[1971BB427]

Decided that I was tired of lifting that heavy clam shell upper tailgate, so I ordered the Volvo gas struts to do the conversion. I got the Volvo gas struts yesterday, and picked up 10mm ball studs from the hardware store today. They had 5/16 studs instead of 1/4", so I drilled and tapped the holes out to 5/16", and threaded one stud top and bottom per side. I did one side at a time, so the other side would hold the gate up.
After installing both sides I tested it, and it works slick! Easy to open with one finger, and the struts slowly raise it, and not too heavy while closing either. Now my wife will be able to actually open the tailgate! It was too heavy for her before.