, i can't see this myself, the load of the springs is transferred via the platforms on the spring dampers to the mounts on the body and the bootlid. These mounts are very strong, they have to be to withstand the much larger force exerted by the spring dampers. Also the platforms are bearing the same load so they have to be very strong to (and they do feel very substantial).

As for the lock, it's designed in a way that it doesn't matter how much you push it, even if the electric mechanism fails, it will fail in the closed position.

Hope this helps!

Couldn't of put it better myself.

[rob_e]

Yip, those are the ones. I'd go with the reds because 1) pagey had problems with the blues not being strong enough and 2) when you feel how strong the spring dampers that hold the boot open are you kinda realise an extra hundred newtons or so of force is pretty small beer.

Ordered

[vRS_Pagey]

Ordered

Don't forget the heat shrink. link in post #67.

Edited 14 July, 2010 by Pagey1255

[vRS_Pagey]

Heat shrink just arrived, I have attached a couple of pictures below........

Before:

After: