jstein1206

Hi All,

I have a 2018 Suburban... it appears when temps drop below freezing, whether we've had prior precipitation or not, the hatch will not open. It will "unlock" and attempt to raise but will not go any further than a few inches. After temps rise above freezing (given a few hours after that), the hatch will open. Once I forced it up and heard cracking/splintering, but nothing is broken.

Could moisture be in the shocks? I don't believe it's the motor but I'm no expert. It does attempt to raise up. I have an appointment with the local Chevy dealership but they can't see me until mid-January. And I was hoping maybe it was something simple and I could fix it instead of paying thousands of dollars.

Thanks all!

Cusser

When it only will "go up" a few inches - now, don't get dirty here - lift the hatch manually and see if the two outer lift supports will hold the hatch open. If the hatch drops, then at least one of the two outer lift supports is faulty, went through this last year on our 2011 Yukon.

The fix is to install a new pair of lift supports. Open the hatch use a 2x4 or similar to hold the hatch in the up position, and replace the two outer lift supports. Easy. I bought our pair of lift supports through Amazon, less expensive than getting at local parts stores. Note the the smaller lift supports for the glass-only part are way different !!!

jstein1206

Thanks for the quick reply! When forced open (only did it once, didn't want to break anything), the lifts did keep the hatch up and there was no give in them. I think i agree with you that it's the two lifts, but wants to verify before i replace them.

repairman54

If even one strut is weak the lift motor will shut down in its protection mode. Cold weather brings out the weakness in those struts.

jstein1206

Thanks all, looks like it's the struts, I've purchased a set and we'll see how it goes.

73shark

Welcome to the forum. Hope the struts solve your problem.