Just finished this hood strut mini project. It took longer to find one that would work than to mount it up.

Total spent, 20 bucks!

Parts required:

Strong Arm 4364 Lift Support - AdvanceAuto, cheaper online though!
Strong L-bracket
2 self tapping hex head bolts (to mount the bracket)

This is the 90% finished product... still some paint, bracket trimming to do.



The installation is simple enough that there shouldn't be instructions required. Just know that there is some drilling required. Be sure to not punch through your hood!

 

Been there, done that.
Slightly cheaper as well.

 

yeah... but that strut BRAND NEW wasn't enough to hold my hood open with any confidence whatsoever. When I laid my finger on the hood, it started to come down. I used the 4524 first, but it wasn't enough. I didn't want to use 2, so I just went with a stronger one.

maybe the OEM Nissan one was better... but I didn't have to go scrounging through the yard either.

 

Then you missed the fun part.

 

I remember back when I didn't have a full time job where I actually had the time to go through junkyards. Ah the good old days.

 

 

what I would do is open one my marine supply catalogs, look at the rating of a nice full stainless steel version, and order it. Along with a stainless steel bracket to hold it in place. Order it and have it in my hands the next day in a nice new wrapper.

 

Mcmaster-Carr is another option. But I hate waiting on parts in the mail.

Advance doesn't list the lift capacity specs for some of their struts, the two mentioned in my thread included.

 

oh yeah... another thought... is the TII aluminum hood significantly heavier than the N/A aluminum one?

Maybe thats a reason why the Maxima strut didnt work...

 

Yes, that's nice but you're leaving out the part where you take the new part, remove all the casting/machining imperfections and polish it to a faretheewell.
It then gets installed into your freakishly beautiful engine bay to live a life of pampered ease and internet notoriety.

I am a bit envious.

Maybe, I don't know.
It's totally workable on the NA alloy hood and will decapitate you when installed on a FD hood.

 

No. It there is no significant weight difference between n/a and t2 aluminum hoods.
No. There is no need to search through a junk yard, because I have 2 of the struts sitting at my house collecting dust and I would have given you one, along with a mounting bracket.

Not sure where this maxima business came from, but the 3000gt strut works great.

 

alot of F-U's in this harmless thread

 

?

 

lol... the first one was at me!

It could just be the interwebz being unable to transmit emotions very well though.

 

Lol, I figured they would look and see that we are both in Jax and figure out that we know each other....oops.

 

ehh... i ended up going and pulling one of the shitty struts off of my trunk (vert) and using that bracket. just had to drill out the rivet.

 

stainless brackets are $8-$12

 

I just went out and got one of the 4364 shocks. Damn this thing is stiff. I can't even compress it with all my weight. I think I may have a bum product

Also, did it come with the ball-end screws? I bought this thing and it only came with the shock.

 

go get the ball mount, its cheap
they usually come just a shock

 

the 4364 comes with ball mounts...

they expect you to buy 2, so only 1 in 2 packages come with them. go back and get the ball mounts.

I couldn't compress it with MY weight (210!) so yes, they are THAT stiff. they have to be, believe me. the other ones have no *****!

 

how hard is it to compress when its connected to the hood?
you dont want it to end up ripping off the mounts

 

not hard, but enough to keep the wind from blowing it down, i'd say youd need about 1-2 pounds hanging down from the front lip of the hood to lower it. actually feels like thats how they would have come from the factory, if they were to do it.

 

It's not hard to compress when its connected to the hood, leverage is on your side, but it is a beast to compress w/o mechanical advantage.

On a metal hood the mounts will be fine. I did notice some minor flex in the firewall as it was compressing, a backing plate would probably fix that but I went to a vented hood before I ever got around to it and it didn't seem to affect operation anyway

These things will rape a fiberglass or carbon fiber hood (ask me how I know ) so don't even try.

 

yeah, for FG or CF id use the 4524

 

Wouldn't even do that. Fg/Cf hoods dont have an internal support structure so there is no way to mount a strut in a similar way. I have a set of struts on order from Rotary Extreme, as there is no safe and easy way to mount a cheap single strut to FG/CF hoods.

https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-pr...b-open-931519/