paris1: Thanks! Good to know.
Yes these replacement struts by safety recall are worse than the originals and many have confirmed it. I wonder if we should ask Mazda to give us another pair for free since there’s a recall for them?Necropost
These recall replacements never seemed to be good as the originals. I could never get them to not squeak and they began to lose pressure I assume since they wouldn't fully hold the hatch open.
Just replaced them and now silent and fully opens the hatch.
KD77-62-620A (Right)
KD77-63-620A (Left)
Yes, the replacements are indeed shorter than originals! Luckily I’m not that tall to hit the liftgate. And I regret to let my Mazda dealer perform the recall on liftgate struts too!Luckily mine haven't failed yet, but that is one recall I should have skipped. The originals were in perfect shape and little did I know the replacements were going to be shorter causing me to now bump my head on the liftgate if not careful. Thanks Mazda.
Can you confirm these 2 OEM liftgate struts are the same length as the 2 from the recall? Like Jmaz said, the replacement struts from the recall are shorter than originals, hence the opening height on liftgate will become lower.⋯
Just replaced them and now silent and fully opens the hatch.
KD77-62-620A (Right)
KD77-63-620A (Left)
Thanks for checking. Looks like the current “A” revision OEM struts, which should be those used by the recall, are shorter than original KD77-62-620 / KD77-63-620 struts.FYI: Recall versions are the same length as versions I just replaced.
You may regret your decision having the dealer performed the strut recall. The replacement struts are inferior on longevity and they’re shorter. Watch your head if you’re tall.So I ended up getting ours replaced earlier this year when I took the vehicle in to get a proximity key programmed. It's the only time I have taken a vehicle to a dealer for anything, ever. They went ahead and did the recall replacement at that time. Haven't noticed any issues since then, but the old ones didn't have any issues, either.
See post #44 and #48 above. And it’s my experience too, but I’m not as tall as Jmaz.Shorter? Not at all. The hatch opens the exact same amount as before.
I don't think he goes to the dealer often enough to care about getting the strut recall done later.Should have waited until the original struts are failing, then go get the recall done. There’s no time limitation on recalls anyway.
See post #44 and #48 above. And it’s my experience too, but I’m not as tall as Jmaz.
As the matter of fact, when I mentioned the shorter replacement struts for the recall, the service advisor admitted they’re indeed shorter, but he said I should be fine with shorter struts.
And maybe the one's you got happen to be the same as the original ( old stock ?, maybe Mazda made a change or sent old one's?). I just know that right after the recall one's were installed I bumped my head whereas I didn't before. Too coincidental. By eyeball it looked like the bottom corners of the liftgate were now maybe an inch lower than before. This agrees with what yrwei52 posted. And I'm not that tall, only 6 ft. in my stocking feet.And I'm telling you that the ones the dealer put on are the same.
When we first got the car, I was concerned that the hatch would touch our garage door opening's top seal or the door bottom seal with the hatch open. Luckily it cleared everything by about 1/2 inch or so, although I did set the garage door to go up just a touch more to ensure clearance.
After the recall was done, the clearance above the hatch to the garage door opening's top seal is still the same as before. Therefore the length of the hatch struts are unchanged.
People who performed the liftgate lifter recall if they pay some attention all feel the replacements are worse than the originals, with shorter rod (hence the liftgate when opened is lower which your head may hit it easier; and the lifting power is weaker even comes with noise.I guess I missed the TSB that mentioned that some recall struts were defective
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