Today I marked and cut the lift struts to their proper length after checking the measurement for at least five times. The left and right struts were within 1/8th inch of each other, which is typical. I used my DeWalt chop saw to do the job. I put in an old carbide saw blade and slowly worked my way through it. I wore hearing protection and two types of safety eyewear. There were aluminum chips everywhere and my wife could hear the cutting in the house! Once the cuts were complete, I filed and polished the ends smooth to eliminate any potential stress points.
The next step was to smoosh the ends down to fit the strut ends. The extrusions are just a bit too wide, so you need to squeeze them down a bit. The hardest part was keeping the interior flats parallel to each other and to get a consistent gap so the flats contact the strut end from front to back…not so easy. But, with the help of some fiddling and some oak blocks it worked out. Now it’s time to drill, baby, drill!
