Add gas shock to storage hatches

Anyone add gas shocks to storage lids in there boats. Any thoughts, recommendations, and pictures would be greatly appreciated.

My boat has them. Should be easy enough. They’re available all over the web. Measure for size and figure out the strength you’ll need. Unless it’s a huge lid, 20 lbs should do the trick.

Using this as a hold open?

Yes to hold the two front hatches open so I did reach in with both hands and not risk head injury.

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Ridiculous that they don’t have them, IMO. Shitty corner-cutting.

This article should get you going: https://www.boatingmag.com/installing-gas-strut-hatch-supports/

Thanks Ralph that article was super helpful.

Usually the long, skinny hatches in fishing boats do not have gas struts. The center rod lockers are the ones they factory install with gas struts. I have a compartment just like those pictured in the bow and there is no gas strut. My parent’s boat has 7 compartments and the only one that has a factory installed strut is the center rod locker. Presumably because of its size.

Man is this a great winter project idea. Thanks for the vid, Ralph.

My dad is a chronic livewell and hatch slammer. Drives me friggin crazy. Out in the boat I sound like some kind of savant, “Don’t slam the frickin hatch….Don’t slam the frickin hatch….Don’t slam the frickin hatch….Don’t slam the frickin hatch….Don’t slam the frickin hatch….Don’t slam the frickin hatch….Don’t slam the frickin hatch….”

Now if somebody could just come up with a dampener for the guys that have to throw the anchor 6 feet in the air and let it land with an atomic bomb cloud of water flying in the air…

Grouse

My boat has shocks on everything but the smaller front bait well, the cooler, and the small back corner doors. I wish they were on all of them. Maybe a good project this winter.

Rswan, maybe it’s just me but I can’t see the shocks in your pictures. What is holding the lids open?

I notice that most of the shocks are rated by weight. Do you pick by true weight or is there some multiplier to be safe? I have a floor hatch that could use some shocks and probably weighs 20 pounds. I also noticed that most shocks were rated per shock. Is that a factor?

SuperDave1959 wrote:

Do you pick by true weight or is there some multiplier to be safe?

Check out my link. It has a formula.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>SuperDave1959 wrote:</div>
Do you pick by true weight or is there some multiplier to be safe?

Check out my link. It has a formula.

When I clicked on your link my computer went virus alert crazy and never let me in.

All my compartments have gas struts. Should be fairly straight forward install once you get the right ones and line them up. Just know they probably will not open all the way vertical like you can now. At least mine don’t but it’s never been an issue getting things in and out.

Huh, no one else seemed to have a problem with it. Here’s the gist:

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Ralph, thanks, that’s for one strut?

Yep.

I thought it was funny that the calculation involves knowing the mounting point of a strut that you are trying to figure out what to order.

Here is another image that seemed helpful for getting the right door swing.

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john23 wrote:

Rswan, maybe it’s just me but I can’t see the shocks in your pictures. What is holding the lids open?

Two things. That is not my boat. My boat is identical; I screen snipped the photos off Triton’s web site. The hatches do stay open by themselves until a wave comes by. It seems to be some strange fate of the world that it only slams shut when I need both hands to reach something and wacks me on the skull.

Okay, a little frustrated, I installed the shock per the instructions and the door won’t close completely. Anyone install them that can possibly give me some tips?

Pictures of my attempt.

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No expert just going by what my boat has. Looks to be compressed to early before closing. Mine are fully compressed when it hits the closing spot. Mine also don’t open to 90 degrees.

gimruis wrote:

Usually the long, skinny hatches in fishing boats do not have gas struts.

Depends on the boat. Everyone lid in my boat has a factory gas shock. Long/skinny or short/fat it doesn’t matter. They can all have shocks installed.

SuperDave1959 wrote:

Okay, a little frustrated, I installed the shock per the instructions and the door won’t close completely. Anyone install them that can possibly give me some tips?

You can’t have the mounts positioned on/near the same spot when closed. For example, if your cylinder is 8″ compressed length you need the mounts to be 8″ apart when the door is closed. In your situation that is typically done by putting one mount closer to the hinge point, and one mount 8″ away. And in my experience placing the one attached to the lip closer to the hinge is the better option.

Unless you have engineering software to figure everything out, gas struts take some trial and error.

munchy wrote:

Unless you have engineering software to figure everything out, gas struts take some trial and error.

Ain’t that the truth. After making the hatch door look like Swiss cheese, I finally got it to close properly. I am just going to have to settle with not getting to 90 degrees with the lid.

SuperDave1959 wrote:

I am just going to have to settle with not getting to 90 degrees with the lid.

The closer the pivot points are to the hinge the further it will open. Just don’t get it too close that the cylinder body/components hit the door when fully open. However the biggest tradeoff to that is the strut may need to be stronger to support the door when open.

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Mine do not open to 90 either but it really isn’t an issue for me. I was kind of wondering about that seems like you would need to know exactly where to put them in order to not drill a bunch of holes. Hopefully the other lids will go better.

I ultimately went as close to the hinge as possible and the strut would not hold the lid up. I incrementally went north of that until it would hold the door up.

Never posted a pic of my finished project.

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