The Clevite Kid

The gas struts that hold the tonneau in the upright position, while raising or lowering my MANUAL convertible top, are getting weak.

I checked the shop manual for my 2006 C6 and it just says to pop off the front, then the back of the strut, then pop on the back, then the front of the new strut.

For anyone who has changed these, is it really that easy? Or is some tool and some knowledge necessary to free the struts from the ***** that they mount to?

And, if you have the part numbers handy I can check on ordering them from our Forum OEM parts vendors. Thanx in advance.

The Clevite Kid

. . . to have these struts go bad? Any way, I ordered the replacements from Gene Culley, and will figure out the R&R process once the new ones arrive. I will let y'all know how it goes.

The Clevite Kid

- - - Not TOO much of a hassle. Per the shop manual, take off the front ends with the tonneau raised. The spring clips need to be released with a tool, like a small screw driver. The struts are similar to the trunk struts and the hood struts, but unlike those, the tonneau struts are HIDDEN. Have to do the work by feel. After the fronts are released, close the tonneau and open the trunk, and release the rear clips. This was the hard part - I ended up crawling half-way into the trunk to finally get a visual on the clip and screwdriver. After the old ones are off, the new ones just snap in place over the ball pivots.

The old ones were really weak - since just ONE new strut held the tonneau up with ease - the second one is for redundancy, or balanced force on the tonneau .

Gene C. got the new ones to me really fast, and at a GOOD price. Thanx again, Gene.

Joe_G

Lee I need them too. Do you have the part number handy?

How are you old friend? Long time no speak.

The Clevite Kid

Hi Joe,

The part number is in the picture, but hard to read. It is in the title of this reply, and is also: 10376352. Gene had to special-order them; apparently they do not go bad frequently enough to warrant stocking them.

- Lee

baileysade

Just completed replacing mine & it was more difficult than I had imagined. The trunk struts were a Bit----H to get off . Access to the spring clips to release the ball socket was somewhat impossible. Took the advice from a nearby shop & basically ripped them out with a crow bar.