Anyone ever used JY hood struts on their XR?

EVIL_XR4 · Post by **EVIL_XR4** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:07 pm

There are just soooo many gas hood struts available in the local pull and pay...i keep thinking about trying to get a pair and hook them up. Has anyone ever tried it? I could use some pointers on how long to look for and where exactly to mount them on the hood and fenders.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:23 pm

I just used a pair of XR hatch struts - mount a ball stud half way up the slanted portion of the hood hinge, then put another one wherever the body end of the strut happens to fall. I ended up welding the hatch hinge and the ball stud together for strength - my original attempt (ball stud bolted through a hole drilled in the hinge) resulted in a buckled hinge.

EVIL_XR4 · Post by **EVIL_XR4** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:35 pm

That buckling is what i'm trying to avoid...it's not really something you can do with trial and error without making a bunch of holes.

Do you know off hand if parts stores sell replacement shocks? Otherwise where's a cheap place to get'em? Right now i'm using Mustang hatch shocks on my XR and they work great.

Post by **DPDISXR4Ti** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:07 pm

I sorta have in mind to one day grab one of those mono hood struts, found on some Audis and Volvos. It mounts off-center on the hood, and then on the inner fender on the bottom end. It's got a flip-lock on it, so that even as the shock wears and thus fails over time, you can just flip the lever to hold it in place.

Mike McCreight · Post by **Mike McCreight** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:47 pm

I did trial and error fitting on my (last years')winter beater with a single strut. I was going to use 2, but it made the hood too hard to close!
I wound up using a ball end from Diane's Celica that came with her replacement hatch struts. It's got 2 bolt holes on a flange. I think this is key to the whole operation. A single bolt/ball is going to cause problems if it doesn't go into a pretty strong point of the car.
I'l snap a pic tomorrow, hopefully something won't jump out and bite me...

John R. Rowlands · Post by **John R. Rowlands** » Thu May 01, 2008 11:12 am

EVIL_XR4,

I found the shortest pair I could find at the JY and re-tapped the outer hinge bolt and installed one "ball" there, and the other on the inner fender. I wanted the shortest pair I could find so I didn't have to fight them when I had the hood open to work on the engine.
The trick is the correct geometry so they don't bind when you close the hood or not open the hood wide enough. Don't remember how I figured it out but I tapped some plates to put the ball through where it mounts to the inner fender. I then used some 3/16" pop rivets and pop rivited the plates to the inner fender. I wasn't about to pull the fender liner out. So far no problems.

John

EVIL_XR4 · Post by **EVIL_XR4** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:03 pm

I like how Colin has his...they don't look like they'd get in the way at all. My buddy just got some for his Mustang and they mount higher up on the hood and would get in the way more. I'll probably be going with rivets so i wanna make sure i get it right the first time so i'm not drilling a bunch of holes in my fenders.

This would be something for someone with a parts car to do...maybe a car that's wrecked or something. Figure it out and give us measurements

Maurice S · Post by **Maurice S** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:38 pm

Why dont you guys just buy Caddy Escalades and get it overwith.

Silver SHO · Post by **Silver SHO** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:44 pm

I all ready did, but still have the "mod the merkur" bug. Oh well, When the merkur is running or not, i still have a ride that will spank the rice around here. Damn that 6.0l is quick!

Maurice S · Post by **Maurice S** » Thu May 01, 2008 2:55 pm

see how it works...BAAM....hood struts...or is it some kind of mag-lev set up?

EVIL_XR4 · Post by **EVIL_XR4** » Thu May 01, 2008 3:21 pm

I just like working on my engine without having to dodge a metal rod

It never made sense to me why so many hatch backs have shocks in the rear but not for the hood.

MerlinMerkur · Post by **MerlinMerkur** » Thu May 01, 2008 6:25 pm

I just happened to have custom made a kit just for this very purpose, several member have it, though only half of them installed it lol.

I made a bracket for the hood hinge, placing the ball stud directly in the center of the existing hinge to hood screws, so no buckling. I used Mighty Lift 95212 struts, just because they looked to fit about there I wanted everything (and they are a car with a large hoods' hood struts so..)

I actually need a reason to have some more brackets cut if you are serious about this, Total cost including struts is 115$ shipped.
IMO dont waste your time with used ones, they wont last. They are only about 50$ for a new pair anyway, and once you get them on.. you'll wonder why you waited so long. Ill youtube a video some day of them so you can see "how sweeet it is to be.." oh wait thats a song...
Its nice

EVIL_XR4 · Post by **EVIL_XR4** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:16 am

Yeah man i might just do that...save myself some hassle. I'll PM you when i'm ready to order

MerlinMerkur · Post by **MerlinMerkur** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:24 am

I plan on having another run cut and bringing them to Carlisle if you can wait. They are on order now.

I can bring a couple sets of struts too, you really could use any strut I think, you just would have the mount the lower point somewhere different. Ill give you the numbers you need and you can get the struts yourself.

~TE

Post by **John Brennan** » Fri May 02, 2008 12:09 pm

Two cool things about lift struts: They're not in your way, and they open the hood more, allowing much more access. And-- third thing-- no need to "find the hole."

OK, four things: they look cool.

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