Struts - how/what/where???

ethernectar

Adventurer
Ok, getting close to finishing the lid on my trailer and wondering if there is a good reference for where to mount them and any guidelines as to their size, mounting locations, etc.

Based on my lid and planned RTT I plan on 2 180 lb struts, but need ideas on what dimension of struts to get.

Thanks,

matt
 

Vince1

Adventurer
I ordered mine from mcmaster-Carr and they had a diagram with suggested mounting locations and dimensions on their website. I would order a larger capacity than you think you need though. I had to reorder 250lb ones after I tried the 150's.
 

wjeeper

Active member
Reid Supply is another great customer focussed industrial supplier. I just went through this and wasn't quite sure what pressure I really wanted/needed so I lucked out and was able to source one from Reid that allows bleed down to the right psi (assuming its too high...).

http://www.reidsupply.com/GrpResults.aspx?pid=10022464&aitm=GAS-4&apid=10022464

Thanks for the link! I didnt know they had struts you could bleed down to get the desired force. I like that idea better than buying a couple of sets trying to get it right!
 

ethernectar

Adventurer
Ok, so my lid weighs about 100 lb by best guess, I'll be adding a RTT so call the total weight of the lid/rtt/etc 225. I know there's leverage at work against me and i'm not a physicist so I'm wondering if I should go with 200 or 250 lb struts (2)?

Anyone already been here done this and can advise??
 

southpier

Expedition Leader
just take your time bleeding them. if you go too far, you're going to be lifting the weight instead of the gas doing the work
 

INSAYN

Adventurer
When I was searching for this same topic, I found an interesting gizmo that if you can convert between SAE and Metric, you can get an idea of how to calculate where to put your struts on your trailer, and possibly even what strut pressure is needed. I suck at conversions, and not entirely sure of what the graphs are telling me, but it was fun to fiddle with. You have to install a simple Java app to make it run, but other than that you just plug in numbers, and move around pivot points and run the animation. The graph shows where the leverage is, but I don't fully understand if it is showing the applied leverage, or what is left for me to lift. Damn language barrier!

http://www.bansbach.de/com/gasfedern/online-calculator-3.html


Here is another approach to calculating your desired strut.
http://www.gasstrutengineering.co.uk/index.php?page=newapplications
 
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