It’s easy to see all the bigger, more powerful outboards on boats around the United States, but trends in deck hardware are more difficult to discern. Only recently, I became aware of the increasing use of gas springs, also called gas lifts, particularly on hatches. You can find them on bass boats, pontoons, ski and wakeboard boats, and, in increasing numbers, on saltwater boats, from center consoles to cruisers.
A gas spring is a self-contained, nitrogen-charged unit that provides a lifting force to a hinged moving object. This force reduces or negates the effort needed to lift the object and hold it open. Think hatches that rise quietly on their own when unlatched, remain open even when the boat’s rocking, and can be closed with a single finger. That’s a gas spring in action.
Gas springs come in a range of lengths and force ratings to cover a variety of installation criteria. Chris Tomao, president of Whitecap Marine Products, an OEM distributor and aftermarket supplier in Piscataway, N.J., says his go-to guy for information about gas springs is Richard Blum — who has been involved in every aspect of gas spring engineering, development, design and application.
“I got involved with gas springs while working as an engineer for Boeing over 30 years ago,” Blum says. “At the time, the largest user of gas springs was the automotive industry, but their suppliers did not want to deal with companies that were not buying in huge quantities — tens of thousands of units.”
He saw a business opportunity. Gas springs, he says, are ideal for a range of applications, but smaller to medium non-automotive companies needed attention and engineering support. Blum and a partner opened Service Plus Distributors in 1989.
“Our company offered engineering solutions at no charge, and distributed the products needed to meet most installation criteria,” he says. “If you look around today, you’ll see gas springs used on RVs, buses, gym equipment, toolboxes, ATMs, slot machines and, of course, boats. Over the years, I have worked with many boatbuilders and been part of the growth of gas spring use in the marine industry.”
For the RV industry, Blum says, the advantages of the product easily outweighed the cost as volumes rose and prices came down. The difference between a prop rod to hold open a hatch, panel or cabinet, versus a gas spring’s ease of operation and safety, is incomparable. Boatbuilders showed interest too, but at the time, only black nitrite-coated gas springs were available.
“Bass boats and pontoons were among the earliest to use gas springs,” he says, “but the game-changer was the introduction of more reasonably priced stainless-steel gas springs in the late 1990s. With units that provided far greater corrosion resistance, volume in marine applications began increasing rapidly, and the trend in both fresh- and saltwater boat applications continues to grow.”
Blum sold SPD in 2005, fulfilled a noncompete period, then approached Richard LaVanture, whose Elkart, Ind.-based LaVanture Products sells industrial products used at the OEM level. It was a master distributor for SPD, but Blum greatly expanded the gas spring program to include buying direct from manufacturers overseas. He still works with LaVanture in engineering, sourcing and sales, and provides application engineering services to boatbuilders.
In addition to exhibiting at industry shows such as the International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference, Blum spends a great deal of time working with in-house design and engineering staff to help incorporate gas springs into new and existing builds. He works with large direct purchasers, and with members of Independent Boat Builders and the United Marine Manufacturers Association, tackling their gas spring needs.
“For some applications, a custom spring might be needed, and we can accommodate that,” Blum says. “It just takes more lead time and a significant volume to design a specialty gas spring, provide our manufacturers with the specifications, and then have them made and shipped, but it is a service we can provide. The overwhelming number of applications can be accomplished with stock units.”
Lisa Rhinesmith, vice president of sales at LaVanture Products, says the company provides upward of 80% of gas springs used by boatbuilders, although marine only accounts for about 20% of the company’s total gas-strut sales. The remaining 80% is split among RV, trailer and other applications.
Stock inventory of gas springs and components includes about 2,000 SKUs. About 70% is manufactured in Turkey, 25% is sourced in China, and the rest are from South Korea. For quality control, everything runs through a third-party automotive testing company in Detroit. And production can be shifted from one area of the world to another if there’s supply-chain turmoil.
“The major users of gas springs in boats are builders of freshwater fishing boats and pleasure craft, like Tracker Marine, Brunswick Boat Group, Bennington and several others because of the volume of boats they manufacture,” Rhinesmith says. “But with the advent of stainless-steel units and our work with IBBI and UMMA, buying groups that service numerous small to midsize boatbuilders to help them purchase at price-competitive levels, we are seeing significant sales growth in those sectors, too. A good deal of that growth is with builders like Boston Whaler, Malibu, Contender, Yellowfin, Chris-Craft and others.”
This article was originally published in the June 2024 issue.
