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So, the kits online are a little bit more than what I wanted to pay,,, with the help of Ebay, I saved a buttload !!! The struts I bought were 13.39" long, with ends for 10mm ball studs. The brand was, Gaatu. I got the pair for $9.09 shipped! The first set of brackets, were the flat ones that I used to mount to the hood. You want brackets with three holes. I got these for $9.41. The lower brackets have five holes and are made with angle metal, designed to sit on the edge of a corner and wrap over, with three holes on top, two on the side. I got this pair for $9.90. I put mine together with sheet metal screws, temporarily. I plan on replacing with 1/8" x 3/16" rivets after the final installation was dialed in. Any length strut, could be used. What is most important is what angle, or how far you want your hood up in the air when open. I felt the the shorter struts, would be less obtrusive for closing and working under the hood from the sides. You will want to place the cylinders facing up. The key dimensions are the total length of the strut, uncompressed, from center-to-center of the ball mount sockets. The true length of the strut when closed, the actual length of the cylinder and ball joint sockets from center-to-center. I opted to add 1/4" of allowance for wiggle room, on the compressed length, for ease of installation. Next, I checked the actual distances of my mounting point to the hood, for symmetry. I measured from inside of the hood. Put a tape measure on the bottom edge of the hood, measuring towards the front edge, right along the edge of the hood hinges. I made mine 5.5", one of my hood hinges was actually off by 1/8".Temporarily tape or secure the upper hood bracket, along the outside edge of the hood hinge where it bolts to the hood. Now you have to decide, at what angle you want the hood to open. Using a tape measure, masking tape and marker, measuring the true length of the strut when fully opened, plus I added a 1/4" safety margin to that, locate the center of the fender bracket on the bottom. Place the lower bracket, on the lower ledge, not on top where it seems obvious to place it at first ! Now, using a 1/8" drill bit, center punch and hammer. Mark the center bolt holes of both brackets, top and bottom. Drill that hole and mount a screw in each. By using the center hole, you will be able to move the bracket up or back as needed if necessary. Now, check the operation. One strut will hold the hood up, but is weak, so be careful. If you have good bracket positions and the hood closes properly, proceed to finish drilling and mounting the other screws. Proceed to the other side and enjoy !!! When you first get your struts. Your first instinct will be to try to compress them, to test them. Do worry, you won't be able too ! They're too stiff. Just proceed with the install, they will work fine, you will see. I hope that this may help some of you out. It's a pretty straight forward process. The instructions that I have described, should work for any length strut simply using your actual dimensions! Good luck !!!
Last edited by CRLAMBERTJR; 09-23-2018 at 02:33 AM.
I like what you did too. And I agree with your logic in keeping them farther back so they are less in your way when trying to work under the hood.
I tried to find those struts on Ebay but could not. Do you have any links to exactly what you bought to do this?
Ralph, I don't see the exact model struts that I bought listed any longer. But that doesn't really matter. There are a ton of them on there ! Just go pick a pair anywhere from 12-14" extended length. Use my directions, should work fine. As for the brackets, type in 10mm ball stud mounts. From what I just saw, you should be able to do it for even less money. To be safe, add an extra 1/2" to the compressed length, instead of the 1/4" that I stated. Can't believe this hasn't generated more interest?
I used my old hatch struts, but using shorter struts would be awesome because I do feel like I need to maneuver around the longer ones, because they need to mount further forward due to the length.
I also pop-riveted mine in place using some stainless rivets and they haven't rusted at all after 2 years or so
Ralph, I don't see the exact model struts that I bought listed any longer. But that doesn't really matter. There are a ton of them on there ! Just go pick a pair anywhere from 12-14" extended length. Use my directions, should work fine. As for the brackets, type in 10mm ball stud mounts. From what I just saw, you should be able to do it for even less money. To be safe, add an extra 1/2" to the compressed length, instead of the 1/4" that I stated. Can't believe this hasn't generated more interest?
Originally Posted by investinwaffles
I used my old hatch struts, but using shorter struts would be awesome because I do feel like I need to maneuver around the longer ones, because they need to mount further forward due to the length.
I also pop-riveted mine in place using some stainless rivets and they haven't rusted at all after 2 years or so
I was helping a neighbor with his '95'ish Explorer and I vaguely remember that having short struts for the hood. Going to try looking up the parts for that at the store and see what I come up with. Wondering if my rivnut tool would be good for this.
I would like to do this on my Cherokee and my Comanche for different reasons. The Comanche has the prop on the front since it's an 87 and it gets in the way and I've found myself removing the upper radiator support a few times which means I have to ditch the rod and find something to hold the hood up. The Cherokee is so tall that I have to open the hood in the front then walk around to the side and it's annoying trying to get the prop in the hole. With these just pop the hood and give it a little push and it'll go right up and be out of the way.
Those are the exact reasons I finally decided to upgrade my hatch struts (which I don't open that often), and use my old ones for hood struts.
Love the 1 handed opening now. Closing it is a bit harder, but I rebuilt my hood latches so it latches very easily at least.
Ralph, I don't see the exact model struts that I bought listed any longer. But that doesn't really matter. There are a ton of them on there ! Just go pick a pair anywhere from 12-14" extended length. Use my directions, should work fine. As for the brackets, type in 10mm ball stud mounts. From what I just saw, you should be able to do it for even less money. To be safe, add an extra 1/2" to the compressed length, instead of the 1/4" that I stated. Can't believe this hasn't generated more interest?
I like how you did this. Looks great! Thinking of upgrading Old Moldy like this 🤔 I think if you had more pics showing how you located and measured, your post would generate more interest. The description is thorough, just a long read. Most of us are very visual so pics help us understand what your doing.
The description was more or less for piecing a DIY together. You can buy any length strut that you can find. The install hinges on two factors. The most important being how high you want your hood lifted. The height will determine the placement of the top mounting brackets on the hood. Then you simply determine the true length of the strut fully extended. Honestly, now after really thinking about it, I believe that the cylinders move forward on their shafts, then pull back in the final act of compressing. Maybe not by much, that's why I gave a .25" allowance in the measurements. All you have to do is measure the expanded length, you then transfer the center of that bracket, to the edge of the fender. From here, you will measure down the estimated length of the cylinders compressed + add .25" of wiggle room. This will be the locating point for the lower bracket. Put the lower bracket on the cylinder and check it by eye to confirm it's position before you drill ! Make sure that you temporarily mount it in the middle hole position. That way you can move it forward or backward if needed, w/o drilling excess holes. Using this method, I still had to move the lower brackets towards the front of the car by one hole, about 1" further away, assume, you will too. If you guys would like, I will figure out an actual mathematical equation for this. It would be algebraic, as there are different variables in different situations. The angle in degrees of the hood when opened, could actually be standardized whereby the only other variable would be the length of the hood. Hard to take pictures to show this, but I can if you'uns want ? HTHY
Last edited by CRLAMBERTJR; 10-02-2018 at 07:35 AM.
09-23-2018, 02:22 AM
DIY Hood Lift Strut Upgrade ,,, $28.40 !!!
