Interesting you should mention this... I have ended up in A&E for this very reason.
Many, many years ago when I had a fleet of Mk1 R5s, I was changing the tailgate on one of them. There are two bolts attaching this mechanism to the tailgate. I removed one and loosened the second. Perhaps I loosened it a little too much as the bolt slipped out allowing the tensioned arm to fly off hitting me in one eyebrow. This lead to me releasing copious amounts of blood from my head although you'll be delighted to hear I lived to tell the tale. And am a bit more careful these days (this was 15 or so years back).
Today I was helping my good friend Andrew (renault4mad) with the fitting of parts to his newly restored 4GTL. The tailgate strut spring mechanism didn't have any tension because the hooked end of the spring wasn't resting on its locating tab. We decided to have a look at the mechanism on my car to see how it all should be, only to find that the hooked end of the spring was resting on the upper nut that bolts the thing on. We continued to finish working on Andrews cars mechanism, which now works fine, but I thought it would be a good idea to correct mine. After disconnecting the rod from the tailgate, which of course I supported, Andrew then tried to lever the spring end with a screwdriver. The centre spindle was very worn and the spring let loose and missed it's locating tab, and unwound itself. No one hurt, and no damage done. It was only just catching on that nut, so maybe it could have let loose at any time when the tailgate was open. Not good, and a potential safety hazard. Andrew had a good quality spare so that is now fitted.
So my good friends, check yours. I don't want any of you ending up in A&E. Regards Brian.
