Hood Lift Gas Struts

[Scott B.]

Anyone ever seen or used these: Hood Lift Gas Struts?

They look like a great idea - I hate the prop rod. But before getting a set, I would like to know if anyone has any experience with them, and how they like them?

Thanks.

 

[turboexplorer]

My 98 has them from the factory and they are great!!!!!

 

[lilbeefy]

my 96 and 04 have them from the factory but on the 96, once the factory ones went out, i have gone threw several replacement sets in a matter of months. The after market struts are horrible.

 

[TheJackal]

The 99 has them factory, too.

I need to replace the ones holding up the back glass, tho. Opened it once the other day and it fell back onto my head.

 

[seth247]

I tried installing second gen gas struts on my 92.

The hood hinge is toooooooo weak.

They would hold the hood up fine. But when you closed the hood, and the pistons were compressed, they pushed my hood forward about an inch and it wouldn't latch.

Still haven't gotten the hinges bent back entirely into the right spot yet.

But the ones I was using were preeeeeety strong. I couldn't compress them by hand. Only barely could with all my weight on them.

 

[celly]

My 98 has them from the factory and they are great!!!!!

Your '98 Explorer had them from the factory? How's that? My '99 has the same crappy hood struts that most other 2nd gens have (i.e. the short little ones; mine are "Strongarm" now). I just replaced them last weekend. The last ones lasted about 2 1/2 years.

I'd be curious to know if these eBay ones would work on my '99 Explorer without much hassle. I know that Rick used a similar set he got from EE years ago. I tried to see if EE still sold them and they didn't return my email.

Just so people are aware, these Redline struts are NOT the same as standard, wimpy, crappy, unsafe OEM Explorer struts. They're longer and mount differently. Also appear to be engineered much better. I got 4 fingers trapped recently when my hood came crashing down without warning. There are plenty of stories on this site of people having bad experiences with "standard" struts on second generation Explorers. If you haven't had bad luck with them, consider yourself very lucky! I view the standard struts on these Explorers are disposable.

 

[turboexplorer]

Your '98 Explorer had them from the factory? How's that?
I got 4 fingers trapped recently when my hood came crashing down without warning. There are plenty of stories on this site of people having bad experiences with "standard" struts on second generation Explorers. If you haven't had bad luck with them, consider yourself very lucky! I view the standard struts on these Explorers are disposable.

Yeah I was just talking about the OEM struts on my 2nd Gen. I dont have the hood prop, just the OEM struts. I haven't had any problems with mine and is the first I have heard of this I will make sure to put a safety prop under it from now on. Thanks for the heads up, sorry about your fingers I have had that happen on another car not fun.

 

[celly]

Yeah I was just talking about the OEM struts on my 2nd Gen. I dont have the hood prop, just the OEM struts. I haven't had any problems with mine and is the first I have heard of this I will make sure to put a safety prop under it from now on. Thanks for the heads up, sorry about your fingers I have had that happen on another car not fun.

I got my '99 3+ years ago with only 32,000 miles on it and the struts were very weak. There are plenty of similar stories on the site.

These struts featured in the original post are supposed to be pretty good. I sent the seller a PM asking about applicability for the Explorer. I'm pretty sure these are similar, if not identical to the kind Rick once used on a 2nd gen hood. If so, I'm interested. They look like "set up and forget" (for a long time).

The seller/manufacturer seems to have their stuff together. Great feedback. To starter of this thread, I say go for it and let us know what you think. My gut feel is you'll be very impressed.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230910

I'm still on visegrips

 

[celly]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230910

I'm still on visegrips

FWIW, I picked up two Strongarm struts at 'Auto Value' for $36 + GST recently.

Thanks for linking back to that thread of yours. I fixed the reference to Rick's thread from '00.

Cheers fellow Calgarian.

 

[corkey]

mine don't work worth a crap when it's cold, yesterday the hood closed , on my booster cables,, but didn't cut the cables any , good thing,,

 

[celly]

mine don't work worth a crap when it's cold, yesterday the hood closed , on my booster cables,, but didn't cut the cables any , good thing,,

Oh yeah, when they start to go, cold weather is when they rear their ugly head (and head is literal if you happen to have your head in the engine bay).

Don't get me started on the "finger" threat.

 

[TomCat_Ford]

I wouldn't bother. I just assume have a stand V. struts that will eventually go out on me one day when my shop light is hanging on it (leading to a broken light!) like it did with the '96. These days, I just use the handle from my shovel that I carry in the back when I want to prop the hood open. My struts work, but I don't trust them one bit.:thumbdwn:.

 

[Scott B.]

Well, I went ahead and ordered a set. I have struts on both my camper shell and tonneau cover, and have not had any problems (even in the cold.)

We shall see...

I'll post some pictures once they are installed.

 

[Rick]

I had a set on my Explorer before I switched to the fiberglass hood. They worked really well. Our Dodge Ram has gas struts from the factory. They've been working well for 6 years. They don't see below zero temps, but the truck is parked outside and sees a range from about 28 degrees to 120 degrees.

 

[celly]

Now this is cool. I sent the seller/manufacturer of these struts a message on eBay, asking how they'd work with 2nd generation ('95-'01) Explorers, and here was his reply:

Hello,
Each of kit is designed specifically for each application, so I doubt our Ranger kit would work on the Explorer due to many different factors. That being said we can design a kit specifically for the Explorer. If you can post something on the forum and let people know we need a person to come to our shop and volunteer their vehicle for 2-3 hours. In exchange they would receive a free kit and their Explorer would be used on our website and in the manual. We are located in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area. They can contact me directly at Andreas@redlinetuning.com.
Regards,
Andreas
- redlinetuningcorp

So, any board members in the Ann Arbor area who want to get a free pair of these struts (they charge $80 for them for other models), drop him a line so they can develop a set specifically for the '95-'01 Explorers that tend to have notoriously bad struts. My left hand was almost crushed because of them!

I tell you one thing about this Company is that they seem first rate. I downloaded the pdf install instructions for the Ranger version and they were superb. Their eBay listing is also one of the best written that I've ever seen. This Company seems to be the real deal (not shilling for them....there is nothing in this for me except the development of an Explorer specific product some day!)

If someone does take advantage, let us know. I'd be over there in a heartbeat, but Michigan is a two day's drive for me.

 

[celly]

bump for any Michigan folks looking for FREE upgraded hood struts, 2nd gen (see previous post in this thread).

 

[celly]

ttt

 

[Scott B.]

I received my strut kit from FedEx today. It looks really nice - the brackets appear to be good quality, strong enough, nice finish.

I will take some pictures while I'm doing the install. I will be doing it slightly different than the manual prescribes - I want to paint the drilled holes before installing the brackets.

I hope to work on it this weekend - we will see if the weather cooperates.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

FWIW, I picked up two Strongarm struts at 'Auto Value' for $36 + GST recently.

Thanks for linking back to that thread of yours. I fixed the reference to Rick's thread from '00.

Cheers fellow Calgarian.

Thanks celly! I will check them out...I really do need to get some new hood struts.

Go Flames Go!