240SD Cockpit Hatch

[denwatson]

The cockpit hatch on our '07 240SD only opens to about 60 degrees or so with the factory gas strut. It would be great to get it opening as close to 90 degrees as possible. Has anyone figured out how to replace the factory strut or adjust the strut mounting brackets to get closer to 90 degrees?

 

[Lazy Daze]

You may be able to move one (or both) of the mounts - you'll have to take a look and see how much of the strut is uncompressed (how much more can it compress) when the hatch is closed. But realize that depending on which mount(s) you move, the hatch will either become heavier (on the initial opening) or lighter. If it ends up being too light, the hatch may have a tendency to open by itself. You may then have to get a lighter (or stronger) strut - they are expressed in "pounds of lift".

Most of the struts that are used are the common 12"x20" (compressed x uncompressed). But, you can look on the strut for the model number or check your Sea Ray parts manual for the specs. You can then either move the mounts or get a new strut with different measurements.

Measurements on struts are center to center of the two mounting balls.

All-in-all, not difficult - just takes a little thinking and planning. I recently did exactly what you are asking with my boat.

 

[denwatson]

You may be able to move one (or both) of the mounts - you'll have to take a look and see how much of the strut is uncompressed (how much more can it compress) when the hatch is closed. But realize that depending on which mount(s) you move, the hatch will either become heavier (on the initial opening) or lighter. If it ends up being too light, the hatch may have a tendency to open by itself. You may then have to get a lighter (or stronger) strut - they are expressed in "pounds of lift".

Most of the struts that are used are the common 12"x20" (compressed x uncompressed). But, you can look on the strut for the model number or check your Sea Ray parts manual for the specs. You can then either move the mounts or get a new strut with different measurements.

Measurements on struts are center to center of the two mounting balls.

All-in-all, not difficult - just takes a little thinking and planning. I recently did exactly what you are asking with my boat.

Could you advise which mounts you moved which nway in your boat.

 

[Lazy Daze]

In my case (obviously yours may differ), I moved the mounts that are on the hatch. I moved them about 2-1/2" further aft and that was all that I needed to open the hatch up quite a bit further. I was able to stick with the (easy to find) 12"x20" length as they were not fully compressed the way they were mounted to start with. To be on the safe side, I bought 120# springs - the old ones were 100#. Since your springs are probably still in good shape, try what you have before you buy new ones.

Take a look at post #146 in this thread: http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23453&highlight=hatch+gas+spring&page=8

 

[rkeats]

Had the same issue with our 2005 240SD, so I just took the strut off and now it opens all the way.

 

[denwatson]

OK thanks for the info Dennis.

 

[denwatson]

Thanks Rich. I tried that too, even had a bungee cord available to run between the hatch and the port grab bar. The problem is the hatch won't stay open, it goes to about 88 degrees then hits the port seat and wants to close again. Seems like the gas spring angle is best if it can be figured out.