So many hood strut choices, which one is the best?

[ivantwilliams]

My OCD is kicking in, and that fluid cable is bothering me.
Needs to fit between the strut

I originally went with Steeda they are the strongest hood struts I’ve seen or used but I had some fitment issues rubbing my hood so I went with red line and they are awesome no complaints

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[Elp_jc]

I was going to just stay with the stock rod, now that I installed a rubber sleeve so it doesn't burn me. I don't like the MRT struts, but my biggest gripe is the hood is LOWER than with the stock rod, so if anything happens to them, like losing tension and hood closing, you CANNOT use the rod as an alternative. Do any of the 3 most popular choices (Redline, Roush, and Steeda) extend ABOVE the stock rod? That'd be the ideal scenario to consider one of them. Thank you.

 

[Bikeman315]

I was going to just stay with the stock rod, now that I installed a rubber sleeve so it doesn't burn me. I don't like the MRT struts, but my biggest gripe is the hood is LOWER than with the stock rod, so if anything happens to them, like losing tension and hood closing, you CANNOT use the rod as an alternative. Do any of the 3 most popular choices (Redline, Roush, and Steeda) extend ABOVE the stock rod? That'd be the ideal scenario to consider one of them. Thank you.

If you buy one of the recommended brands you will not need the rod. Not one of the three brands you mentioned have reported failures that would require use of the rod.

Man, sometimes your GAD is painful.

 

[Sig556]

The Red Line Struts extend about 2 inches further than the stock prop rod, As far as the stock rod getting too hot to the touch. Cut a six inch piece of 3/8 fuel line hose and slit it open and install anywhere along the prop rod, problem solved.

 

[Elp_jc]

I already have the rod 'issue' solved... and without any cuts . But if I install any other struts, I want them extending beyond the rod, just in case. No sense in removing the rod, since it'd look worse, so might as well leave it useful if ever needed. But that's just me.

 

[Kermitz]

I was going to just stay with the stock rod, now that I installed a rubber sleeve so it doesn't burn me. I don't like the MRT struts, but my biggest gripe is the hood is LOWER than with the stock rod, so if anything happens to them, like losing tension and hood closing, you CANNOT use the rod as an alternative. Do any of the 3 most popular choices (Redline, Roush, and Steeda) extend ABOVE the stock rod? That'd be the ideal scenario to consider one of them. Thank you.

The Steeda Hood Struts will allow you to use the hood prop rod if you choose to.
My solution for the rod getting too hot would be to buy this:

Forgive me for suggesting installing a Mopar part on your Ford.

 

[frank s]

My post from a while back:

Five-sixteenths split wire loom corrugated tubing fits the rod perfectly and has enough insulation properties to soften the painful impact of touching the hood prop rod when it is too hot to handle. Heat shrink tubing 14mm size fits over the loom tube and when shrunk secures the insulation's position on the rod The position is important because the bare sections of the rod lie very close to the radiator cover; the insulated, shrunk part can be accommodated in a depression between the end sections. I put a small piece of the corrugated tubing over the bearing part of the J/L section that anchors the rod to the car, eliminating some slop in that area.

 

[MAD MATT]

Go Steeda in the front & Steeda in the rear

https://www.steeda.com/mustang-hood-trunk-struts

Sounds like Redlines are the way to go. In the rear, the Steeda opening function looks good, but I like that the stock trunk is easy to close. With the Steeda trunk struts, do you need to push the lid down to close it, or do you just get it started and it falls closed like the stock ones?

 

[Cobraunit]

Sounds like Redlines are the way to go. In the rear, the Steeda opening function looks good, but I like that the stock trunk is easy to close. With the Steeda trunk struts, do you need to push the lid down to close it, or do you just get it started and it falls closed like the stock ones?

Redline Tuning is in your backyard (Ann Arbor)!

 

[Elp_jc]

With the Steeda trunk struts, do you need to push the lid down to close it, or do you just get it started and it falls closed like the stock ones?

Logic dictates you need to close it yourself... and with MUCH greater force than before, since the struts are pneumatic, not electric. That's the part I wouldn't like, so will leave mine stock. Without a handle, an ever harder effort to close would be worse than just a little force to raise it now. Plus you can leave it closed but not locked if desired. That's why that option is a no-go for me. Besides, I hardly ever use the trunk, so lifting it means zero inconvenience when needed.

 

[m3incorp]

I installed the hood struts today and I have to say I'm not sure that I will keep them on. Yes it is nice to have it open completely but they take some serious pull to close the truck, especially with the big wing struts. It was bad enough before trying to keep fingerprints off the shiny plastic in the rear. I am like the two posters above, don't really use the trunk a lot so I don't know if it is an inconvenience yet or not. If I don't use it a lot, guess that could mean I'm not tugging on it a lot also. I will see; it's not the first time that I've installed this or that, just to decide that I liked it the way it was better.

 

[MAD MATT]

Logic dictates you need to close it yourself... and with MUCH greater force than before, since the struts are pneumatic, not electric. That's the part I wouldn't like, so will leave mine stock. Without a handle, an ever harder effort to close would be worse than just a little force to raise it now. Plus you can leave it closed but not locked if desired. That's why that option is a no-go for me. Besides, I hardly ever use the trunk, so lifting it means zero inconvenience when needed.

These struts have a variety of variables that can be custom tuned to the application. I believe force deflection curves, damping, etc. can be tuned in either direction independently. I don't think you can just assume the behavior here.

m3incorp, I assume you meant trunk struts? Somewhere here I saw that someone added a strap to the inside of the lid for closing. I think it was a Subaru part if I remember correctly.

 

[Elp_jc]

These struts have a variety of variables that can be custom tuned to the application.

Not with a simple pneumatic strut man; it's not rocket science: You want more force to open the trunk, it'll take more force to close it. Physics 101 . The guy above just confirmed that. Plus others are reporting their trunk's being pushed up. It's a solution that creates a bigger problem than it solves IMO . But to each his own.

 

[m3incorp]

These struts have a variety of variables that can be custom tuned to the application. I believe force deflection curves, damping, etc. can be tuned in either direction independently. I don't think you can just assume the behavior here.

m3incorp, I assume you meant trunk struts? Somewhere here I saw that someone added a strap to the inside of the lid for closing. I think it was a Subaru part if I remember correctly.

Thanks, you are correct. I meant trunk struts. It isn't super hard but it's the fingerprints I would like to stay away from. I do remember reading about the strap.

 

[MAD MATT]

Not with a simple pneumatic strut man; it's not rocket science: You want more force to open the trunk, it'll take more force to close it. Physics 101 . The guy above just confirmed that. Plus others are reporting their trunk's being pushed up. It's a solution that creates a bigger problem than it solves IMO . But to each his own.

What makes you think it is a "simple pneumatic strut"? Correct, it is not "rocket science", it is engineering. These aren't simple gas springs, and they don't teach the design of struts like these in Physics classes. Anyone who has worked on suspension design of anything from mountain bikes to cars knows how the multitude of variables that can be tuned by varying the orifices, the valving, etc. As someone who has worked with companies like Stabilus who likely makes all of these these struts, who has seen their wide selection of products, who has designed machinery to test them, and who has designed mechanisms that incorporate them, I can can speak with certainty of the facts. That said, I have no need to prove anything to you and don't want to waste anyone else's time who might be reading through this thread. If you would like to have the last word, feel free to take it. If you would like to know more, feel free to ask.
That said, it sounds as if these particular struts in this particular 4 bar mechanism may take more effort to close than I would like. m3incorp, any way you could post a vid somewhere of opening and closing? If you could, I would appreciate it!

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