Volvo SPA Gen 2 Tailgate Strut Water Protector

This model is a pair of TPU protector hoods to prevent the ingress of water into Volvo SPA platform Gen 2 Electric Tailgate Struts.

After having mine replaced twice now in 5 years, the first pair were the original design and now the second generation of struts. In both cases water ingress has resulted in corrosion and failure.

The design fits perfectly round the strut, to be secured with 2 cable ties. If you print with black TPU they would be more discrete. I only have white or grey on hand. These prints were with Eryone 95A from Amazon.

I've designed it as a tight fit, obviously to limit water intrusion. Using TPU means it's a single part, other materials would require a 2 piece design. The join has an overlapping lip to help keep it sealed. While I also created a small channel in the open end, sop should any water get past the top, it has space to run out the bottom away from the strut.

To help further, i used some non-setting gasket compound round the top edge, visible as blue in some images. You could also use some kind of grease, such as silicone grease. TPU is resistant to many materials.

The cable ties will keep it secure, should you wish, you could apply some glue along the join though I wouldn't. Keep it easy to remove should you have any strut failures, independent of water ingress and ask for help from Volvo.

While I know this will help, it may not be the perfect solution to premature failures.

This was printed on an A1 mini, no reason it won't print on the A1 or P1\X1 series. just remember to dry your filament and use external spool holders, most TPU doesn't play well with the AMS system.

Bambu Profile has 2 protectors, while STL has singular model to clone.