Hood Struts - $40!

[ShadowsPapa]

The Amazon ARANA SG229011 JL/JT kits and are down to $50 set, not quite the $40 of recent weeks , but close...

The Amazon ARANA hood struts for 2018-2014 JL and later JTs (SG229011) have the quick release that Gvsukids mentioned.

Checked on availability of spare gas struts from ARANA for spares (since gas struts aren't forever regardless of brand) but ARANA doesn't sell them separately from their kits.

The typical gas strut life is 3-5 years with low use, however we have seen 18-20 years on our vehicles and RVs with low use.

When gas strut cylinder replacement time comes, numerous gas strut vendors/manufacturers have gas strut calculators on their websites that will advise of proper replacements in their stock.

You will need hood weight, strut extended length, strut compressed length, and cylinder/rod end type fittings (ball socket size) to determine the correct replacement strut for you.

I've gone through 2 pairs of struts so far on the hatch of my car, in under 10 years. 5 years seems to be about max.

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[ourjeeps]

I've gone through 2 pairs of struts so far on the hatch of my car, in under 10 years. 5 years seems to be about max.

Roger. Your experience is in line with projections. Strut life is lessened by use frequency and harshness of operating environment. I'd expect an under-hood strut to have a shorter life than a rear hatch, RV cargo door, or house/RV furniture strut. We had struts last 18 years on a 2004 Excursion rear hatch (i.e. not engine compartment) --- a relatively benign environment.

When these JT hood struts fail, we may just go back to the arcane prop rod, those work unless a service center/dealership breaks the mounts/clips like another forum member related.

My logistics background (always) compels me to have/seek-out spares, and to extend operating life to the extent possible. Hence my comments.

Thanks for the quote/your comments.

 

[JTGuy]

I am not going to support that communist country in any way if I can avoid it.

 

[KevinC]

How will the struts, pushing up over half-way back on the sides of the hood, cause a gap up front?
it's the latches that control that. The struts don't push up on the middle.

One can tell if the struts are overkill by how FAST the hood opens.

Been through this on a lot of cars that use struts on the rear hatch or other areas.
Really hard to see something on the edges causing the front to be higher.

I'm not the one that is saying that, I don't even have struts. Obviously @Gvsukids has a gap he probably didn't have prior to installing the struts. I just offered to look at mine to compare when I do install my struts, as we both have a Mojave.

 

[ourjeeps]

I'm not the one that is saying that, I don't even have struts. Obviously @Gvsukids has a gap he probably didn't have prior to installing the struts. I just offered to look at mine to compare when I do install my struts, as we both have a Mojave.

It's likely (also) a hood latch adjustment issue. Try loosening the mounting bolts and move the hinges to tighten/remove the front hood gap. It's quite possible the struts are actually giving some uplift to the hood (or maybe not). We don't have any hood uplift issues on the wife's JTRX possibly due to heavier hood, that we also have a mask on (the leading edge of hood, causing addl weight) that minimizes flat towing rock chips.

If you're lamenting the demise of old-school hood hinge support springs (if you recall those), pls see next paragraphs for a caveat on that design approach - makes prop rods seem less bad.
Back in the "old days," vehicle hoods were supported (when open) with hood hinge springs. Those springs put constant upward tension on the hoods when closed. If you had a fiberglass hood, the springs often bowed up (slightly) the hoods. Typical hood hinge springs photos below.

In the 80's GM vehicles like Camaros were notorious for bowed (upward) steel hoods because styling largely called for flat (less structurally rigid) hoods (they also had minimal hood underframe rigidity/support) so it wasn't uncommon (AKA was common) to have upward bowed hoods or even cracks in the hood skin just forward of the under-hood spring hinge mounting points.

We have a 1967 Shelby GT 350 with an OEM fiberglass hood, and a 1970 Mustang convertible with an aftermarket fiberglass hood that we do NOT use the hood hinge springs on any longer, to avoid bowing the hoods from spring tension when shut/in down down position. We just use a improvised prop rod to hold them up - when doing engine work/maintenance. Our 1974 CJ-5 HAS an OEM prop rod BTW, due to classic Jeep hood hinge design, just like current Jeeps.

Hope this historical insight helps.

 

[Vetterestorer]

The Arana struts work great and have a quick release on one side of each strut. I see no fitment issues and the hood is not raised in the front. I have an aluminum hood and it works as expected with the light hood. Thanks for the good deal -- $40.00. Wow....

 

[JTGuy]

Lifting my hood is a good weight exercise .

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It's likely (also) a hood latch adjustment issue. Try loosening the mounting bolts and move the hinges to tighten/remove the front hood gap. It's quite possible the struts are actually giving some uplift to the hood (or maybe not). We don't have any hood uplift issues on the wife's JTRX possibly due to heavier hood, that we also have a mask on (the leading edge of hood, causing addl weight) that minimizes flat towing rock chips.

If you're lamenting the demise of old-school hood hinge support springs (if you recall those), pls see next paragraphs for a caveat on that design approach - makes prop rods seem less bad.
Back in the "old days," vehicle hoods were supported (when open) with hood hinge springs. Those springs put constant upward tension on the hoods when closed. If you had a fiberglass hood, the springs often bowed up (slightly) the hoods. Typical hood hinge springs photos below.

In the 80's GM vehicles like Camaros were notorious for bowed (upward) steel hoods because styling largely called for flat (less structurally rigid) hoods (they also had minimal hood underframe rigidity/support) so it wasn't uncommon (AKA was common) to have upward bowed hoods or even cracks in the hood skin just forward of the under-hood spring hinge mounting points.

We have a 1967 Shelby GT 350 with an OEM fiberglass hood, and a 1970 Mustang convertible with an aftermarket fiberglass hood that we do NOT use the hood hinge springs on any longer, to avoid bowing the hoods from spring tension when shut/in down down position. We just use a improvised prop rod to hold them up - when doing engine work/maintenance. Our 1974 CJ-5 HAS an OEM prop rod BTW, due to classic Jeep hood hinge design, just like current Jeeps.

Hope this historical insight helps.

With my 73, the stress is on the rear of the hood. The front is fine. Same on my 70 - it laid perfectly fine, but you did have to ADJUST the heck out of the hinges to get rid of the bow. There's a trick to adjustment - off even a little, you have bow at the rear.

Also if the joints in the hinge become even a tiny bit loose or worn, you have troubles.
AMC ran some of the cheapest hood sheet metal out there - to save weight for economy, to save $$.

Flex in the hood is at the rear - it bows up just a bit. Worse with the hood that's cut for the taller air cleaners to stick up through. The hood is way too long for any stresses to get to the front end.

I note some of the knock-off strut setups use a different mounting point for the cylinders - likely changing the stress angles. Could be multiple reasons Redline Tuning doesn't have the problem with distortion. Takes some serious thinking and engineering to determine where the stresses will go based on the cylinders used, how and where they are mounted, hood FRAME and structure and so on.

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