How much do you know about gas struts for RVs?

RVs, or recreational vehicles, have become a welcomed lifestyle as they can create relaxation and comfortable when traveling and camping. For convenience, many RV owners buy gas struts for their RV appliances. You may wonder why gas struts are needed for them. In this article, we will discuss what is RV, why gas struts are vital for an RV, where we can use gas struts, and how to replace the old RV part if they are worn out.

1. What is an RV?

The full name of the RV is Recreational Vehicle, which is made for both camping and living purposes. You can drive it like a car to anywhere you like, but sometimes they are not simply a car, it can be seen as a moving house, you can do anything you did at home, such as sleeping, cooking, taking showers, and so on.

2. What are gas struts?

Gas struts are a tool filled with nitrogen gas, by providing different pressure, they suit various applications like the furniture and automotive industry, and also act as RV accessories. They are made of iron or steel material, the difference between different materials is cost and Corrosion resistance. For the boat lid, we recommend choosing steel-made gas struts, which are more durable. For furniture cabinet doors, you can use iron-made lift support. No matter which kind of material you use, once the gas springs fit well for our projects, they will help us access the storage space without effort.

3. Where do we need gas struts on the RV?

By observing carefully, it is not difficult to find that there are many areas that need gas struts for camper and RV furniture to offer convenience. Let’s take a closer look at each of them:
– Entry door. Entry doors are most equipped with RV door struts to hold the door open, which are convenient for us to enter or exit the RV.
– RV bed, which is an essential RV furniture, the area under the bed can provide an extra large space for storage, so most RV beds can be lifted up, which is convenient for us to store and retrieve anything we need. However, the RV bed is heavy, which makes it essential to install a pair of RV hydraulic arms under the RV bed.
– Cabinets, with the help of RV cabinets door struts, the cabinet panel can keep open when we need to access the storage space until we close them, we don’t need to use our hands or head to hold the door.
– RV windows, not all RV windows need to equip with gas struts. For those push-out RV windows, a pair of hydraulic shocks can help us lift the window automatically.
– Generator compartments, an important part of the RV, can provide electricity to various appliances within the RV. Normally, we place Generator in the storage compartment, and installing a pair of gas struts on the RV storage door will be convenient for repair and maintenance.
– Awnings, which are a popular part of RV, such as Fleetwood RV, when we have a rest in the travel, can provide shade for us. A pair of gas struts can help to control the movement of the awning, and you can open and close the awning with ease.
– Baggage doors or RV camper side access doors, are used to place our luggage, when we open them, a pair of lift struts will be helpful to lift the door quickly and automatically.

4. How to replace gas struts if the original is worn out?

According to what we listed above, we will find that gas struts are vital for RV, but the lifespan for gas struts is limited, about 1-5 years, which depends on how to use them and where to use them. When the gas shocks wear out, they need to be replaced. Replacement gas struts is a simple task for most of us, we can do it by ourselves and complete it in 10-20 mins.
Here’s the guide on how to replace gas struts in an RV:
First, prepare a pair of gas shock replacements. To do this, you can measure the original gas struts first to know the accurate specification. You can refer to the post and you will know bout how to measure gas struts.
Second, remove the old gas springs from the application. Open the door and use a flat-head screwdriver to ease the metal clip on the mounting brackets, then you can slowly separate struts from the brackets, after doing this, repeat the process again on the other end fittings.
Next, install the new gas struts replacement. Just connect the struts end to the bracket on the application, and then repeat it on the other end and the other side.
Last but not least, test and check the performance. After attaching the struts to the brackets, we should check the connection and make sure the mounting bracket is securely fastened. Besides, we’d better test the gas struts by lifting and lowering the door panel. After trying 2-3 times, we can know whether the lift struts are compatible with our project or not.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, the RV is part of our life, gas springs are a perfect choice to make our RV life more easier and comfortable. However, gas struts have a limited lifespan, so we need to replace them in time to avoid trouble since it is not a difficult task, just follow the guide we introduced above step by step, and we believe you can complete it in 10-20 mins. In addition, RV owners ought to regularly check for signs of wear or damage, such as leaks or rust, to make them safe for your camping time. Welcome to order or custom any RV gas struts, like 18″ struts for RV cabinets, RV 13 inch struts, etc.