RV-10 cabin door struts

[broken1234]

Hey folks'

Van's sells 2 different cabin door lift struts; the "regular" (that come with the kit) and the "heavy duty", that are an option.

The installed struts that I have are black, with no markings on them... how can I tell which I have?

These will no longer hold up the door... it is a bit heavier than normal as it is completely upholstered, including a lightweight fiberglass shell.

Anybody have a suggestion as to which strut (or any other strut, for that matter) would be correct?

Thanks,

Brad

[rleffler]

Originally Posted by broken1234

Hey folks'

Van's sells 2 different cabin door lift struts; the "regular" (that come with the kit) and the "heavy duty", that are an option.

The installed struts that I have are black, with no markings on them... how can I tell which I have?

These will no longer hold up the door... it is a bit heavier than normal as it is completely upholstered, including a lightweight fiberglass shell.

Anybody have a suggestion as to which strut (or any other strut, for that matter) would be correct?

Thanks,

Brad

The struts come with a typical vinyl label on them when new, but I took mine off for personal appearance preference.

If your current struts aren't holding the door up, I would guess that you have the standard struts.

The one caution is that if you have the heavy duty struts without the additional weight, like you do, they pop the door pretty up pretty darn quick. Don't let passengers operate the door without prior instruction. Once you add a pound or so, they'll operate like the traditional struts do.

bob

[vanduyn]

I also had the std strut which no longer hold up the doors. The heavy duty struts work well and are a direct replacement

[Geico266]

I just replaced mine also, but I used the standard ones. The old ones just lost their lift. I was upgrading the door receivers with the billet ones and heavy duty pins. Much better system now.

[weeav8ter]

If you search for door struts you will see previous posts on this issue.

Wayne Edgerton
N602WT

[broken1234]

I did search last night and saw the other posts. Thanks for the help... I ordered a pair of the heavy duty replacements...

[blahphish]

How much usage are you guys getting out of the standard door strut before it loses its lift? Are we talking a couple years here or about how long?

[Strasnuts]

I have the standard struts still on mine. I have a little more weight from the wonderful PlaneAround latch and 120 hours on the airframe. First flight was March 31 2011. Mine are just starting to sag so I will be buying better ones soon.

[Wayne Gillispie]

At 160 hrs, standard struts, painted door, Sean's latch...RH door finally falling after being open 5-10 minutes. Time to order the HD ones.

[Bill.Peyton]

I don't know what you guys are doing to kill your struts. 2 years and 330 hours, standard struts, still going strong. Painted door with really cool center door latch.