Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

My overhead cabinets have struts. As far as I can tell they just keep the cabinets from swinging out and from slamming. Are/were they also supposed to keep the cabinet open in the up position? I just saw a different style of van with struts that hold the doors in the upward position.

The hinge is supposed to hold the door open. Here's a link to the needed hinge which was mentioned by WardPAW which is an H-HS100-SN:

https://www.rvlocksandmore.com/H-HS100-SN

I just ordered 8 from eBay for $5.99 ea plus tax.

Tom, photobug has a BF with the newer type cabinets that use different type hinges and hydraulic struts instead of the type of hinges you referred to in your post above.

whemme wrote:Tom, photobug has a BF with the newer type cabinets that use different type hinges and hydraulic struts instead of the type of hinges you referred to in your post above.

Thanks Bill,
I was about to run out and buy some hinges after going out to check my setup first.

So you are saying the hydraulic strut is just designed to keep the cabinet doors shut and from slamming?

No. Properly operating struts should hold a cabinet door open when opened. Do none of your struts work that way?

Bill,
As usual, you are a treasure trove of info. I did a screen capture of a 2009 Born Free video showing the cabinet hinge/strut. It's hard to tell if the struct is a separate part.

There is a small amount of oil in the strut to keep the O-ring and rod lubricated. In the photo that Tom posted, the struts are installed upside-down. If installed as in the photo, the oil drains away from the seal and the gas escapes the dry seal. The struts will last much longer if the rod portion of the strut is pointed down.

I just received my eBay order and they are identical to my existing hinge.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124762164893?s ... 2749.l2649

Keep in mind that my coach is a 2005.