Hatch strut mount broke

[vwman2]

Hey all,

My 03 TDI wagons hatch strut on the right side broke off from the body. The nut it attaches to fell down in the body, any ideas on how to fix?

Thanks
Jamie

 

[Rxfire]

I think that you are going to have to remove the trim piece inside (the D-pillar upper trim)

From Bentley:

Unclip close-out molding at rear of headliner

Remove upper bolt that attaches upward (vertically)

Unclip trim at bottom and pull out and up away with steel clips from molding sleeve

The steel clips from molding sleeve I THINK are the snap-in clips (male) and the sleeves are the receivers (female). They attach horizontally into clips (sleeves) attached to the body structure

Good luck with these clippy things not breaking

An auto upholstery shop (headliner shop) may be able to help you access that area

 

[tongsli]

I think that you are going to have to remove the trim piece inside (the D-pillar upper trim)

From Bentley:

Unclip close-out molding at rear of headliner

Remove upper bolt that attaches upward (vertically)

Unclip trim at bottom and pull out and up away with steel clips from molding sleeve

The steel clips from molding sleeve I THINK are the snap-in clips (male) and the sleeves are the receivers (female). They attach horizontally into clips (sleeves) attached to the body structure

Good luck with these clippy things not breaking

An auto upholstery shop (headliner shop) may be able to help you access that area

The ball mount on my wife's wagon gets loose from time to time. I even JBWelded it to the body but it didn't hold. In fact, I just tried lock tite and was ably to re-tighten the ball.

It seems to be nice and tight but have tried to find if there was a way to access it from the inside but haven't figured it out.

Good luck

 

[squeegee_boy]

When mine failed many years ago, it took the captive nut with it. I ended up removing the trim inside, drilling a rather large hole into the D pillar from the inside and the securing the pivot ball threads with a regular nut. There's a lot of metal in the D pillar so the drilling was not fun. Trim removal was quite easy though. Headliner does not need to come down.

I make sure to check that the pivot ball on the other side of the car is snug as part of routine maintenance; and have not had any issues on that side. It does loosen on its own.

 

[vwman2]

When mine failed many years ago, it took the captive nut with it. I ended up removing the trim inside, drilling a rather large hole into the D pillar from the inside and the securing the pivot ball threads with a regular nut. There's a lot of metal in the D pillar so the drilling was not fun. Trim removal was quite easy though. Headliner does not need to come down.

I make sure to check that the pivot ball on the other side of the car is snug as part of routine maintenance; and have not had any issues on that side. It does loosen on its own.

What happened to mine sounds like what happened to you. I did not think there was a easy way to get to the nut. I got to do something soon as dam that door is heavy!

 

[tongsli]

When mine failed many years ago, it took the captive nut with it. I ended up removing the trim inside, drilling a rather large hole into the D pillar from the inside and the securing the pivot ball threads with a regular nut. There's a lot of metal in the D pillar so the drilling was not fun. Trim removal was quite easy though. Headliner does not need to come down.

I make sure to check that the pivot ball on the other side of the car is snug as part of routine maintenance; and have not had any issues on that side. It does loosen on its own.

I hope to avoid doing the same but great to know how you addressed it.

thanks

 

[JB05]

I was in the process of removing one of my pivot bolts, but something did not feel right. Too much play. I knew what the problem was and just retightened it. I had learned this when I changed the bushings on my stabilizer bar. The hood has the same kind of welded nuts on the support strut. The bottom one is plain to see. As a side note, I took one of the used hatch supports and swapped it under the hood since it has more lifting force than the OEM hood support. I managed to find stronger struts for the hatch as well. Got them from O'reilly.