Alex is more stoopid now =(

[Alex]

Long story short - my door was up, I was underneath it, I heard a 'pop' and then my door came slamming down on my head hard.

It turns out the metal end which retains the ballstud broke. It's difficult to see in the picture, but basically the metal ontop of the retaining clip broke right off, which released the ballstud, thus no support for the door when it was completely up.

Good news - the door falling from maximum extension would probably do some serious damage when it landed, and it landed on my head, not the body

Bad news - my head hurts and leaked red....me iz stoopdier now =(

It never occurred to me that that piece of a shock could fail!

 

[Jim Cowden]

How come it has a tap attached to it?

 

[Gus Richmond]

It may be a representation of a tap to the head....

 

[Jim Cowden]

It may be a representation of a tap to the head....

Ok
Im no good at puzzles.

I thought he had no idea how to take a photo.

Sorry Alex continue on.

Thanks Gus I will sleep tonight.

Jim

 

[Grant S]

Alex thanks for the heads up, LOL.
so long as your ok.

 

[bob d]

Alex we have had the same problem with doors and hoods closing like this. Because we saw a potential for someone to get hurt we made supports for the doors and the hood and nose so they cannot come down, we almost got hands caught in the door when it slammed. 1/2" wooden dowel with rubber feet to grip and non scratch. Lucky for your car you got in the way, some people would call that lucky and some would call that pay back from your car for something it did not like. I have always said my car has a mind of its own, must be rubbing off.
Bob D

 

[Ben]

Glad you're ok Alex, but I have one question:

What's up with the drinking fountain/dentist office sized sink you have there?

 

[Alex]

Alex we have had the same problem with doors and hoods closing like this. Because we saw a potential for someone to get hurt we made supports for the doors and the hood and nose so they cannot come down, we almost got hands caught in the door when it slammed. 1/2" wooden dowel with rubber feet to grip and non scratch. Lucky for your car you got in the way, some people would call that lucky and some would call that pay back from your car for something it did not like. I have always said my car has a mind of its own, must be rubbing off.
Bob D

Got any pictures, I'm not really visualizing how that work.

What's up with the drinking fountain/dentist office sized sink you have there?

You're just jelous of my vegetable washing sink, arn't ya .... ya, ya, that must be it

 

[Grant S]

Got any pictures, I'm not really visualizing how that work.





Alex it is just a temporary prop rod Bob is using when he is working on the car. We use them here at work too, to stop people from being cut in half from hyd. failures.

 

[Mike]

OUCH!

I had a strut break on my Countach door. I tried to grab it on the way down..... big mistake. Here was the result. All I can say, is thank God the door frame has rubber weather seals on it, otherwise..... I shudder to think.

 

[bob d]

Alex Grant is right, it is a prop we cut to length for each area. I can say that it was cheap and easy and prevents things coming down to cause a potential scratch or injury. Love the sink you must have had that custom built since not many people put in a sink that small for their shop or home use, are you a dentist by the way.

 

[Cam]

I like mesa's approach to door struts. It wont guarantee this wont happen but much less sheer force on it. The force is more linear, straight on. Its also much easier to maintain once the body is on too. i used a 50# mcmaster carr, i may replace with a 75#

 

[Dave Lindemann]

First off, Alex - I'm really glad you're OK! Hopefully, it hit you when it was near the top of its arc and not just as it was about the close.

I haven't gotten anywhere close to working on the door hinges but I'm curious. Has anyone ever looked into using a coiled spring at the hinge to assist with raising the doors instead of the pneumatic shocks? Apologies if this is a stupid question.

Dave L

 

[Jack]

Interesting Dave, I'll have a look at the geometry.

 

[Mike]

What was the cause of the break. I always think about cause & origin regarding failures. Manufacturing defect... oh well it happens. Was the strut experiencing undue side or twist stress due to your installation location. Getting a higher rated pressured shock will not stop this from happening again if the geometry is off. Just curious.

 

[Alex]

What was the cause of the break. I always think about cause & origin regarding failures. Manufacturing defect... oh well it happens. Was the strut experiencing undue side or twist stress due to your installation location. Getting a higher rated pressured shock will not stop this from happening again if the geometry is off. Just curious.

Don't know, I'm thinking defect - right now the ball stud doesn't stay locked in the end (i.e., I can pop it off and on by hand w/o issues). I hooked everything up and the door opens and closes just fine. If there were undue stress, I'd imagine the ballstud would pop right out since it's unable to be secured, but it doesn't.

 

[Tom]

The good news is, with your head injury, you might start to find the repeated use of "ballstud" pretty funny!

Uh, huh, huh, huh, at least that's my excuse.

 

[bob d]

I used the MCMASTER CARR Part but it is a 275# strut, I posted it but it did not come up, I will look up the part number if anyone is interested. The door after it is half way up will raise itself and after half way down will close on its own. It feels solid when raised and does not feel like it will fall
Bob D

 

[Mike]

I used the MCMASTER CARR Part but it is a 275# strut, I posted it but it did not come up, I will look up the part number if anyone is interested. The door after it is half way up will raise itself and after half way down will close on its own. It feels solid when raised and does not feel like it will fall
Bob D

There certainly are quite a few choices. Part#'s would be excellent.

McMaster-Carr

 

[Cam]

This is courtesy of mesa and jack:
The longer struts were what Rob Mesa used through the door bottom. The McMaster Carr part number was 9416K33. Ball hardware part number 9512K94, and the ball sockets were part number 9416K79. i went back and checked. i used 25# to augment rcr's struts. now ive switched over to mesa's and i think the 50 or 75# would be a bit better.