WarBird69

Sorry no pics, camera is (and has been) in the shop...

FINALLY, after a few months and much back and forth with MGW, got my hood struts installed. However, it appears on both sides the struts are pushing up on the back of the hood slightly, making a ever so slight gap between the fender and hood itself. It is wide enough I can see the struts through the gap. According to pics I've seen, everything is installed correctly. Any suggestions as to what is wrong or is this normal?

Somehow I thought the hood should close as if it were factory... not add a gap.

TacoBill

Nick- Here's a pic of mine with the hood closed for reference, no gap from what I can see.

Double check your strut orientation with mine (click on the MRT hood strut link in sig).

jayguy

I've got no problem with mine either. Fit is as good with the MRT struts as it was without.

mrkabc

IMHO your hood is out of alignment slightly. When I installed my MRT (not MGW! ) hood struts, the hood slid back when I loosened the mounting bolts.

Realigning it was a bear. When it was out of alignment the hood wouldn't close and the back part of the hood appeared to be slightly raised.

WarBird69

Hood must be out of allignment... all I can think of really. I'm not looking forward to trying to troubleshoot this.

But at least my hood closes just fine... the back part near the struts just appears to be raised.

WB2005GT

Is it possible that you put the MRT mounts between the hood and the piece that the hood bolts too. On mine the MRT mounts are mounted to that piece so that that piece is sandwiched between the hood and the MRT mounts. I hope that isn't confusing but I can picture it in my mind.

mrkabc

Hmmm... that is kind of a reach... I see where you are going with this, but it would be a LOT harder to install the bracket that way - instead of sliding the bracket on the lower bolt after it is loosened you would have had to remove both bolts, raise the hood, and stuff the MRT bracket in between the hood and the hinge. Possible but not likely.

I think that if you did it that way the hood wouldn't close either.

WB2005GT

That was the only thing I could think of.

goat678

Im having the same issues with my hood with the MRT struts

Waxed'05 GT

Were the issues ever resolved? I'm having problems with my cdc struts I just installed. Hood closes but doesn't latch completly.

05blkstallion

i have the mrt's and no height gap. although u can see the struts through the gap between the fender and hood.

KR3259

I had to run out and check mine...looks good here, I also installed a pair on a friends car and the hood fits nice and flush as well.

let us know what you come up with

Mustang Buster

Make sure your struts are not on upside down, (that is inverting the cylinder end with the rod end) as they will go on either way. It make a little difference in how far it will close.

WarBird69

Thought I should bump this.

I have a few pics and will link them shortly. I don't know what is wrong with my poor hood, and I'm going back and forth with MRT once again. THEY don't know what is wrong either...

For reference, I took my 'Stang in to a dealer to have the hood alligned. They said the hood WAS alligned, but the hood struts were probably the wrong size.

Will add my pics shortly.

WarBird69

Here are the pics. Sorry for the brevity, but I'm in a hurry.

First pic is looking down the driver's side of the vehicle. Yes, its dirty, but excuse that. Notice the giant GAP in the hood?




Here's a close-up of the gap.




Something I forgot to add... when MRT sent my replacement lower brackets, they labled them "P" and "D", which I thought was nice. However, they labled them wrong. "P", which last time I checked probably stood for PASSENGER, actually installed on the driver's side...and vice versa.



So here's the driver's side strut:




And the passenger's side. Notice the lower bracket labled with a "D".




I'll keep everyone posted...but so far, MRT's customer service is really turning me off. I'm half tempted to take all these struts/brackets out, toss 'em in the garbage, and buy CDC hood struts.

RobK

You're having the exact problem I had with my install. The lower bracket is hitting one of the hood bolts. Bend the bracket "open" a couple degrees more and you'll be good. I spent about an hour trying to figure this one out the night I installed mine. If you look closely you'll see where they're hitting and have likely rubbed the paint from the bracket.

EDIT - Just noticed your comment about the two brackets being labeled wrong. How are you so sure? They're both very similar. Also, looking at your pics I can plainly see where the bolts are hitting the brackets toward the rear.

crucut

Timely post/bump for me. I'm getting ready to get struts but haveen't decided on which brand to buy. Was leaning towards the MRT's, but not sure now. Any thoughts or recomendations on other brands? Thanks.

RobK

There's nothing wrong with the MRT pieces. They are a very high quality part with a great fit. Mine just needed a tad of tweaking. I'm very pleased with them.

06GT4RAD

You have the fender brackets installed wrong side and/or upside down.

Richard

WarBird69

The way they are currently installed are the *only* way they could be bolted to the fender. I tried flipping, turning, switching sides (espically since I thought the one labled "D" went on the driver's side, ect), yada yada yada... there is simply no other way for the brackets I have to be bolted onto my vehicle without doing some drilling.

I'm definately no rocket scientist, and my parents made me wear oven mitts while smearing jelly on toast to protect myself ( ), but if those brackets go on the car some other way, not only will I be *very* surprised, I'll probably end up just taking them off and leaving them off in utter frustration...not only at myself but at the whole situation.