Gas shocks for the Galley Lid

[Dave Nathanson]

I just want to point out that a stick to hold up the Galley lid may be just fine for those who camp only in windless summer weather. But for those of us who camp in places where is may get windy at any time - we need something better.

Imagine this:
You open your galley lid, prop it open with a stick, and lean over to get a cold drink from the ice chest in the galley. Just then a sudden gust of wind from behind you blows the galley lid farther open, the stick drops, and the full weight & leverage of that galley lid comes crashing down on your back. Not a pleasant thought. No, not at all.

That's one reason that you want gas shocks there. The other reason is that it makes the galley lid a whole lot easier to open, even for smaller, shorter people. And people who spend too much time in front of the computer instead of at the gym.

The gas shocks we used are the same ones that are for a full size pickup truck's fiberglass bed cover. Longer than we thought we'd need, and way stronger than we thought we'd need. Took 2 or 3 sets back to the Napa store before settling on the ones off the truck.

It was sort of tricky figuring where to mount then so they can fully extend, yet compress and get out of the way. 3 sets of screw holes attest to that. But we are so glad to have those gas shocks!

[asianflava]

I am all for gas springs for the hatch. It was a struggle for me to get them installed but they are well worth it. Now I can feel better when my wife opens the hatch.

The only problem I have is that due to the design of the hatch, headroom is a bit limited. Due to the galley design I am limited on spring positions. I just beed about 3 more inches. What I plan on doing is removing a little of the hatch lip. At the very least it will remove some sharp corners.

[AmyH]

Dave, can you tell us more about which ones specifically you ended up getting? I would love to know.

[Dave Nathanson]

I don't remember which exact gas shocks we ended up using, except to say that they are the exact ones that would be a replacement for a full size pick up truck bed cover. I just measured, and they are about 16" closed, and 28" open. That's end to end over all length. Because they Galley lid wasn't opening tall enough, we had to make a 3" bracket that drops down from the lib to mount the top end of the gas shock to.

Asianflava, you might want to consider something like that drop bracket as well. Or maybe invent a system with 2 gas shocks per side that can telescope longer, while still being shorter when closed. It will take some experimenting.

[CaBowhunter]

I bought mine from Mcmaster Carr http://www.mcmaster.com go to page 1167 hope this helps.

Randy

[halfdome, Danny]

Just a friendly note to those that think they can get away with not installing gas struts.

The wife of one of our teardrop couple friends told us that she stays in bed long enough so her husband will get up first so she doesn't have to lift that heavy galley hatch. I gave them the information and hopefully they now have gas struts installed and she can get up when she feels like it. Who knows he might get breakfast in bed .
Danny

[looped]

I don't remember which exact gas shocks we ended up using, except to say that they are the exact ones that would be a replacement for a full size pick up truck bed cover. I just measured, and they are about 16" closed, and 28" open. That's end to end over all length. Because they Galley lid wasn't opening tall enough, we had to make a 3" bracket that drops down from the lib to mount the top end of the gas shock to.

Asianflava, you might want to consider something like that drop bracket as well. Or maybe invent a system with 2 gas shocks per side that can telescope longer, while still being shorter when closed. It will take some experimenting.

how heavy is your galley lid? when sticking out level to the ground how heavy is it at the lift handle?

can be determined with a stick of appropriate length and a scale set minus the weight of the stick.

[cuyeda]

Not that I have direct experience with installations. Someone mentioned in another thread to figure out the installation before you skin the hatch. This way you can reach inside and make any mounting adjustments. Makes sense to me.

[01Sport]

Not that I have direct experience with installations. Someone mentioned in another thread to figure out the installation before you skin the hatch. This way you can reach inside and make any mounting adjustments. Makes sense to me.

That is what I plan on doing, once I get my hinge. I may hang some weights on it to account for the lack of AL, trim, ply, etc. to make sure it works.

[Russ in California]

I don't remember which exact gas shocks we ended up using, except to say that they are the exact ones that would be a replacement for a full size pick up truck bed cover. I just measured, and they are about 16" closed, and 28" open. That's end to end over all length.

One more thing to think about would be the LBS the gas shock will support.
Some of those galley lids might weigh quite a bit more than a canopy door.
It's possible to get a shock too stiff and rip out the mounting after a bit. JMTC