hood struts

[Nemesis911]

Go try and back the struts up with the rod, and you will see exactly why you cannot back the struts up with the rod

Ah yes I went back and tested it and did not notice the hood opens higher with the struts. I pulled the hood down a bit and was able to "hook" the prop rod in the hole you would normally use for it. It held just fine and I guess if a gust of wind came pushing the hood up or down the rod would be able to offer added protection. At least in theory...

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[phunk]

Maybe I will try the technique before I give up on them entirely.

 

[Strokerswild]

Ah yes I went back and tested it and did not notice the hood opens higher with the struts. I pulled the hood down a bit and was able to "hook" the prop rod in the hole you would normally use for it. It held just fine and I guess if a gust of wind came pushing the hood up or down the rod would be able to offer added protection. At least in theory...

This.

I've got the painted (body color) Red Line struts and couldn't be happier.

 

[908ssp]

The shorter the strut the more pressure the strut has to have to hold the hood up. The angle of the strut when the hood is closed will determine if the strut pushes the hood up causing it to arch up. A long strut generally due to space available will lay flat it puts pressure along the length of the hood not up on the hood when closed. A short strut will have more angle when closed causing it to push up on the hood. If it is pushing up on the hood when closed it will lift the hood more easily but it will also fight the hood closing. A strut that lays flat when closed wont open the hood but it also won't fight you when closing the hood. All basic geometry really.

 

[tsunami]

My Redline struts lay completely flat when the hood is closed. I checked the so-called 'hood lift' caused by the struts, by popping the struts from their mounts. Absolutely no change in hood elevation! I am confused by people saying that the Redline struts with their shorter mount plates allow more hood flexure. Strut-less hoods have no stiffening from strut mounting plates and when the hood is shut, struts apply no strength to the hood. Do the longer MRT mounting plates exert structural pressure when the hood is shut? I would rather have the struts only exert on the hood to hold it open when the hood is not moving.

 

[phunk]

The hood flex I am talking about has nothing to do with when the hood is closed, its a problem when the hood is open. If people are having issues with the hood closed, I dont understand that either.

 

[jbailer]

My Redline struts lay completely flat when the hood is closed. I checked the so-called 'hood lift' caused by the struts, by popping the struts from their mounts. Absolutely no change in hood elevation! I am confused by people saying that the Redline struts with their shorter mount plates allow more hood flexure. Strut-less hoods have no stiffening from strut mounting plates and when the hood is shut, struts apply no strength to the hood. Do the longer MRT mounting plates exert structural pressure when the hood is shut? I would rather have the struts only exert on the hood to hold it open when the hood is not moving.

I think you may be confusing a couple points. 908ssp was explaining the "shorter struts" will have more angle when closed causing it to push up on the hood. MRT uses a shorter strut. This has nothing to do with the hood flex. So far, I've never heard of anyone with one of the longer struts (Redline, Ford Performance, Steeda, etc.) having problems with the hood raised up a little while closed. I had that issue with my MRT struts, albeit very slight.

The MRT uses a larger mounting plate but it lays right over the factory hinge on the hood so it wouldn't help anything to do with hood flex. The larger mounting plates referred to earlier are like the Steeda which are also a long tube like the Redline, have a longer mounting plate where it attaches to the hood. It extends towards the front of the car from the factory hinge and provides more support to reduce that flex while the hood is up and you are trying to close it.

 

[jbailer]

Just got home from work and my new Steeda hood struts are here. I very pleasantly surprised when I opened the package. The mounting plate is heavy duty as you can see from the picture. It is 1.5" wide and extends an additional 3.5" past the end of the factory mounting plate. Plus, I couldn't see this detail from the installed pic but notice how after the where the mounting plate goes past the factory plate, it bends down towards the hood. A thin neoprene pad mounts between this mounting plate and the hood to protect the hood. I thought it was just going to be a thick piece or neoprene and the mounting plate was going to be straight. Very nice quality stuff. Going out to install now.

 

[VTECSAUCE]

So the drilling required into the battery cover is just to drill the plastic right? I had a redline strut for my civic and it was awful. It required me to drill into the metal at both ends and place a jack nut for support at the base of the strut...it was absolutely useless and continuously broke.

 

[jbailer]

So the drilling required into the battery cover is just to drill the plastic right? I had a redline strut for my civic and it was awful. It required me to drill into the metal at both ends and place a jack nut for support at the base of the strut...it was absolutely useless and continuously broke.

Correct, just drilling a 7/8" hole through the plastic battery cover for the strut to go through. No other drilling.

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