1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

I am just looking for the weight of the fully assembled rear trans am hatch weight. I figured this section would know more than others.

I read this thread and there is no way that thing only weighs 88 lbs. Is this true??!?

The reason I am inquiring is that I am attempting to engineer a bracket that mounts to the accessible side of the bottom of the hatch for the prop rod ball stud. I have found shorter threaded ball studs that I can thread into 1/4" steel and rivet/epoxy into place and make a much sturdier mount than the stock 1/8" thick fiberglass that is epoxied on the inaccessible backside of the hatch.

This will fix most of the rear squeak noises for the hatch. The stockers break the epoxy and allow the threaded ball stud to move around within it's cavity allowing the hatch to move more freely causing the weatherstripping to rub and squeak.

I disassembled the trim on the backside, took one prop rod off, and went to take the other off. When I got both prop rods free I about had a hernia holding the hatch up. I supported it with old prop rods I had laying around.

So tell me, is 88 lbs the fully assembled weight of the rear hatch and I am just a bitch or what??

Fireball

iTrader: (21)

The T/A wing weighed ~20 lbs when I weighed it.
The glass is listed as 38lbs.
Those two pieces are the majority of the weight

I'd say that 88 sounds about right.

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

So, you are saying I'm a bitch. Thanks!

In all seriousness, I ran some rough calculations. With the front being supported by the hinge, and the CoG at ~ 30" from those hinges with an OAL of 50", that puts about 52.8 lbs to support the other end level, and at 30 degrees above the horizontal with vertical support, or 45.7 lbs to support it tangentially. So I guess that sounds about right, I guess it just surprised me when I took the final prop rod support off.

JL ws-6

iTrader: (50)

I don't understand what it is that you're even trying to do... I've never heard the hatch rattle or squeak on any of these cars....

The stock hatch is a good 88 lbs I had to have 2 guys help me get mine off the car, I was inside unbolting it while 2 guys were holding it up, putting the formula one on was fun too, as that thing is also heavy. Once the glass is out and the speedglass is in it's place, it will be a GOOD bit lighter that I'm sure of, the glass is a good 35 to 40 lbs I'm sure and I know the speedglass is less then 10 lbs.. I have both front and rear sitting waiting to go in.

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

Maybe I am just unlucky, but there are quite a few guys in the maintenance and general repairs section that have the same problem as I do. The mount that the threaded ball studs thread into gets broken. Someone has epoxied these before, as you can see in the pictures below. I have attempted to epoxy as well, and I could not get the epoxy in there good enough to do any good.

I am designing a mount that rivets onto the outer mounting surface with a shorter ball stud to accommodate the difference in height and keep the geometry the same. I know this problem is directly related to the hatch squeak some of us are unfortunate enough to have. With one free stud, the hatch is free to move and that causes the squeaks. This also weakens the joint on the other mount that has not broken yet. The side loading will eventually cause the adhesive compound to fail.



Molested and broken threaded ball stud. This appears normal until the loading from the weight of the hatch, force of the prop rod, and the moment as the hatch opens/closes.



Unmolested threaded ball stud, stays at this position in all circumstances



Here you can see the deflection



This is the normal position


It is relatively easy to move the broken ball stud up and down its respective axis. I do not have pictures of this. I posted a thread in the general maintenance section, but was looking for weight of the hatch so I can determine that the replacement ball studs will withstand the all the known forces.

JL ws-6

iTrader: (50)

I can honestly say I have never seen that. Must be a ersult of having the hatch open WAY too much or something.

Hatch I took off was as solid as a rock, formula one I bought was perfect as well in this area.

Not sure on this one... I'd also suspect that closing the hatch on something, people pulling on the shocks too could also cause that to happen... regardless, I've never seen that before.

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

I did not know about it until i started searching in the maintenance section for squeaky hatch and someone posted a picture of their ball stud all jacked up. I noticed mine were faulty and did a little digging on the previous owner(s). I cannot account for what may have of happened to other people's ball studs, but I recently found out the original owner of mine was in a fender bender on the driver side rear. I found a thread by the original owner saying he just got his car back from the shop and this and that. I saw the poor hack job last night as I took off the weatherstripping around the rear hatch and saw all kinds of poor quality. I am guessing those same idiots drilled the holes around the ball stud and re-attached using substandard methods and adhesive.

JL ws-6

iTrader: (50)

I'm now going to look at every car and see if I notice that.... the cars are starting to get older now, so anything is possible. Think about it, 2011 models are what 4 months away from becoming available, that makes a 98 thirteen years old already.

1SLwLS1

iTrader: (6)

Absolutely, my 2002 sticker date is 08/2000. Plus imagine more cars similar to that of yours in your signature, that puts all kinds of stresses on this uni-body. I imagine this will develop into a more common problem in the future.

I also noticed I have a stress crack in the fiberglass on the passenger side. It runs by the spoiler to the edge. This could be related to the wreck back in 04 or 05, or the hatch moving around on its own, or something entirely different. I doubt it is just paint, as that area is relatively stress free as far as paint is concerned.