boot/trunk struts

[britlude]

after the engine cover struts were successfully changed for budget alternatives, typically the boot/trunk struts have decided to be tired in the now cold weather. i'd replaced the boot struts way back when (seems 2005) for shiny new Honda ones at £60... now they seem to be circa £140!!!!

just to be annoying, the boot struts have a bespoke top mount, so i knew i couldn't just put generic ones in their place (ta Honda) so the search was on.

alternatives were.....

SGS regas
SGS rebuild where they chop off the bespoke bracket, weld it onto their propriety strut, and go from there
Honda enthusiastically priced OEM
find something aftermarket... they must be out there!!!

so the hunt for something aftermarket was on.....

i found some from Lift Supports..... https://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/7-68-lift-supports-depot-pm3322t-lift-support-with-pm3322t-w/

so went thru their purchase process, only for it to falter at the shipping stage, so pinged them an email, and alas 'because of brexit' they can't ship to UK... what you mean is you don't understand (or can't be bothered with) the now EU wide tax at source requirements we brought in 6 months before the rest of the EU, just to complicate things....

ok, so i asked if they had any distributers/agents that fed into ebay or rockauto... apparently not... 'brexit innit, not sure anyone can ship to UK''.....well i tried

so, ok then, i''l wander off to rockauto, and lo.....

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=12977661&cc=1000854&pt=1404&jsn=339&jsn=339

pick the budget end of the shipping options and it was delivered for £38.96 all in, shipping and VAT included

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52510526028_628d887b81_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o1baX3)IMG_20221119_152818_edit_204037468894384 (https://flic.kr/p/2o1baX3) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52509502782_216c9871a6_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o15VLS)IMG_20221119_152808_edit_204055585803756 (https://flic.kr/p/2o15VLS) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

interestingly
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52509502817_2f6b46ac92_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o15VMt)IMG_20221119_153247 (https://flic.kr/p/2o15VMt) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

note, much to my surprise, they come with the bottom ball joint and washer and the ball/socket is retained by an external pin, so future replacement isn't such a headache!

something else for the NSX knowledge base!

[FlyNavy]

Super advice! I've just ordered mine. I owe you a beer!

[britlude]

as it's stopped raining, i can have a compare to the original, and see how they fit...

the aftermarket ones have a longer body, but shorter socket mount, so the stroke is comparable...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52512060529_ba5480cc89_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o1j36X)Boot/trunk struts (https://flic.kr/p/2o1j36X) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

the boot lid end has plastic retainers for the 'ball' whereas the original are metal... i shall have to monitor to see if it makes any difference
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52511317012_80e14de859_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o1fe5G)Boot/trunk struts (https://flic.kr/p/2o1fe5G) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

with the the longer body, the wire guide for the spoiler mounted brake light is too short for the aftermarket piston....
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52511316862_8afa888b7b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o1fe37)Boot/trunk struts (https://flic.kr/p/2o1fe37) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

the cable guide has a step at the bottom to hook under the bottom stopping it fitting to the replacement piston body....
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52512339038_28c1c26730_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o1ksTQ)Boot/trunk struts (https://flic.kr/p/2o1ksTQ) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

so a trim the plastic lip with a pair of wire snips and a ty-wrap sorted that (the bottom clip was already broken on mine and needed a ty-wrap anyway! i may design a cable clip that uses ty-wraps as they only come with the wiring loom for the rear spoiler light
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52511316867_743bbfd79d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2o1fe3c)Boot/trunk struts (https://flic.kr/p/2o1fe3c) by NSX Jon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/152809076@N06/), on Flickr

all fitted it seems to hold the bootlid up better than the ones i took off, but it is cold out, so that wouldn't help!

i also noted that the ones i have taken off were regassed in 2015, to 500N by SGS, so they did already have a head start over OEM ones.... so maybe they have faded to just under OEM pressure...

[goldtop]

Good to know. These struts will be one fo the last things we're doing on my car. Nice to have an option.

[duncan]

Thanks for the heads up, after 12 years my SGS re-gas was weakening, ordered from RockAuto on the 12th delivered today (21st).
I made the mistake of initially ordering only one strut, followed moments later by a second. Total cost for the two was slightly cheaper at £33.92 all in. The only downside being a duplicate of the included fridge magnets.