Trying to repair or replace piston on livewell hatch or the ball end of piston on a 2014 275 freedom any thoughts where I can find on line ?
Live well
- Thread starter Morella
- Start date
These gas struts are not repairable and need to be replaced when bad.
Remove the old piece by prying up on the metal clip on the socket end and then popping the end off of the ball socket. The strut should have a model number printed on it. If the model number has a 2 digit number in it like 10,20, 30 etc, that is the force in pounds
There are several specs that you need to match; the force of the strut ; the ball end size(often 10mm), the extended length and to an extent the compressed length . If the extended length is 10 inches or longer inches, you can usually find equivalent units at local marine store or even West Marine. If shorter, those stores often don't stock them but often will order them.
Amazon is a good place to find them also but you need to know the force. Too big and the lid will be harder to close or too much force will be put on the hardware, too small and the lid wont stay open.
One word of advice based on experience; There are lots of less expensive off brand struts out there. Pay the price for brand names like Attwood , Taylor etc. Some of the knock-offs are real junk
Here's a link for reference ( West Marine does tend to be a bit more expensive though)
https://www.westmarine.com/hatch-support
