hi everyone,

wow, it's been forever since I was on SL...my '06 tC hasn't gotten much love in the past 3 years... mortgage, reduced work, yadda yadda yadda. (no one here cares.)

anyway, I'm hoping that someone out there can suggest some solutions for me. I have the first made v2.0 MotorFX carbon fiber hatch (the "redesign" with a supposedly-stiffer fiberglass backing). I love the appearance of it, but since Day 1 I haven't loved the fitment.

most specifically, the shocks used to lift the hatch are too strong when "at rest." therefore, they cause the hatch to lift up slightly right where the glass meets the trunk notch. there can be as much as a half-inch gap showing. these shocks were part of the redesign, as they are less powerful than the OEM shocks.

obviously, this "lifting" makes the hatch look terrible when closed. so, I have lived with the lifter shocks disconnected these past few years. while this solves the appearance issue, it makes the rear hatch quite irritating to open & use. I carry around a "ghetto pole" (a short copper pipe) which I use to prop the hatch open when loading/unloading. hardly a sexy solution, and looks quite stupid.

I am wondering if anyone has a lead on a brand or model of replacement shock which would be less "pushy" upon the carbon fiber while closed? or, barring that, any ideas on how I could strengthen the structure of the hatch along the edges to make it stiffer and less likely to succumb to "lifting" while closed? the caveat here is that the solution can't make it to where the interior trim pieces can't be used.

my goal for all mods that I do is that they be as close to "OEM quality" as possible. my cars are meant to last, so parts & mods I do need to be done with that as a primary criteria. I originally had discussed this issue with Koi at MotorFX, and when he saw the result of his "redesigned" hatch on my car he said it wasn't good enough. I believe there was a v3.0 which had an even stronger fiberglass frame, but nothing substantive was ever done to address my car. for my part, at that same time my life kind of imploded & I was almost forced to sell the tC. so, the ball was dropped all around (not just by MotorFX).

anyway, I'd appreciate any suggestions or ideas people have. please, no flame posts about MotorFX (are they even still in biz?) or asking why I didn't work on this project sooner, k? this is where I am now, this is the project I'd like to try and get done right, and I'm kind of lost about how to proceed.

thanks!
zack

 

I have a seibon c/f hatch and I used shocks that I bought from napa. I no longer have the part number. Somebody here might otherwise I will go read it off the shocks and post up before the days over.

 

bump. i need this too

 

I'll get you a part number by the end of saturday.

 

anyone else who will actually post a part number or link for weaker hatch shocks?

 

Bump... yes, a part number would be way cool! :-) Thanks.