Power door/trunk closers

[Eric]

Americans seemingly will do anything to avoid manual effort of any kind - and that includes having to exert the energy needed to close a door or liftgate on muscle power alone. It's one thing if you're handicapped - or have short arms that make it hard to reach the liftgate when it's up. But these power closers have become mass market items used in cars driven by perfectly normal - and at least theoretically, perfectly able - people. A better example of consumption for its own sake would be hard to find.

[grouch]

Americans seemingly will do anything to avoid manual effort of any kind - and that includes having to exert the energy needed to close a door or liftgate on muscle power alone. It's one thing if you're handicapped - or have short arms that make it hard to reach the liftgate when it's up. But these power closers have become mass market items used in cars driven by perfectly normal - and at least theoretically, perfectly able - people. A better example of consumption for its own sake would be hard to find.

I had a Lincoln Town Car once that when you shut the trunk, the lid would mostly close and then pull down. I always wondered why? Why not just make the gasket a little thicker? I never had any trouble with it but what would happen if it failed? I prefer older, more basic stuff. At least theres less to fix later when the parts aren't available.

[Mase]

I had a Lincoln Town Car once that when you shut the trunk, the lid would mostly close and then pull down. I always wondered why? Why not just make the gasket a little thicker? I never had any trouble with it but what would happen if it failed? I prefer older, more basic stuff. At least theres less to fix later when the parts aren't available.

My 77 Caddy had one of those. I can tell you what happens when it fails, it costs you $$ to get it fixed. It wouldn't pull down/closed any more, so I adjusted the latch so that when you slammed it shut it was tight.

[MikeHalloran]

My 91 Camaro had an electric last-inch closer like that on the hatch. The gearcase was made of transparent plastic for no apparent reason. It cracked after a while. I was able to finagle the mechanism into the correct position and disconnect the motor, so it would seal okay.
Oddly, my 85 and 92 Camaros, same body style, didn't have the fancy closer.


We've had a couple of Explorers, and I thought sometimes it would be nice to have a full stroke remote closer, e.g. when dropping someone at the airport in the rain. But the implementations I've seen so far are disappointing. The little bitty cable winch is just guaranteed to get birdcaged someday, and the long jackscrews are slow, and get in the way when you'd just like to slam the liftgate and leave.

[J. ZIMM]

And they wonder why they can't get any mileage out of these cars. Seems like for every mile per gallon they gain, they add another 5 to 10 pounds of junk to kill it. If they every went back to a BASIC car, I don't think there is anyone out there in this new generation who would know how to operate a car. Hand choke any one???