Trunk lid - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

wiccanferret · 03-21-2007, 09:28 AM

The trunk lid on my Gen 2 Camry is broken. It doesn't stay up, or even remotely try. It just falls. I looked up in where the hinge goes and the bracket that's on the hinge that holds the little bar that I'm assuming props the trunk is just gone! There's a weld spot on the trunk hinge instead...wtf? The bar is kind of hanging there.

I need to take pictures.

Anyway, I'm thinking instead of repairing this, why not just drill some holes and put struts on the trunk? Is there any reason why not? Has anyone done this? It can't be that hard...easier than trying to fix the trunk as it is.

Kep · 03-21-2007, 02:26 PM

My recollection of a 1990 Camry is that there were two spring "rods" that criss crossed from left to right, behind the back seat, going essentially from the right hinge to the left hinge. The rod you mention is likely one of these. It sounds like the bracket that held one side has broken off.

There shouldn't be any reason you can't rig up some of those gas struts if you can get the correct size and lift. You could also just use a rod like the front hood.

Kep

***toyomoho*** · 03-22-2007, 12:18 PM

Find the part that broke off and see how it attaches. Perhaps you can drill those holes and bolt it back on.

wiccanferret · 03-22-2007, 06:38 PM

I would, except as far as I can tell it's gone. It's the part that hangs down off the hinge where the cross bars connect. It's there on the left side, but not on the right.

***HomeGrown*** · 03-22-2007, 10:54 PM

No reason you can't put gas struts on it, except for the fact that they're REALLY stiff, and would require very little leverage to work on a Gen 2 trunk lid. You'd have to have the mounting points very secure to take the force. If you go this route, I would suggest finding some well-used ones that may be a bit weaker than something that's new. I got a new pair off an '05 Sienna van at work that was getting scrapped out. I mean to tell you those gas struts are nearly impossible to compress. I was toying with the idea of putting them on my hood, but there's no room to install them.

Might be easier to find a junkyard and try to get a replacement bracket, if the original one is missing, or even fabricate your own, which would probably be less work than mounting gas struts.

GTO MAN · 03-22-2007, 11:23 PM

Just use a stick to hold it up.

***HomeGrown*** · 03-23-2007, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO MAN

Just use a stick to hold it up.

Sometimes the obvious escapes us.

wiccanferret · 03-23-2007, 08:10 AM

Heheh stick...that's what we're using right now. But I was looking for something a bit less...ghetto...lol. I'm actually working with someone at a company that carries a bunch of different kinds of struts. I'm going to get all the info and see what he tells me. He's thinking something like what a wagon uses for their rear glass would be good, but I need to get compressed length and extended length for him first then he's going to choose one for me.

If it works I'll do a quick write up on how/where I drilled and what part number the struts are and where they came from. I'm thinking this is going to be pretty easy, but we'll see.

ramseygsd · 07-23-2007, 05:14 PM

the bracket on the left side broke on my 88. It holds one of the 2 rods. I made one. Copied the right side using the material from decking brackets I bought at Home Depot. I bolted it back instead of riveting it.

ramseygsd · 07-23-2007, 05:14 PM

the bracket on the left side broke on my 88. It holds one of the 2 rods. I made one. Copied the right side using the material from decking brackets I bought at Home Depot. I bolted it back instead of riveting it.

ramseygsd · 07-23-2007, 05:14 PM

the bracket on the left side broke on my 88. It holds one of the 2 rods. I made one. Copied the right side using the material from decking brackets I bought at Home Depot. I bolted it back instead of riveting it.

pusillanimous · 11-09-2007, 06:06 PM

New guy here with a '91 4 cyl dx. I joined forum to find a fix for my trunk problem as described here. A body shop told me there's a tool to reattach the bracket. My bracket seems to have come off or the bolt has sheared off on right side. Funny, I haven't found the sheared bolt. I'd forget it and use a stick (or my trunk umbrella) but the trunk is difficult to align and lid chips the left side paint even after adjusting the bolts. I can't seem to budge the part that bolts to the bracket arm from the rod on right side.
(body shop wanted $300 to fix it.)

pusillanimous · 11-12-2007, 03:43 PM

Trunk fixed: Today I took a big pry bar, channel locks (vise grips would have been better) a few bolts and a long steel nail out to the trunk of my '91 Camry, determined to fix it. As I thought, the bracket bolt or pin had sheared off leaving the head and tail piece stuck in each side. There are two long rods, one for each trunk hinge-arm which hold tension against each hinge-arm which pushes the trunk up fully open when one lifts the trunk. This tension also keeps the trunk-lid properly aligned. Piston closers (struts) might not enable this alignment but fixing the original parts do. The sheared bolt collapsed the tension on one side leaving the trunk hanging and out of alignment. So, using the prybar to relieve the tension, I pried the working end of the rod down and removed the bracket-piece that had detached from the trunk hinge and was forced up and held tight. Once the bracket was removed, I hammered out the head and tail of the broken/missing bolt and attached the bracket back to the hinge arm, using the other side as a model for which way was up and using a long nail instead of a bolt through the hinge-arm. Now I had the bracket reattached but needed to get the tensioner bar loop-end back into the groove slot of my reattached bracket. I had to mess around straightening the holder bracket and figure-out how the bar was supposed to work. I wound up in the trunk, on my back and once the tension bar was in position (after using channel locks, pry bar and tire iron, I had to push the trunk completely open with my feet which allowed my bracket to swing down into position and onto the loop of the tension bar, which I was somehow holding in position with the prybar. Bingo, it was reattached although with a long nail instead of a bolt through the hinge-arm. I grabbed the end of the nail with channel locks and bent it down. The trunk now opens and stays up with tension just like it used to. Sorry, I wasn't thinking of pictures: just of saving $300. It was less than an hour of my labor and one nail.

atobe · 11-12-2007, 09:39 PM

good job

even though we provided no help to you

pusillanimous · 11-13-2007, 10:09 PM

Thanks. The site IS a help to me. I get encouragement and know-how and I'm appreciative.