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Weak trunk springs

6K views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  dyeager535 
#1 ·
Anyone else had the trunk lid smash their head?

Flat ground I don't have any issues, but on somewhat/fairly steep ground, the lid may or may not stay up while you are putting stuff in. Takes very little movement of the car (like when you put something into the trunk) for the trunk to start closing on it's own. Myself and one other person (my car) have both been hit in the head from this.
 
#2 ·
Any chance you have added a spoiler? If you have that's your problem.

Pat.
 
#3 ·
Nope, no modifications whatsoever to the car. :(

I don't have another Forte to compare with, I assume the trunk springs were made fairly light so that people wouldn't struggle closing it, but in my case there isn't enough tension to keep it up on a hill. It's only on hills, nose up, but nonetheless, that's how I have to park it at times.

Not really an everyday occurrence, but it only takes getting hit once to want to change it. It could be dangerous if it hit you right.
 
#5 ·
I am not familiar with the forte sedan, but in some cases you can move the torsion spring into another notch in order to raise the tension.

Pat.
 
#7 ·
The two black rods pictured behind your add on spring are torsion rods, in some instances there is provision to move the ends to other slots to increase torsion.

Pat.
 
#9 ·
I don't have a key fob, had to get the base model to get the manual trans. I understand the concept of the spring though, not a terrible solution, and not permanent if for some reason I decided I wanted the lid to fall on my head again.

There is no "built in" adjustment for the torsion rods. There is a drilled hole that the end of the rod fits into. The hole is a bit oversized, and looks like one could shim the rod up about 1/16-1/8", but it won't be super easy, and I'm not sure that would make the difference necessary since the change compared to the length of the spring would be pretty minimal. I'd have to make a metal U shaped piece to slip under the torsion rod and decrease the size of the hole, forcing the rod upwards. Might be able to jam a screwdriver into either side to test, but I don't really need another project. Bought this car so I didn't have to work on it for 100,000 miles!

Funny thing though is that if I increase spring tension somehow, and have to open the trunk with my key (which is at least 50% of the time) I'd be fighting that modification.
 
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