US General Pro 5 Drawer Tool Cart Mod

US General Pro 5 drawer tool cart lift supports (shocks) were blown and I replaced with new ones off Amazon. Wanted the top of the cart to open up full 90⁰ like the new series 2 tool carts at Harbor Freight with little modification.
Easy mod. Cost was about $15
OTUAYAUTO 15 inch Gas Strut - 200N/45Lbs Universal Lift Support - for Tool Box Shock, Truck Cap Strut, Cabinet Gas Strut, RV Door Strut, Camper Shell Strut a.co/d/8dvCsZO

[@branned]

Thank you. I just got a used US General Pro box exactly like yours but without any gas struts. I am getting some tonight. Thanks for the link.

[@Phil-nl9ed]

thanks for the info! I've been looking for the correct size struts.

[@driftwooder]

Thanks for the tip. I have the series 1Tool cart and this is a very helpful Mod to get the top at more of 90 deg. angle. Very nice!!

[@billybrown6330]

The gas strut should always be fitted with the piston pointing down. You have your gas struts installed upside down.

[@rsblum]

I gave this a whirl and bought the OTUAYAUTO 15 inch Gas Strut - 200N/45Lbs Universal Lift Support from the link above and ran into some issues with my Gen 1 US General Pro 5 Drawer.
Firstly, the stock supports were 60N. These 200N/45 were far too strong and were bending the lower sheet metal anchor point, and I even have a butcher block wooden top attached on top of the lid. I would recommend going for more around 100N max. With the near vertical extended height, you just don't need much pressure to hold it up - even the stocker at 60N would hold it if they were longer. I ended up getting some 5/16" SS fender washers (x2 each side) to go on both sides of the mount stud on the bottom to reinforce.
The second issue was, they are a little bit too long on the compressed length. The top would not close completely and was sitting up about an inch when fully compressed, and yes, I did confirm both end fasteners were completely screwed down tightly. Seems the required length would be more like a little under approx 9" compression length. I however did find that the stud length on both ends of the support struts were approx 7.80mm and the threaded hole in the end fasteners were 11.30mm. Being plastic, I took them to my bench sander and slowly sanded the threaded surface until the depth of the holes were exactly 7.80mm. By doing both ends, that reduced the compressed length by approx 7mm ( a little over 1/4") which gave me just enough to allow the lid to close on the 3/16" thick rubber bumpers I added to the lid where the corners would normally hit. Just made it so I didn't have to return them. But again, if I had my choice, I would highly recommend going with supports more in the 100N range each. I hope this helps the next guy, but thanks for the idea Johnny!

[@romeoroze2357]

Nice, are they strong enough to hang some tools with a magnet up there? Or should be more than 45 lbs rating?