Can I Decrease the Opening Height of the Rear Hatch?

My 2019 4R Premium fits nicely in our garage; almost, as I can't open the rear hatch. I'm OK with only opening the rear hatch when the garage door is open, BUT the hatch opens so far that it hits on the edge of the raised garage door.

Could I replace the two hatch hydraulic rods with shorter ones thus restricting the swing of the hatch?

(Obviously I'm not in command of the proper lingo to describe the two devices that control the hatch....)

Any suggestions, other than purchasing a garage extender, will be gratefullyreceived!

 

Not much help here, but remember-- in a pinch you can open the rear glass with the key from the outside. I think you can even do it with the key fob.

 

I zip-tied a beach towel to my garage door so it would rest on that instead of metal. You can also tie a length of rope from the cargo floor tie down loop to the rear hatch fabric loop.

 

Had the same issue with the garage. I have paracord attached from the passenger rear tie down to the hatch handle with small carabiners. So when the hatch is open it limits how far the hatch can travel. Then I ran a small bungie cord with a hook on it that hooks onto the middle of the paracord and attaches to my Rago rack. Could also attach it to the upper hanger on a stock 4. Did this because when I was closing the hatch with the paracord limiting strap, the paracord would have to be stuffed manually in to the vehicle. With the bungie the cord it's pulled in automatically. Has worked for over two years now.

 

I like that idea. Rope from the cargo tie down with a small carabiner on the end to hook to the fabric strap on the door.

 

All seem much easier than my replace the gas cylinder thoughts, and well within my limited mechanical abilities.

Thanks to y'all!

 

Snapped pics. Two years this has been working. The little bungies that could!

 

I did the paracord/carabiner mod but no bungy cord. I don't really need to open and leave open the rear hatch while parked in my garage that often. Usually I just pop it open and hold it while the dog jumps in or out. But on those occasions when I need to leave it open for loading or whatever, I attached the carabiner to the hatch strap. The rest of the time I have a fully opening rear hatch. Works for me.

 

Seems like they'd make those hydraulic cylinders adjustable. Ya know, for shorter people like me.

 

Discovered the same problem literally the first day that I put it in the garage. The vehicle fit until I opened the rear lid and the toyota emblem impacted the garage door. Good news is that it didn't actually damage the rear lid. Just put some ugly scratches on the emblem...Drives me nuts every time I look at it. I considered replacing it I just couldn't bring myself to paying the $$ at the dealer.

 

Just black it out with an overlay

 

I hit the garage door too but it actually rests right where the rear "4Runner" emblem is so not an issue not touching paint. How often do you really open it? Just open it carefully and gently rest it against the door if your that concerned throw a towel between the two.

 

I go to the grocery store and mall a lot so I open it all the time. Hard to hold all of the grocery bags and the lid at the same time...LOL...

 

use a pipe insulation on the metal rib of the garage door.

 

I just back into the garage to unload groceries or whatever. Eliminates the garage door worry

 

Just got my shipment of two new replacement gas cylinders from Lift Supports Depot today. They were about 1.5" shorter than to OEM units. Put these on my 2018 Limited in about 10 minutes. Worked perfect, the gate no longer hots the garage door! https://liftsupportsdepot.com/strong-arm-6315-gas-charged-hood-lift-support/

 

This. Water pipe foam insulation. Or pool noodles. Costs less than $5, glue it in place.
Lots of cars with hatchback doors will impact most garage doors.

 

It's not the garage ceiling height, it's the top of the garage door frame/overhead door measurement that causes the problem. I'm currently using a paracord, carabiner fix to hold the door to a height that doesn't touch the garage door when open.

 

Mine is 83.25"

 

83.25"

 

^^^ This.
I've been doing this for decades, the hatch couldn't possibly hit the garage door.

 

I sacrificed a can coozie and zip tied a piece of it to the handle. Done.

 

That's what I did. Works perfect.

Did full width of garage door since the wife's Sequoia hatch hits too.

 

I like the pipe insulation idea. I have an neighbor with Enclave that has same issue.

He took a small piece of leftover posh thick carpet and attached to the bottom of the door where it would hit. That worked well from him.

I remember studying this when shopping for new ride. I drove pickups, Yukon’s, Sequoias etal and put them all in my garage on a test drive with my Dads help.

He gave me the idea and it was invaluable. I quickly learned that the 4Runner fit the best especially when you have lawn mowers and snow blower etal.

It is amazing how much longer even a Tacoma is in a 2.5 car garage versus the 4Runner.

 

If mine doesn't open all the way, then I smack my head into it. I want the clearance, so I'm just careful and improvise.
I'm just carefull and take my time. My head is worth more than a scratch.
BTW... they are called pistons.

 

My rear door will hit/rest on the garage door frame without the bungie.

I thought I could be careful enough and was gentle when I would rest it on the garage frame but ended up with a scratch on the paint. This was due to me pulling in the garage loaded up with stuff and by the time I was unloaded the car would lift up ever so slightly due to the change in weight and would rub.

Easy solution: 18" rubber bungie, paracord cut and tied into loops on either end, and a carabiner connected to the grab strap on the door. Other end loop around the bag holder thing or (I guess the floor anchor would work too). adjust the loops to dial in the desired door height.
Had it for several months. I never have to touch it, it just works.
I'll try to get a picture of the bungie tomorrow.