Linear Actuators on Trailer

I'll be darned. I used to own N9XL from 1986 to late 1992. I really can't make a reasonable answer to your trailer problem. I've not had problems with gas springs. In fact I'm curious about how you can bend one without bottoming out the
piston. Maybe the piston rod got bent sometime while extended. Not by the linear loads, because that would have let the piston work, but by something putting an external load across the rod while extended. This assumes that the ball ends are in use and free.

On Friday, November 29, 2013 8:30:50 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I'll be darned. I used to own N9XL from 1986 to late 1992. I really can't make a reasonable answer to your trailer problem. I've not had problems with gas springs. In fact I'm curious about how you can bend one without bottoming out the

piston. Maybe the piston rod got bent sometime while extended. Not by the linear loads, because that would have let the piston work, but by something putting an external load across the rod while extended. This assumes that the ball ends are in use and free.

So, if you owned 9XL from 86-92 do you have any of the missing logbook(s)?
Just boggles my mind that logbooks disappear.

Not sure what trailer you had with 9XL, Tim Mara told me he reworked/rebuilt this trailer. It is a front hinged clamshell/alligator type. And the top is bloody heavy! The gas springs have all bent when trying to close the top. as the top goes down, they bend to the back of the trailer. The gas springs appear to be fully extended when the top is open. gas springs are 250lbs. each. Ball ends are free.

A friend of mine (and several club members) suggested I use electro-mechanical struts to lift/lower the top. the control would have 2 switches, one to control both struts and the other to disable one side so if they were out of sync, the remaining active strut could be positioned with the other to complete the transition. He said it would work similar to a boat lift. all of the mechanism is internal and IMO I don't like the arrangement, it should be external.

On Friday, November 29, 2013 9:44:29 PM UTC-5, wrote:

The gas springs appear to be fully extended when the top is open.

When the trailer is fully open, how close to vertical are the struts? (Use a level or plumb bob to define the vertical.) Are they tilted to the rear or front of the trailer?

Does the strut bend at the junction of the rod and the tube? Assuming that it is the rod that bends, does it bend at the very end of the rod where it enters the tube and is the rod fully extended?

Did the first pair of struts fail by buckling? If they did fail by buckling, how many times (approximate) did you open and close the trailer before they failed? (I'm wondering if the trailer ever worked properly or if it was always on the edge of failure.)

When the struts fail, do they both fail at the same time? If not, is the first failure always on the same side? When you say four struts failed, do you mean four pair (eight struts) or two pair?

I only see three possibilities:

1)the trailer always had a latent problem with geometry or strut selection.

2)the trailer developed a problem with geometry or misalignment.

3)The new struts are defective (even though they have the same Part Number, they may be manufactured differently and have different properties. Have you talked to the supplier or manufacturer of the struts?