5 End fittings for gas struts I wish I had known earlier

Everyone is familiar with gas springs, widely used in many industries, providing great convenience to our lives. However, do you know what is end fittings? How many kinds of end fittings? Which types of end fittings are suitable for your project? Many people have no idea about it. But if you can know earlier, you may make a better choice for purchasing. So we will introduce 5 types of gas spring end fittings today. Let’s see which ones you feel familiar with.

1. Plastic End Fittings

Plastic End Fittings are the most commonly used in our daily life, especially in the furniture industry, well-fit cabinets, and all kinds of box lids.
The advantage of using Plastic End Fittings is that they are cost-effective and simple to use. As we can see, there is a plastic or metal clip inside the end fitting, it is a switch to install or remove your gas strut. When installing a gas spring, the clip will bulge out when the ball stud is inserted. Accordingly, when your lift struts fail after a few years, you can remove the end fitting by using a flat-blade screwdriver. Just insert your screwdriver into the open slot on the back head of the spring, and place pressure on the back clip with your finger while pulling up and prying off your gas spring. The whole mounting and removing process took less than 1 minute.
We suggest you choose plastic end fittings with metal clips, which are more sturdy among using processes. The cost is almost the same as those equipped with plastic clips.

2. Ball Joint (also called elbow joint)

As we can see in the picture, ball joint end fittings are made of metal, iron, or steel material. They consistently feature durable metal hinges, offering exceptional sturdiness, making them a preferred choice for heavy-duty applications like toolboxes or car trunks. However, the downside is the heavy weight of the metal, averaging around 50g when combining a nut with an L-shaped bracket. If the cylinder of gas strut isn’t adequately shielded after installation, there’s a risk that the bracket may collide with it during usage, potentially resulting in scratches or damage to the paint.
Ball joint also includes 2 subclasses. One is a ball joint that includes a ball socket and a ball stud and typically has a spring clip to make it easy to assemble and disassemble. Another type includes a ball socket and a ball stud, but they do not have a spring clip.

Apexstone manufactured this joint features threaded joints, removing the necessity for a spring clip. When replacing it, all that’s required is to unscrew the struts rod from the joint and then securely tighten the new struts along the threads. This process is both convenient and time-saving.

3. Clevis Forks End Fittings

Clevis Forks are a kind of gas springs that are equipped with a pin and e-clip. This kind of gas spring end fittings usually uses carbon steel to make Clevis end fittings normally rounded corners design, safe to use. Cylinder clevis can be used as standard connections on pneumatic cylinders or gas strut connecting rods.
Clevis Forks are not common in our daily life, and it is not a cost-effective type, but it is widely applied to automatic equipment in the chemical industry, light industry, textile industry, and machinery and electronic industry, perfect for connecting the master cylinder booster pushrod to the brake pedal arm.

4. Eyelet End Fittings

Eyelet type is also called blade type. We usually use 3 kinds of manufacturing materials: zinc alloy, stainless steel, or carbon steel.
Eyelet type has M6 or M8 thread size in the bottom to allow you to screw onto both sides of the piston strut. When the end fitting is damaged, you can unscrew it and replace a new one.
Why is it called an eyelet type? As you can see in the picture, a hole on the end fitting is like an eye. The eye could be installed onto a post on the mounting bracket. We usually have a quantity of two in the gas shocks.
Uses include Trucks, Industrial, Automotive, Marine, Household cabinets, RV Vehicles, and many other applications.

5. Snap-on caps design end fitting

Snap-on caps end fittings for gas shocks are a composite construction for strength and durability. It is designed to snap on and off easily. They have a thread in there for attaching to the end. When your gas spring end fitting is damaged, you need to unscrew the end fittings and replace the new ones. It is also simple if you want to secure it to the ball. Just grip it, you can pull up on this cap, allowing you to raise it up. Once you pull it up, it’ll release the tension on the ball socket. When you complete pushing this on the ball, you just push the cap back down. That’s the simple mounting guide. But plastic may harden over time and is less durable.

Purchasing Suggestion

As a summary, metal joints are top-notch in product quality, offering resilience without deterioration over time. While they may rust in certain conditions, this isn’t a major concern if installed in dry environments away from corrosive elements. Additionally, nylon joints reign as a popular choice due to their widespread convenience, highly preferred by most customers. To guide your decision, consider this purchasing priority: Ball joint> Plastic End Fittings with metal clip> Eyelet end fittings> Clevis Forks> Snap-on caps design end fitting