I just got my new supports, but they are a hair too long, (less then an inch).

On occasion manufactures do vary in the actual length of supports and that includes OEM units as well. What you need to do is to secure the hatch/hood fully open and unhook both old supports. When you unhook both you will find that you have the added space necessary to install the new units. If for some reason they still won't fit send us an e-mail with details as well as any and all numbers or markings that are on both the old and new supports (send the numbers that are on the actual support and not the package).