I was sick & tired of holding up the esky lid. I did later have a prop to hold it up, plus a few other solutions with Velcro which also worked well. They all actually were pretty good solutions.

But thought there has to be a better way!

Bought the shortest gas strut I could find for caravan cupboard doors, 40nm (4kg) load. I tested it on the scales & it was pretty right, maybe 10% over. 46mm stroke.

Thought it would be too higher nm, when ordering, but 40nm was the smallest load I could find, & also when I pushed it in by hand once I go it, but it worked out perfectly on the Waeco 28L fridge. A bit of luck for a change!

I can't open the lid fully due to extremely limited position in the car (an entire topic in itself). So gas strut stroke didn't have to be much for my set-up.

I added an aluminium plate to the brackets to spread load. I used stainless screws. The strut may rust over time, so I may end up buying a few spares & simply replace them as required.

Very happy now that both hands are free to work on the actual task in front of oneself, getting things in & out efficiently!

When open over half way the lid does lift up a touch. When one quarter open the lid drops closed (other than locking), so basically perfect calculations (luck).

Couldn't be happier with open & closed positions. Also haven't lost too much space within the fridge.

Nice job.......

The previous solution was a length of 3.18mm 316 stainless steel, ends rounded. It worked well.