Can anyone tell me why it has been so hard to find replacement lift struts for the rear door of my 91 Escort wagon?

Years ago the left side one broke. I took it off, went to a parts store in California, browsed the rack and found one that matched. When I installed it, I had to tweak the mounting bracket slightly. No big deal, I thought. Now, the right side strut has been broken for over a year. The first time I tried to replace it, I went to a parts store in Alaska, where I now live, gave the details of my car and bought a strut that, once installed, prevents the rear door from closing !!. Every search since then has resulted in the same wrong strut, including from my mechanic.

Yesterday I finally took with me the number off the remaining strut (I have since lost the one that broke) to a store and the guy was able to find a matching set. When he cross referenced the part number to the car it's supposedly built for, it turned out that the strut is designed for a 93 - 96 Ford Probe. Not my car. Clearly, the strut I first replaced was not the right one, but I made it work. So, last night I was so excited to install the strut. I remembered that I had to tweak the left side one so I ever so gently started to pull on the strut and !SNAP! the weld at the mounting bracket broke. Didn't give me much confidence that it would have lasted very long even if I had installed it.

No salvage yard in town has any Escorts and the dealer says a new strut will be $70 (they retail for around $30) and by now I am not convinced that even they will find the right part.

Mostly I just want to vent, but if you have any suggestions, I am listening. My plan now is to try the dealer. Give them the VIN and $140 and get two. Maybe I should buy 4 ?.....

 

Just returned from my second visit with the kind folks at Carquest. While there I tried two other struts that were listed for 91 and 93 Escorts. Neither worked. The one designed for the 93s came closest, but, as before, it did not allow the door to close. So, now I believe I have tried all struts listed to work with 91 Escorts, whether for the "rear door of the wagon", the "hatchback", or the "liftgate" plus a strut designed for the 93 Probe. Crazy. I guess I should go with the Probe strut and tweak it more carefully.

But if I recall correctly, I don't think the struts had resistance on them as the rear door was being closed. They would hold the door up when fully opened but the door had to be dropped from a few inches rather than being pushed to close. So, yeah, they aren't really doing the job.

Any retro suggestions?

 

I replaced mine today. I also have a '93 hatchback. The ripper is I found good ones in a junkyard off a '96 model. So, I really don't know if this helps except the fact that the 1996 models will work. The only difference is the top part that bolts to the hatch on the '93 originally is one peice, the '96 struts are two peice (detachable with a flathead screwdriver), so get the complete assembly if you can.I hope this helps.