Soft Close Hinges for Toy Box, Slow Closing Safety Hinges for Toy Chest, Storage Bench, Wooden Chest & Toy Box, Prevent Finger Pinch, Set of 2

They are not the easiest to install. I can back up the reviews struggling on proper placement. My hinge position was outside the box. I ended up having to notch a channel for the strut body to clear in the open position. The brackets are definitely the weak point. If not aligned properly they will bend. There is some slack in the top 20% (80-100% open). No pressure until a slight drop. They do not hold in the open position, they are not a lifter, they are for slow closure. They have great pressure on the way down though. You can’t force them closed faster. This installation is a very heavy lid (roughly 60lbs) and they work great. I read the reviews and anticipated the drawbacks I mentioned. For the price they actually exceeded my expectations.

Very easy to install and very good results. I used these on a relatively heavy lid (25 lbs) and the lid takes about 15 seconds to close. It closes very softly. I have seen a lot of negative reviews for this product saying they are flimsy and difficult to install. This is not correct. The most important thing to note is to make sure that the struts are vertical when the lid closes, we want the forces to be applied to the strong axis. If you have the struts angled or horizontal like some of the pictures on these reviews then they will likely underperform and break because the forces are being applied along the weak axis. Also, dont attach the struts directly next to the hinges on the lid. Ever tried to open a heavy door by pushing right next to the hinges? Doesn't work well. When attaching the struts, attach to the lid first, then extend the strut fully and mark the location to attach the bottom of the strut about an inch short of the full length of the strut. Last thing...make sure the black casing is up and the smaller, chrome portion is down.

I got these to match a pair of 100N Apextone soft-close struts purchased in 2017. The originals are a bit too slow, but that's because our storage chests have light lids, not because of a shortcoming in the struts. Otherwise they work perfectly and installed easily. Unfortunately the new ones are 150N and are way too strong for our chest lids, so we can't use them. What we really need are 100N strength or lower soft-close struts, preferably 50N (lifting struts won't work four our application), and I can't find them anywhere.

I watched the installation video which helped a great deal. The instructions are somewhat vague if you do not understand the mechanics of the hinges. It took me what felt like less than 5 mins to install a hinge on both sides. I didn't have to follow the measurements to install the top screw exactly- instructions recommend to use the same distance from the side of the box, but I had upholstered fabric that took up a bit more room so I went in another half inch or so and it still worked out just fine. The hinge extends out with some resistance and closes very slowly. It has brought life back to two of my flat top storage benches so I would highly recommend these hinges.

Installed these on a vintage Lane cedar hope chest I refinished... I looked at several reviews before purchasing and almost did not choose these due to people saying the instructions were confusing and that installation was difficult, the durability, etc...(actually I purchased another popular kind that I had to return because they would not install according to the included instructions). I followed the enclosed instruction sheet - I've saw several complaints on this, however the instruction sheet has multiple instructions included on it for their other products which are labeled "lift support gas struts" but these are the "soft close" struts and are listed first on the installation sheet I received (see pic) ... I also noticed people had installed these upside down in some of their reviews which could indicate that the "lift support strut" instructions were followed instead, SO make sure you follow the "SOFT CLOSE" portion of the sheet. Now, millimeters is the standard measurement they used, but inches are also included. Reading the instruction steps were a tad confusing, but for me, the illustration clarified the proper method to use. While the scale is off a bit in their illustration, I was still able to easily understand what to do. Due to this chest having a shelf insert, I had to do a little less than the 5.5 inch measurement for the lid bracket and came just right under the shelf. It lists to measure 9.1 inches from the top/opening of the box down toward the bottom, and 2.8 inches from the back of the box for the bottom bracket attachment (so I measured as close to that as I could, probably not perfect) and just made sure that with the strut extended, it met the open lid in an ok spot for me to mount the top bracket. I used a small level to make sure I had the strut level vertically. I do not have a scale to measure the weight of the lid, but I'd say it's around 10 lbs. It soft closes perfectly.... it may have created a small amount of resistance when opening, but it's not that noticeable of a difference since it was "heavy" anyway...I'm just glad I don't have to worry about smashed fingers now! Hopefully they will hold up well and last!

A video is worth a 100 words on this product. I purchased these struts for an old wooden chest. The lid is nailed/ glued pieces of pine that broke apart partly because it slammed down. After repairing the lid, I thought these soft close struts would reduce wear and tear. It was a partial success, but as illustrated in the accompanying video, the lid slams down from about 30 degrees. This definitely would not be a good choice for a toy chest with a heavy lid. The directions are confusing, but by reviewing the diagrams in the instructions and experimenting before drilling it was not that difficult to figure out the right set up. However, I did end up drilling 2 sets of holes for the first strut because my chest had supports on the underside of the lid and with the suggested bracket placement the lid would not close all the way. In other reviews I was made aware of the cheap hardware issue so I drilled pilot holes and used a Phillips head screwdriver to set screws by hand; no issues with hardware. The connectors are plastic and rotate on a ball at each end. One of the 4 plastic teeth inside one of the connectors broke during installation. It still works, but I have contacted the company’s customer service for a replacement. Overall I feel that this was worth the money, but suspect these struts will not be that durable with heavy use.

I purchased to install on a window bench seat for a bay window (t has a box underneath). The lid is approximately 1' x 6' x 3/4" thick solid oak, so reasonably heavy. Yes, instructions were included, NO the measurements were not that picky. The struts ship compressed, because they are soft close. They don't work by exerting pressure to stay open, they work by slowing the flow of air out of the spring on compression. I installed two to support the lid. I used a center divider in the chest section of the seat to mount both. The only issue was that they do NOT hold the lid open. It starts to close as soon as you let go (just nice and slow). I used a separate single 7" gas strut that the same seller lists on amazon for propping the lid up. it actually works great to have all three. When I open it, it stays open. There's a range in which is just stays open. When I close it a little, the weight of the lid takes over and these kick into action. Now, it doesn't close super super gentle, and it might hurt little fingers a little, but I put my hand in there and it closed just hard enough for me to register it. I actually think that's good, b/c it might smart a little hand, but it won't hurt it significantly - just enough to make the kids remember not to put their hand in there when it is closing!

Bought these for a toy chest I built for my 2 year old daughter. Bought and installed 2 of them because the lid is a little larger and wanted to avoid any smashed fingers. Put both on and they hold the lid open great at about 100-105 degree angle and the pistons do slow close. But there's a key flaw in the design and how these are mounted. The piston offers great resistance, but do to how it's designed and mounted, the piston is completely closed offering no more resistance before the lid is completely closed shut. So about 2/3 of the way down, which is about 8-12 inches of travel at the very end of the closing action, the lid comes crashing down with a loud, thunderous bang. And would surely do lots of damage to tiny toddler fingers. They are installed correctly and could work good for some adult furniture or in the shop. But the real reason for the 1 star is the product description advertises this to avoid kids getting their fingers smashed. Unacceptable Instruction were pretty clear and product was easy to install. Make sure to have a metric tape measure, since measurements are in cm.

Easy to install. Very sturdy, and work beautifully.

Used this on on lid of a toy box I built Instructions were pretty straight forward and easy to follow Simple to fit and works perfectly Holds the lid upright and soft closes right down to the finished closed position

They are very good my son know longer has to worry about getting his fingers caught

Worked perfectly and good quality.

Installed both on a wooden storage bench. The lid closes softly/slowly and then unfortunately closes quickly/abruptly the last 1/4 of the way.