Unless you won't be having the truck out in the rain or snow, hood vents leave your under hood area exposed to water and snow every time you park it outside.

 

The engine compartment is subjected to water and snow every time it's driven in water and snow. Hood vents aren't going to ruin anything.

 

I had a buddy who lives in northern VT, and the snow sitting on the motor eventually rusted out his Valve covers and corroded the throttle linkage. Droplets get on the front of the motor when you drive, and the heat dries it, he didn't drive this much and the vents caused problems.

 

Snow sitting on top of the valve cover and throttle linkage didn't rust it out. The throttle linkage is stainless steel and the valve cover is painted. What rusted out your friends cover and linkage is the fact that he lives in the rust belt and as he was driving, he blew salt up from the road and didn't bother to give it a good wash down every now and then.

 

It was a 1978f350 plow truck which literally never saw salt or the road. I'm just relating what I saw. Once we blocked them off, and repaired the damage, it was fine.

 

AH, I thought you were saying he had an XJ. Okay. Either way though, if it's bare metal, even the moisture in the air will rust it. If they were painted metal valve covers, still in good condition, snow itself will not rust it. There has to be some abrasion that occurrs to wear the paint off and make them rust.

I'm not saying that it isn't possible for hood vents to expose your engine compartment to more weathering, all I'm saying is that if you keep up with maintenance, it shouldn't be a problem. Motorcycles, tractors, and other farm equipment have some or even most of their motors exposed to the elements unless they're kept in dry storage. Owners of these machines that see weather, make sure to stay on top of keeping them in good shape.

 

This. The risks involved with hood vents are severely overstated. I don't get the paranoia.

 

Again, I'm just relating what I observed. I was pretty sad about it, I love the way they look and I like the idea of having airflow through the hood. I saw the mess they made with his application and I personally wouldn't use them after seeing it. Maybe it never happened to any vehicle besides his.

 

Yeah, I agree man.

Oh, I doubt that. I'm sure it's happened to others as well. The real point I'm trying to make is that if you stay on top of cleaning it, it's a non-issue.

 

I've got those hood vents on my Jeep and everything is fine.

 

I have those hood vents and everything is okay, my jeep sits out in the snow, rain and is uncovered all the time.

 

nice xj I like the fenders makes a completely diff look

 

Thanks