Has anyone tried to install hood shocks?

[damronjr]

I was just thinking about it and wondering if anyone has ever tried to install hood shocks like the ones that hold up the rear glass hatch. That post is just lame IMO and I think it would be cool if there were shocks small enough and strong enough that there might be a way to install them to hold up the hood like my 02 Ram has. Makes life a lot easier and you could probably lift it higher than that post stops at making it easier to do stuff under the hood. I tried to do a search but couldn't find anything on it. Just pondering.

[MoonDogg]

I have not tried it... but it would be nice... I think its a good idea... I am very interested to see were this thread goes..

[Altus]

Anything's possible with either enough money, or enough determination!Just need an engineer or mathmetician to work out the angles for you, and you should be able to use & mount any I suppose....

[Jahntassa]

It wouldn't be too hard.. Just need to find some hydraulics powerful enough, yet small enough.. You might be able to pull some off a junked Acura or something...

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »It wouldn't be too hard.. Just need to find some hydraulics powerful enough, yet small enough.. You might be able to pull some off a junked Acura or something...My Bonne had them, but they crapped out eventually, I turned an old piece of pipe into a custom prop rod...Any junked Bonne or Grand Prix should have them...and their hoods are MOST DEFINITELY heavier than ours is...

[ColonelPanic]

Oh, that would be nice! Very, very nice! If there are places to bolt the struts to on the hood and the body, I don't see why they wouldn't work.

[Jahntassa]

Aah..to have a convenient welding outfit in my possession.Too bad I don't. BAH!Now...the thing would be to get an actuator on the hoodpin, and linear actuators on the hood itself. Voila! Remote control hood!Edit > Dammit! Now I got myself thinking about that.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »Aah..to have a convenient welding outfit in my possession.Too bad I don't. BAH!Now...the thing would be to get an actuator on the hoodpin, and linear actuators on the hood itself. Voila! Remote control hood!Edit > Dammit! Now I got myself thinking about that.Dude, that is one mod I DON'T have to worry about you talking me into...

[Devlop]

The latest body of the Lesabres and Bonnes have bolt on attachments for the jacks on the hood side. At the other end is a bolt with a stud to attach the jack to. If you go to a junkyard, these would be perfect to use. Then get jacks for a grand prix or something. Those are a little shorter than the ones for the bonnes and lesabres. THis idea is very possible and would require no welding, just drilling for the attachments.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by Devlop »The latest body of the Lesabres and Bonnes have bolt on attachments for the jacks on the hood side. At the other end is a bolt with a stud to attach the jack to. If you go to a junkyard, these would be perfect to use. Then get jacks for a grand prix or something. Those are a little shorter than the ones for the bonnes and lesabres. THis idea is very possible and would require no welding, just drilling for the attachments.That's what I figured. Might have to look into it. Wonder what the parts alone from a junkyard would cost? Hmm, have to think about this.

[Herb]

I hadn't thought about shocks. However one thing I do miss from my old Dodge Shadow are the counter balanced springs on the hood. They'd hold up the hood when you opened it up past the halfway point. I always wondered why more cars didn't have this.I'm not much of a proponent about struts because when they fail is when you need it the most.

[L5K]

I am reviving this topic from the dead.With luck I will have this feature on my Vibe within a couple weeks. Without luck.... three weeks. lol.FYI the engineering has already been done for me, I just hope it all actually installs properly.I'll make a new thread with pics if it works.

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by L5K »I am reviving this topic from the dead.With luck I will have this feature on my Vibe within a couple weeks. Without luck.... three weeks. lol.FYI the engineering has already been done for me, I just hope it all actually installs properly.I'll make a new thread with pics if it works.Aw, c'mon, post pics even if it doesn't work . I'll be watching this thread, excellent idea.

[northvibe]

this shouldnt be hard, there was a kit for the MS3. The only reason I didnt do it was because you had to drill a couple holes..

[djkeev]

I'm a little skeptical about this idea. Where ever they mount on the hood would need to be reinforced or you have bending potential of the hood itself. You don't want to pull down on the front of the hood and the force required to compress two pistons ends up being great enough to bend the hood, most likely at a crumple zone design "weak" spot.Personally, I feel a LOT more secure with a metal rod holding up the hood than I do with hydraulics that I know from experience on many cars over many years are prone to failure. These cylinder also are usually not cheap to replace. Even if you were to install a spring hood hinge, you still need the designed strength to not bend the hood when you close it.That being said, I'd LOVE to be proven wrong on a long term use basis.Dave

[B14CK_H4WK]

some guy wanted to do that to my hood cause he said its ridiculous having to move the rod and put it in the hood to hold it up lol lazy...

[mkdubs]

http://www.tmtuning.com/HOME/c...t=572these are for a 93-95 jetta/golf but i have an extra set im gonna try and use on my hood

[L5K]

Yeah, I have a confession... my "secret" plan is to try this set I found for the Matrix.It's in the mail as of today, so, hopefully this weekend I'll install it and see if it works!If it doesn't work though, at least I'm sure the shocks will be right for the hood, and I can fabricate my own brackets. My dad's a machinist, and he has a lathe and a mill in his basement, plus I have a welder. So in case it isn't just plug and play, I'm sure it won't be very difficult to modify.

[L5K]

Okay, kit came today. Installation is a breeze, and the instructions are straightforward plus they have pictures.Took me longer to gather the tools than it did to install these. Works perfect. You will need for installation a ratchet and three sockets. 10mm, 12mm Deep, and 13mm. Wrenches would work just fine too.The kit itself came with four washers, two ball studs, two bolts, two brackets and the shocks themselves. Step one is to open the hood and install the brackets. They replace the upper bolts on the hinges on the hood itself. I did this one side at a time to avoid the hood possibly shifting on the hinges. When installed it will look like this. The next step is to replace the bolt that holds the fender down with the ball stud (this is why you need a deep socket). It goes way down by the headlight and looks like this when installed. Next I put some grease on the ball studs. I don't know if this would really matter, but it can't hurt, and will help keep them from seizing or anything like that. The shocks in the kit had a clip type of thing that stuck into the socket and then clipped around the "neck" of the socket. I popped them out and slipped the shocks onto the ball joints and reinserted the clips and snapped them into place. This seemed much easier than trying to force the ball into the socket. I also did this one joint at a time to avoid losing any of the tiny clips.After all is said and done it looks like this. Total damage was US$54.99 with free shipping from Kasey302 on Ebay. There are others listed, but this is the cheapest as the others are all around 50 bucks plus shipping. The original listing is here and it says he still has 5 available.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors..._1165 This is definitely an improvement in my book as I always hated manual hood props because it never fails that I need to use them in the dark. Plus the one in my Vibe was all worn out and the plastic insert that it pivoted in would let it slip right through the hole unless it was wedged in just right and always scared me to death. Took me maybe 15 minutes to install and that was while taking pictures of the process.