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PlaneAround Gas Strut Brackets and Bansbach Easylift

CharlieWaffles

CharlieWaffles

Well Known Member
I'm checking to see if I am in a unique situation. I have the awesome Door Gas Strut Brackets from PlaneAround and have also bought some upgraded (heavy lift) gas struts from BAnsbach Easylift that a few others have reported to using (700 newton struts).

Is anyone else using this combination? I am finding the eyelets on these struts are too thick to fit between the ears of the PlaneAround bracket. They do work with the stock brackets, but Sean has designed his bracket with thicker ears so you dont need as large of a bushing as the stock set up.
 
Yes, same situation as you. Sean was considering making new brackets to accommodate, but not sure of the status. What are you thinking of doing to remedy? Jim
 
Well, I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. Figure I have a few options:

1) Use stock brackets and notch them as I have seen others door.
2) Use a local machine shop and have them widen the gap between the ears
3) Try to locate (or machine) a replacement eyelet for the strut itself
4) Buy and use the Van's Heavy Duty Strut (Assuming its dimensions work)
 
CharlieWaffles said:
Well, I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. Figure I have a few options:

1) Use stock brackets and notch them as I have seen others door.
2) Use a local machine shop and have them widen the gap between the ears
3) Try to locate (or machine) a replacement eyelet for the strut itself
4) Buy and use the Van's Heavy Duty Strut (Assuming its dimensions work)
Click to expand...


I have Van's Heavy Duty Strut and they fit just fine with Sean's older brackets. I assume that the new version is the same dimension.

bob
 
Just talked to Sean and I am going to send him my brackets and the eyelets from the Bansbach struts. He will see if the eyelets can be thinned or the bracket widened or both.
 
Thanks for the offer Sean. I've been meaning to reply...I already ground mine down and JB welded a bushing in for a -3 bolt a few months ago. I'll go take some pics now...standby one. -Jim
 
Last edited:
Sean, I went a little too deep and got into the area that was removed for the threads. With all your precise equipment, you'll be able to do better. I plan on filling the extra void with something to reinforce. And if it proves not to be strong enough, then the new ends are like $5 ea from Bansbach.

The only other issue I realized is that now with those bushings JB welded into the ends, the rotation is between the bushing and the bolt. It'll be just fine in this application, but will probably use a castle nut rather than a nylon lock not since that's standard practice when parts are rotating on a bolt.

Here are some pics.

2012-02-04_20-23-02_610.jpg


2012-02-04_20-23-33_703.jpg


2012-02-04_20-25-33_236.jpg


-Jim
 
Where are you obtaining these struts and how much do they cost? Are they better than the Vans heavy duty version?
 
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