All you got is hydraulic struts now, which can fail. And do fail. 2012 Camry has the twin hydraulic struts that failed recently. Toyota wants to charge $455 to replace them. Nope, I'll continue using my wooden stick to prop up the hood, thank you.

Try rockauto.com or Amazon for replacements. Fraction of the price if they have them.

Edit: they’re like 12 bucks each on rockauto.

Sounds like a bargain to me vs your broom handle kicking out with you noggin under it!

rockauto it is. Thanks, PowerSurge!

Doc, I'll be the contrary man.

I replaced the simple metal hood rod support arm with a pair of NRG HD-140 hydraulic arms in July 2008 ($113 shipped). Allows me to open the hood fully vertical for better access to the engine bay on my '03 S2000. They've been rock solid reliable



Not my car but you can see what the factory hood support arm looks like

$455 is robbery & insane.
I'd bet both parts are maybe $50.
Heck, bring it by my office & I'll put them on for you

Edit: $8-12 on Rockauto

my gf's 2003 blazer has the hood rod!!

I wait till I knock the rod off with my arm
and the hood hits me in the top of my head
and carry on from there.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Edit: $8-12 on Rockauto

Heck, yeah, man!

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
hydraulic struts

I bet that'd be a winning name for an exotic dancer....

quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:
my gf's 2003 blazer has the hood rod!!

So do Wranglers and Gladiators.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
rockauto it is. Thanks, PowerSurge!

Yep. That Scandinavian brand… Lesjofors. Quality stuff. Installed them on my KL Cherokee hood and my MIL’s Outback hatch.

They’ll outlast both vehicles, I’m sure.

-Rob

Another reason to be known as a "Stealership"........ My piece of 1/4 round moulding cut to size with a small screw head on each end that goes into a factory hole in hood underside as well as a cross bar radiator support that will not allow stick to be accidently knocked out allowing hood to fall on my boney head...................................... drill sgt.

Can you get a rod off of a 2002 model and adapt it to your ride?

Seems they have similar architecture, but may need simple hood modifications.

How ‘bout just a set of hood springs?

I haven't seen any vehicles that come with them standard. I added them to my Tacoma, but I got a decent set from Redline Tuning. They have been 100% for years. I like how I can manipulate the hood with one hand.

Despite the obvious safety issues, in my former work I could not get people to buy these hood struts, and for around $40-70 installed (a lot less than $455); many oil changes are more than that. After uncounted rejections I just gave up. Every mechanic has one or both - sometimes multiple - of these in his tool box.


The end of the screw is brass or bronze and the body of the tool is aluminum (which bends over time) so as not to mar or nick up the piston rod.



They aren't just for failed struts. Even if a hood seems secure, sometimes they can still fall if jostled. If a tool or part is on top of, say, a radiator support while the car is being worked on, at the very least there will be a great deal of inconvenience, at worst damage to something. One YouTuber, a shop owner, actually issues clamps to his techs. I got in the habit of clamping every strut whether they actually needed it or not.

I have never owned a vehicle with hydraulic struts for the hood. Trunk / rear liftgate, yes (and they have failed), but never hoods.

My Explorer has a prop rod, but our Expedition has struts.
My Mercedes had a strut, but it wasn't a hydraulic strut. Just a 2-piece prop rod with 2 detents for opening the hood normally, or vertically.
My 2 older Mercedes had similar, but IIRC they used hood springs at the hinges & had a latch that you could operate to open the hood vertically.
The Midget has a similar prop rod to the Mercedes, open until it latches. Have to lift slightly & unlatch to lower.

Had to replace them on my 03 F150, but 20+ years of exposure to use, heat, FL weather, it's not unreasonable that one or the other would fail.

My 86 Corvette had a prop rod of sorts, no ram assistance so lifting the heavy clamshell hood required some effort. Upgraded it to the newer gas assisted rod, made a massive difference in the effort required, and it had a lock out feature so it wouldn't lop your head off if the strut gave out.

Early C4 models had a manual hood support, no assisted lift, so it took effort to lift up the hood, then you locked it in with the manual support.

Later C4's got an assist from a gas rod, but it too had a locking feature, since the hood is quite heavy and they were smart enough to know having a heavy hood cut heads off customers was not good for sales...

Comparison Image: Top is later gas assist strut, bottom manual support.



You can see how large the hood is in this image weight of the fully dressed hood, lights, inner fenders, structure is about 110 lbs..