I made one for my s185. I ordered a piece of aluminum solid tube off eBay. It was 2" diameter by 12" long. Sliced a 1" piece off and bored a 1" hole in it. Made one for each end. Welded an aluminum rod to each piece and installed an actuator in between them. Very similar to the way the OP was done. You can get an actuator off eBay for $45 or so. I believe I got one with 6" of travel. 3000 N is plenty strong enough. I made a mistake of getting the 6000N model and it's too bulky. In the end it's better than not having one, but I wish I had the hydraulic version. Just can't justify $2500 for a kit. Looked at making one myself, but finding the correct valve at a reasonable price was impossible.
