Review on Front Hood Lift Support Strut Gas Shock Spring: Chevrolet Malibu 2008-2012 Saturn Aura 2008-2009 Sedan by Jeff Vasquez

Replaced a broken rack in my wife's Aura '08. The photo shows the angle head on the cylindrical end of the post. The shaft brace has an angled head at the end of the shaft (approx. 80-85 degrees instead of 90 degrees). Well I figured you could just swap the ends (they bolt on) or install a gas bottle from the side of the hood. The actual block I received has a 90 degree head on BOTH ends. I attempted to install anyway as there is a large angular tolerance on these ends of the balls. I couldn't latch the side of the hood while it was open (too sharp a corner) and I had to close it halfway to complete the latch. When closing the hood (slowly), I heard a sort of squeak/click and realized that the lower ball mount was pushed back. I compared the lengths of the old and new cylinders and although the overall draw length was the same, the gas cylinder on the new part was longer. (My fault for not comparing.) Okay, it holds the hood and closes well, don't worry about that for an 11 year old car. he no longer holds the hood.