Thread: What happened to your D3/D4 today?

The one comment I would make with the cheap struts - being generic and based on size they probably have too much lifting force.

I did a quick experiment - with the old struts the door opens very slowly, never reaches being fully open, and needs less than 1kg of force to pull down again - a strong wind gush can make it start to close.

With the new cheap struts, the door opens with a real kick, fully opens, and needs 6kg force to pull down again. Probably needs a ladder mounted on the tailgate to balance them out again.

The goldilocks solution is one old and one new. Door opens slowly and is nicely balanced, does fully open, and needs 3kg force to pull back down.

Bargain at half the price and I have one new left over which I can install later. Only $37 for the 4 struts but I am yet to trial this out with the bonnet struts.

I bought eBay replacements and they were no better - with my ladder. I’m off to get custom ones now

In a twist to my story - about 6 or 7 years ago I bought a set of bonnet struts off eBay from a supplier that no longer sells struts for Land Rovers. They sent me the wrong size but quickly sent me the right replacements. They never wanted the wrong set back so I threw them aside and promptly forgot about them.....until today.

Well - turns out they are 5mm longer than the D3 tailgate struts and are rated at 485N instead of 480N.

Fitted these up for comparison. Door opens nicely but not as forceful as the cheaper set, they give me some extra clearance when fully open, and it takes about 4.5kg force to pull down again.

Could have saved $14 if I remembered what I had in my garage.....d’oh!

I bought these, no issues since fitting, wide open with no fuss, stays open and no sagging.
Bonnet Gas Struts for Land Rover Discovery 3&4 Range Rover Sport L320 2005-2012 | eBay

Took the missus out for a meal...50ks of twisty dirt road
..faster coming back..not sure why..maybe Kirin had something to do with it.

SC power...twisty road..air ride..big brakes..good lights..no roos..oh and nice meal and company too.

Who could ask for more😁

Originally Posted by DiscoDB

I bought a set of D2 bonnet struts

D2 bonnet struts ?, custom job ?

Originally Posted by discorevy

D2 bonnet struts ?, custom job ?

Good point - my memory is playing tricks with me now.

Hmmm..... must be going senile in isolation.....

When I’ve needed custom struts I’ve found this place to be excellent


Strut Re-Gas