Front bumper cover and hood alignment issues Fixed

[SK GT]

Bumping this too. My car was in for service and they didn't really do much. The gap between the top of the bumper cover and hood is much too large. May try this.
[MENTION=17979]brandonsmash[/MENTION]
Thus, the outside 5.5mm-head screws took .235" of shimming, the second inboard set took .180", and the third inboard set .060". I'm very happy with the results.

Looks a lot better.

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[Roh92cp]

Bump from the dead. I just tried this, 7 washers on the outer small screws, 4 on the outer most larger screws (on each end) and 2 on the next, none on the center 2.

Absolutely zero change from no washers.

Not sure if I did something wrong, but it seemed that the only parts that moved, were the mounting tabs...

Oh well, MUSTANG LOL.

I removed them because with no benefit, I didn't want the stress on the tabs.

Bumping this too. My car was in for service and they didn't really do much. The gap between the top of the bumper cover and hood is much too large. May try this.
[MENTION=17979]brandonsmash[/MENTION]
Thus, the outside 5.5mm-head screws took .235" of shimming, the second inboard set took .180", and the third inboard set .060". I'm very happy with the results. Looks a lot better.

It's strange how some like me get areal noticeable benefit and others say nothing. For the ones who noticed no change Either your gap wasn't that bad or maybe you didn't loosen all the screws on top, and could help to lower the latch if you can.

 

[cobrachris]

I had my dealer fix the hood gap.They took it to body shop and took them 20 minutes to align.Did'nt have to play the shade tree mechanic b.s.

 

[SK GT]

Lucky you. Mine gave me the whole we have to send pics to ford and if the gap isn't over xxx BS.

 

[GTP]

So, 10-20 washers total? What size? I might pick up a blister pack at WM before starting this. TIA

 

[Roh92cp]

I had my dealer fix the hood gap.They took it to body shop and took them 20 minutes to align.Did'nt have to play the shade tree mechanic b.s.

Good for you, but no need to throw BS on the guys who took care of it themselves. Not all dealers will take it to a body shop, and for that matter not all body shops will do a good job either.

 

[Aarron_M]

I don't think he meant it as an insult to those who did it themselves, just that he considers the task of doing it himself bs.

 

[Roh92cp]

I don't think he meant it as an insult to those who did it themselves, just that he considers the task of doing it himself bs.

Right could be. You know there is not magic fix to this. If your hood ends don't meet the front bumper cover, than shimming is the only way to make it right. The latch and bumps stop adjustments only do so much. Most body shops will just lower the the latch and then adjust the hood stops lower as well so they don't push up on the ends, but then you will have hood float. I did this on mine first and it helped slightly with the gap but wasn't the answer becuase I still had slight gaps and lots of hood float. The only way this gets fixed is to replace the hood and or bumper support that match or to shim.

 

[2017GBGTPP]

I'm mega-bumping this thread because it's good info. My hood gap seems more significant that most others, as I had a literal gap between the hood and the rubber on the driver's side. Here's what it looked like:

For reference, here's the other side that lines up nicely:

I tried adjusting the latch, which helped a little, and then adjusting the rubber stoppers. I could line up the driver's side well with the stoppers, but then I had massive hood flutter at highway speeds. I then adjusted the rubber stoppers so the flutter was minimized, and the result is as shown in the first picture.
So I shimmed it per this thread, and while the gap isn't as good as on the passenger's side, the actual gap between the hood and rubber is gone, and it's much less noticable. Plus, i have no more hood flutter.

Hopefully this can help others with similar issues.

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