Hood shocks questions... If you've got them please chime in, thanks!

[taipeichris]

Hi Guys,

Quick questions about hood shocks.

Who's shocks last longer? And which kit pops the hood open the fastest?

I'm looking to install these on my 66 with a metal hood. The reason I'm thinking of installing them is to pop the hood up and to be able to open it hands free incase of an engine fire. Years ago my Mustangs power steering caught of fire and I saved her because I had and extinguisher on it fast and the hood stays up on the Mustang. I know this might sound paranoid but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[bronc50]

I would all the shocks would be of same quality
Duffs mount back of fender to front of hood and have hood reinforcement
Other vendors mount back of hood to front of fender
Wildhorses have some bling (chrome)
I went with duff and they use Stabilus
Lift-o-mat struts

 

[BigToe]

Speed and quality....I have no idea. Just be sure the have some form of hood reinforcement. I would imagine this is the norm now that so many hoods have been buckled in the past.

 

[clarrance]

I think the Duff's are far more superior than all the others that I have seen. The others in my opinion are lacking in the support area. less support means the hood is more prone to cracking and folding when trying to shut the hood.

 

[JSBX]

hood lift

I installed some that came from Wild Horses and they work great especially with a 6" lift and 36's. Wish I had done this along time ago. As far as speed of lift goes all I can say is that they are faster then me opening the hood, walking around to the side of the Bronco, raising the hood high enough, reaching back, raising the prop rod and then fitting it in the hole in the hood. I have only had them on a few months so don't know about the lasting part. I also added some small angel iron about 14" long under the hood along the edge. I had a small crack in the edge of the hood so I welded up the crack and welded in the angel iron to stiffen the edge of the hood.

 

[Bituman]

I think the Duff's are far more superior than all the others that I have seen. The others in my opinion are lacking in the support area. less support means the hood is more prone to cracking and folding when trying to shut the hood.

Agree completely with this. Duff's is by far the best design because of the support braces that get attached to the hood. Those braces spread the load applied by the hood shock to the hood. See the photo. Other designs result in a severe point load. That's why other hood shock systems are prone to bending the hood at that support point. Lots of people have reported this problem in CB.com.

Bob

 

[broncodriver99]

I run the Duff's specifically because of the reinforcement.

 

[Fireball05]

Are people really having issues cracking their steel hoods?

I've been accused of babying my vehicles, but I would think you'd have to be slamming that thing down pretty hard or suddenly to cause it to bend...

 

[BRONCO26]

James duff is what I have on mine and they are a great addition.

 

[bronc50]

I think it's just the way that the struts are mounted on the non duff kits i think it Puts allot of stress on the rear of the hood when closing plus the cantilevered weight so far from the lift point. That was my theory that's why I went with the duff

 

[greatguy57078]

I looked at them all and even though Duff's were a little more I chose them because of the extra support. I was not disappointed with the quality and will never have to wrestle with the hood again!

 

[Casey835]

Duffs here also the design just makes more sense


There's no trash in my trailer!

 

[BronCowie]

Are people really having issues cracking their steel hoods?...

I've read more than 1 story here of hoods folding like "taco shells". :-X Those are with the non-reinforced models unlike Duff's. WH has a version of the reinforced style too.

 

[BronCowie]

I got mine from TBP and they work great. Hood opens fast enough with one hand, you just let it go and my hood is strong enough that I am not concerned about folding it when closing. It also has a great chicken defrost setting. %)

 

[BRONCOBERT]

I think mine is the TBP as pictured above, no stress problems on the hood but they do cause stress on the front fender mounting area also had to move the coolant tank over to clear the shock.

 

[miikee73]

Mine came from a swap meet,just the struts. I picked them up for another project that didn't pan out. About 2 years ago someone on here posted pics of his new struts and I PM'ed him for measurements. They matched mine so I made brackets any hooked them up.
After hearing the stories about hoods bending I looked through my crap(treasures)and found some square tubing that fit perfect in the channel. I attached it with 3M mounting tape.
It ended up costing $3.00. I like them so much I replaced the stock supports on the rear window also.

 

[pbwcr]

Hood struts

Got 3 rigs and several buddies have struts and all have the same experience. Weak in cool weather dont work when really cold. The way it is after a couple years. When new much better. Both WH and BCB sell good kits with 40Lb struts. Replace the struts with 60 Lb ones and the age and cool/cold weather issues are eliminated.
Save your money and make your own attachments and buy the German struts off the internet. Or Buy one of the kits with struts and at first sign of weak struts go to the camper RV place and get some 60 Lb ones with the same compress/extend specs. Lately AutoZone started selling struts. They wont be the high quality German ones but they will be 10 times better than the originals. Same quality as sold at the camper RV place.

DIY for stock hoods involves adding some square tubing along the edge. Makes it nice when adding struts.

For Glass hoods you might need a bit of reinforcement at the hood? Use your judgement on the reinfoircement. The WH hood I bought did not need anything except JB Weld and fat screws.
PaulW

 

[MyOriginal66]

Duffs. Nuff said.

 

[jim3326]

I had to fab up a place to mount my WH struts on the hood, the early'66 hoods don't have the hood brace like later models. So far they are working great, we'll see if the added weight from the paint slows them down any.

Jim W.

 

[01Dudley]

http://www.dufftuff.com/Hood_Struts_1966_77_Bronco_p/4950.htm

Check out the support bracket! Thanks for all the great comments gang!