Hi, Just found this site and have found a lot of good info from many contributors, so I thought I would join.


Does anyone else in a cold climate (from Massachusetts)have problems with their liftgate opening all the way? This is a manual liftgate not the power.

I took our Tahoe to the dealer and they replaced the liftgate pistons,after having to wait for them to be ordered due to a nation wide shortage (as I was told by the dealer) but within 48 hours after replacement the new ones are just as bad as the ones they replaced.

Seems like once they got cold enough pressure became weak again, so it's obvious they are too tempature sensitive to maintain pressure cold.

The liftgate was fine since new (purchased 03/07)but since weather has become cold (below 32*)the liftgate does not open all the way unless assisted. My wife and I are not that tall ( 5'6" & 5'2')so hitting our heads on the gate is not normal.

I would assume a updated piston would be needed to remedy this problem?

Thanks,

Mike

 

That's pretty much the nature of the beast and all the gas charged lift struts will loose strength in cold weather it's a more pronounced problem the larger the strut and the heavier the object that it is to lift.
These struts will also seep gas pressure as they age and become weak but that is not the problem in this case, in the cold the oil inside the strut that is used for damping becomes thicker making the strut stiff and not want to move in any direction (this is one problem) the other is that the gas pressure inside the strut is effected by temperature (physics), if the strut was filled with sufficient gas pressure to allow it to work well in cold weather then it would exert too much force to allow it to close properly in the summer.


Manufacturers of these struts have been trying to come up with an economical solution to this problem for some time.

 

I was lucky enuf to get a trip to the SAE Convention in Detroit back in the early '90s (DOE booth) and during a break, I talked with one of the OEM suppliers of gas springs/struts. I asked him why they couldn't make a better seal so that you didn't have to replace them every few years and his reply was the design volume constraints placed on them by the auto makers precluded making it any better. Not sure why but I've noticed that they have improved over the years as my wife's '04 Tahoe's still hold the gate up on a 10 degree day.

 

I usually just push the lift gate the rest of the way up and they are plenty strong to hold it once it gets up there. It willgo back to normal once it warms back up.

 

I went to pull down my power liftgate after bringing it inside from the 6 degree cold and it made a god awful noise like I was stripping some gears. Pushed the button and all seems alright. Never gonna do that again.

 

my 2007 suburban just 3months old does the same thing ever since colder weather set in here in illinois. I was going to take it in but after reading above postI guess new ones are justthe same.

 

I have the power ones on my 07 ltz tahoe and it just stopped working. I barley can even open the liftgate.

 

I took the Tahoe in and the supposedly fixed the problems. Now on 2.13.08 the power running board stopped working, the liftgate is still jacked up, the active fuel management does not work, the center councel is lose, the autosense wippers are screwed up, the back windsheild wipper will not work all the time, the transmission is slipping, the the bottom of the front bumper is breaking, the rims are rusting, the interior colums are coming undone from the sides, the backing of the seats will not stay on, and other random issues.

 

You sound like you'll make somebody a good wife one day.

 

Your Aluminum rims are rusting ?

Can you elaborate? I'm not a Metallurgist and Ididnt sleep at a holiday Inn last night....[/align][/align]