Tension spring for the rear flap or front flap of a motor vehicle

The invention relates to a tension spring for the rear flap or front flap of a motor vehicle, which can be fastened at one spring end to a fixed articulation point on the body and at the other spring end to an articulation point of the rear flap. Such tension springs guide the flaps up against elastic stops with considerable momentum, so that there is the risk that a user will be injured. Moreover, such tension springs have to be mounted under spring prestress. It is proposed, according to the invention, that there be attached within the cylindrical spring body (2) a damper (3) consisting of a cylinder/piston arrangement (4, 5), of which the piston (5) is connected to one spring end and the cylinder (4) is connected to the other spring end. As a result, in the event of a movement of the flap, both the spring and the damper are moved, so that the spring movement takes place in a damped manner. Advantageously, the damper length in the pushed-in state is selected so that the spring, when being attached, is prestressed, and corresponds to the necessary length L1 with the flap open. The arrangement consisting of the tension spring and of the damper can thereby be mounted without any spring load.