Rattled by the hood dropping suddenly

I’d say yes

If you recall, I said one of my daily drivers is 21 years and is still on the original hood shocks. They’re working perfectly

Both my Mustangs had prop rods… I added gas struts to both cars because I hate prop rods.

My 86 Camaro race car had them for the hood and the hatch. At 30 years old, all still worked.

My 59 Corvette had a hood that opened from the rear near the windshield and was held up by springs. It had a dull pointed spike on each corner that locked the hood down into 2 separate latches.

So out in the TX Panhandle i have the hood up checking the oil and not a breath of wind. As I leaned in to reinsert the dipstick a 40 MPH gust came out of nowhere and slammed the hood and one of those spikes into the back of my head.

I came out from under the hood yelling every curse word in the book inside of 5 seconds and (not thinking) tried to remove the left front wheel with my right foot while trying to stop the bleeding from my head. That led to a broken foot and years of issues with it along with several days worth of headaches. I was told 30 years ago I need surgery on my foot but I just deal with it at this point.

I did have a Subaru rear hatch (much heavier than a hood) come down on me once when one of the struts decided to have a heart attack and die. Knocked the crap out of me. More cursing but there was nothing convenient to kick so no more broken foot bones…

Imagine his surprise!

Tester

I had that happen on my 2005 Accord EX V6. It fell on my head, gradually. It only dropped a few inches anyway. After I was finished, I stood back to see how far it would go. It settled slowly towards the latch. I bought another strut and replaced the old one.

I don’t know what they were called but I remember the late’40’s and early 50’s had a ratchet type on the hood and some trunk lid’s that were two piece one inside the other you would open all the way then drop back down an inch or two and it would catch and hold it open to close you would raise it up an inch or two the catch would relese then it would close.

69 vette works that way.

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I would think that would be a much safer way than the strut’s.

Light hood, stiff gust, up and down…

I like how it works and not much occassion for hood being open outside the garage so no worries. The nice thing is, nothing is under stress, especially 99.9% of the time like a gas strut or tension spring.

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Does anyone remember the old international truck’s in the early 50’s that the hood opened from the side I don;t remember what held them open but I do remember that with two people one on each side open the latch the hood could be lifted completly off the truck.

I drove a Mercedes straight truck once that had a prop rod that clipped into a spring loaded catch so that a gust of wind could not lift the hood off the prop rod and crash down on you.

Once a month I have a hood slam shut while the vehicle is on the lift 6 feet in the air. As old, weak hood supports cool while the hood is open the pressure in the cylinders drops, at some point the hood slams shut.

I have been struck by a closing hood many times, only embarrassing, not deadly.

I do the same for my 1999 Dodge Durango. What brand/model broomstick are you using? :grin:

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The last time that I had to resort to my custom-cut broomstick was circa 1986, so I don’t recall the brand or model.
:kissing_smiling_eyes:

My coworker was on the receiving (customer) side of it once with his old Crysler sedan.
He brought the car for the advertised $29.99 for oil change and tire rotation special, he is usually DIY-er, but this time did not feel like doing in on his own.
The shop called him in an hour to report that his dipstick made as hole in his valve cover (?!??!)
Apparently the mechanic pulled the stick half-way and left it like that, then decided to raise the vehicle with opened hood.
His Cirrus had hood gas lifters in OK-ish shape, but from the fast movement the hood dropped and caught the T-shaped handle right between the rib and valve cover, resulting in nice round hole.
By the time shop claimed to “fix it”, he had the front bumper hit to something and damaged, valve cover leaking oil all around due to 2 bolts missing, wiring harness removed and not put back in place and OLD OIL and no tires rotated, yet they collected $29.99 or whatever was due.
At that point, he said he is happy to get his car back so he can fix it on his own dime and that he had learned the lesson and not doing it again…
The same shop screed me on tire change/balancing few years before, but they were under the new name and new management… nop… probably people working there did not change…

Bought 4runner new 8/05. There was no indication prior to this occurance

I was checking the oil at the time. Never any indication prior.

You can never be too safe. I don’t trust hood or hatch struts at all.

An example of how things can go south very quickly happened at a dealer I worked for in OK City. The wash room for the detail guys was right next to the service dept and separated by only a door.
One day the two detail guys got to horsing around and began using 3 foot long screwdrivers as pretend swords.

One guy swung at another, the blade came out of the handle, and struck the other guy in the temple. He was dead by the time the ambulance showed up. No charges filed as it was just an unfortunate accident but that would be a tough burden to carry around for the rest of one’s life.