Hood prop

[RockyMtnHigh]

On my 98 XLT the hood is held open by the hood struts. I am surprised that there is no physical prop to hold that big heavy hood open. Even my Mustang has a prop for the factory lightweight composite hood.

How do you ensure that the hood stays open while working under there? I am a little nervous about 2 small hydrallic struts holding that much steel in suspension above my busy and distracted fingers while working on the Ex. A sudden gust of wind could blow that thing down - and that is common where I live. I have thought about putting vise grips on the strut rods to keep them from retracting but then thought that all of you with years of experience wrenching these trucks must have a good answer.

Thanks!

 

[purestoke]

I have always had to use a vice grip as mine don't work. I havnt had any problems but they didn't working to start with

 

[Spdrcer34]

The Prop rods are MORE in the way. No matter what I am doing under the hood, the prop rod is in the way eventually.

I am actually going to retrofit my `92 to accept struts like my `97.

Ryan

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

I have always had to use a vice grip as mine don't work. I havnt had any problems but they didn't working to start with

Thanks Purestroke. Good to hear that the vise grip thing would work. I think I'll just throw a set in the console for when I need them.

Vancouver is my second home...great city!

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

The Prop rods are MORE in the way. No matter what I am doing under the hood, the prop rod is in the way eventually.

I am actually going to retrofit my `92 to accept struts like my `97.

Ryan

Agreed Ryan. The last thing I want to do is install another knuckle knocker (I hate rad caps ). I'm just wondering if there is some great way to keep the hood up while wrenching that I have not thought of yet.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Willard]

You could always try and adapt a hinge from another vehicle that used the spring method, I know older GM trucks had it.

 

[marragtop]

The vice grips method works fine. It should only be necessary to put them on one strut prop.

 

[Cobraguy]

If you use vice grips, your strut is done for. They will scar the shaft and the seal will be destroyed. This is not a good choice. Somewhere I've seen a plastic sleeve that slips over the shaft to hold the hood in place as a safety. You might be able to google for it. I would bet you could make one out of pvc pipe. Just cut a piece of pipe the length of the extended shaft, cut a slit lengthwise, and slip it over the shaft.

 

[gijoecam]

I've never had the hood come down on me even in the wildest winds, except for when the struts were going bad and it was wintertime.... That was the one and only time.

With good struts, you've got nothing to worry about.

-Joe

 

[my98nnj]

With good struts, you've got nothing to worry about.

-Joe

Agreed, if your hood isn't supported very well, buy new struts. Most auto parts stores carries them, under 20 each and your hood will stay open.

 

[fsumotorhead]

Mine never stays on it's own, i have a 3' extension i use to prop it up.

I would imagine that a Ranger prop rod would work great.

 

[Gatorblazer]

I picked a prop rod up for free for the u pick it. Two screws and it was in. Much cheaper than new struts

 

[410Fortune]

I am retro fitting my 96 witht he stupid ass gas hydro shocks that are $30 each to replace with springs like a chevy truck.. no hood prop no expensive and crappy gas charged shocks.

Not one gen II explorer I work on has the damn shocks that work, new ones fail after 1-2 years..
So instead of carrying around a boat cover prop (expendable rod /prop) so the hood doesnt fall on my head, my wife owns a 99 GMC 2500HD, that truck has some awesome hood hinges with springs built in... gave me an idea, my explorer is getting chevy style spring hinges

 

[heathmo]

Mine are broke too, had it come down on me a few times. Hurt like hell the one time, I was installing my cold air and it was snowing and cold and my hands were getting wet, hood fell and I used my arm to catch it, well I caught it right on the release lever. That was sore for quite some time.

I know what they're talking about with the spring loaded hinges, those are sweet, I had them on my 88 Caprice Classic, that was a monster hood, but man those are the way to go, I might just have to retrofit some of those on there myself. Or just get new ones or a good pair of vice grips, if the thing is already broken I don't see how damaging the seals on it would be any cause for concern.

 

[Hawk89]

Be careful. I was working on my car and my hood holds itself also and it slammed down on my hand. First time it ever fell.

 

[magngineer]

Just replaced mine on a 98 XLT. Rock Auto has Monroe hood lift supports for $8.82 each + S&H. MONROE Part # 901340.

 

[Cobraguy]

my explorer is getting chevy style spring hinges

Be extremely careful Jamie. Make sure you run long, solid braces along the underside of the hood. Those springs could very easily be stiff enough that you will bend the hood closing it against their tension. Shoot...we use to have to fix Chevy hoods all the time for that on the older models.

 

[celly]

Mine has come down on me (usually on my head). I switched to new struts about 2 years ago and that was good for a while. A few months ago, I was working on some headlight aiming not far from my house and it came down on me, this time trapping my left hand (4 fingers) (I was off the passenger's side). With my left hand trapped, I couldn't reach my cell phone in my right pocket. I usually do the aiming out on a desolate country road, but luckily this time I was very close to home. It was pretty damn painful and pretty embarassing. I had to call out for help and finally a neighbour heard me and popped the hood for me. It was about 10 at night. I was lucky because the hood slammed my fingers just in front of the knuckles. Had my knuckles got it, I'd probably just be getting the cast off! I had a pretty nasty mark across my fingers. The damage could have been worse.

I noticed with with onset of cold weather that the hood won't stay up much at all unassisted now. I've got a chunk of wood in the truck now to prop it up for the mean time.

 

[celly]

I see Rick tried these back in '00:

His thread is here.

EXPLORER EXPRESS

I've summoned Rick for his opinion(s). Anyone else used them? I wonder if EE even carries them still given that most of the items they list on their site aren't truly available any more.

 

[Rick]

I loved the struts. Worked very well. Unfortunately I never adapted them to my fiberglass hood.

I have never seen struts give out suddenly. They lose their tension over time and it's easy to tell when they need replacing.

For example, the factory struts that are on the trunk of our Mustang are in need of replacement. They lift VERY slowly and won't hold the trunk as wide open as they used to.