Replacement Hood Struts

01yellerCobra

forum member
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Posts
2,230
Reaction score
158
Location
San Diego, CA
I hate prop rods. They always seem to get in the way at the wrong time.

Misspelling brought to you by Tapatalk
 

Sky Render

Stig's Retarded Cousin
S197 Team Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Posts
9,463
Reaction score
357
Location
NW of Baltimore, MD
Factory prop rod is the bomb....100% reliable... no stress on anything.

Get the heck out of here with that crap. Prop rods suck. But then again, so do crappy generic American Muscle parts, apparently.

My missing bolt is being delivered today ($1.04 in parts and $8.60 in shipping!), so I'm hoping to remove the air struts tonight and then take them over to Pep Boys or Autozone and get replacements.
 

46addict

13726548
Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Posts
1,832
Reaction score
56
Location
Lawrenceville, GA
Over the weekend I borrowed a strut from the trunklid to see if it would fit on the American Muscle/MMD brackets and it worked. The OE trunklid struts are slightly shorter than the MMDs but the sockets are the same size. I like the OE struts better because they come with a slip on clip on the socket that conforms to the male end so it stays in place better.

You just have to twist the strut body so the sockets are offset, and the only difference from before is the hood no longer shoots up when lifting it. And also the slight difference in lifting height like I mentioned above.
 

Sky Render

Stig's Retarded Cousin
S197 Team Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Posts
9,463
Reaction score
357
Location
NW of Baltimore, MD
Over the weekend I borrowed a strut from the trunklid to see if it would fit on the American Muscle/MMD brackets and it worked. The OE trunklid struts are slightly shorter than the MMDs but the sockets are the same size. I like the OE struts better because they come with a slip on clip on the socket that conforms to the male end so it stays in place better.

You just have to twist the strut body so the sockets are offset, and the only difference from before is the hood no longer shoots up when lifting it. And also the slight difference in lifting height like I mentioned above.

That's an interesting find. Those lift struts are $28 each not counting shipping from AutoNation Bear Lake, though! At that price, I might as well just replace the entire hood strut assembly with a Ford Racing one.
 

travelers

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2007
Posts
3,028
Reaction score
79
Location
Eastern Pa
I just checked Tasca lists 2 different ones, one for no spoiler and one with. So they are compensating for the weight difference.
 

Sky Render

Stig's Retarded Cousin
S197 Team Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Posts
9,463
Reaction score
357
Location
NW of Baltimore, MD
So the strut for a trunk WITH a spoiler should be pretty dang close.

How much less does the hood open with those struts as opposed to the original ones? Is it like a foot, or just an inch or two?
 

46addict

13726548
Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Posts
1,832
Reaction score
56
Location
Lawrenceville, GA
More like an inch or two, so same height as the prop rod provides. The MMD struts took the hood higher than stock.
 

Sky Render

Stig's Retarded Cousin
S197 Team Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Posts
9,463
Reaction score
357
Location
NW of Baltimore, MD
Happy Christmas Eve! I finally got the Monroe replacements and installed them.

Here's a comparison between the slightly-longer supports that came with the MMD kit and the Monroe units that were designed for the trunk:

axAGElA.jpg


You can see they're about an inch shorter. This shows how far the hood opens with the replacements:

XRICj1O.jpg


The Monroe replacements make the hood open a little less than with the hood prop, whereas the MMD kit opens it a little more.

So, the Monroe trunk supports work with with zero modification, but they open the hood a bit less. It seems to still be enough room to work on most things, but if you need the extra room, you can always reinstall the prop rod and unbolt the bottom of the supports.
 

46addict

13726548
Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Posts
1,832
Reaction score
56
Location
Lawrenceville, GA
Glad they worked out for you. If I remember right, trunk supports lift the hood to the same height as the prop rod height.
 

RocketcarX

95% of my weight is fuel
Joined
Jul 19, 2011
Posts
2,738
Reaction score
220
Location
Colorado
I ditched the hood lift system from AM when I noticed forcing my Cervini hood to over arch and bow in the center. Went back to the factory hood prop and the body lines lined right back up.
 

Pentalab

forum member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Posts
5,211
Reaction score
1,093
I ditched the hood lift system from AM when I noticed forcing my Cervini hood to over arch and bow in the center. Went back to the factory hood prop and the body lines lined right back up.

Long live the factory prop rod !
 

o2sys

forum member
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Posts
4,367
Reaction score
19
Location
NY/NJ
Here is the replacement I bought off Amazon. But I remembered what happened. I got the 24lbs ones and it was too weak for the stock aluminum hood which I thought only weighed 30lbs.

Suspa C16-03795 C1603795 12" Gas Prop, Quantity (2), Force is 24 Lbs Per Prop and Force Per Set is 48 Lbs, Camper Rear Window, Tonneau Cover Lift Supports, Window Lift Support, Struts, Made in USA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MUY50W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_B-rqAbT89AK8Y

So I bought the next weight up and working fine now. I believe it was 28lbs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Sky Render

Stig's Retarded Cousin
S197 Team Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Posts
9,463
Reaction score
357
Location
NW of Baltimore, MD
Here is the replacement I bought off Amazon. But I remembered what happened. I got the 24lbs ones and it was too weak for the stock aluminum hood which I thought only weighed 30lbs.

Suspa C16-03795 C1603795 12" Gas Prop, Quantity (2), Force is 24 Lbs Per Prop and Force Per Set is 48 Lbs, Camper Rear Window, Tonneau Cover Lift Supports, Window Lift Support, Struts, Made in USA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MUY50W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_B-rqAbT89AK8Y

So I bought the next weight up and working fine now. I believe it was 28lbs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The factory trunk with spoiler is about the same weight as the aluminum hood.

You can't use stock-strength hood struts with aftermarket fiberglass hoods. That's why Cervini makes a different set for their fiberglass hoods. (At least they used to.)

Prop rods suck. They're always in the way, and they look like shit.
 

o2sys

forum member
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Posts
4,367
Reaction score
19
Location
NY/NJ
The factory trunk shocks are actually a little shorter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Support us!

Support Us - Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Sponsor Links

Banner image
Back
Top