Hadtohaveit'13

Hey all, I just installed these mmd hood struts and I really like what they bring to the car but I had a question that is kind of a worry for me at the moment. The upper bracket that's mounted to the hood has a very small gap towards the side without the bolts that I've got a pic of below. Anyhow this gap leaves for some hood flex when you go to shut it until the hood contacts the bracket. So I'm wondering if anyone else with these has seen this or if there is a reason for this and or if it could be harmful. If anyone could shed some light on this I would appreciate it. On a side note these are on sale on AM right now making for a great deal. Talking about AM, Dan maybe you have an answer or connections to mmd?

Missouri Hoss

I looked at all available struts, then chose the "Redline Plus" setup. I didn't like large brackets or mounting struts to the hood hinge points. The Redlines bolt to the fender attachment flanges and an open hole in the hood (well above the hinges). The Redlines are longer, but were a piece of cake to install. Matter of fact, one strut holds the hood up, so I can confirm they are hell for stout.

AMWill

hadtohaveit'13,

There is normally a small gap between the bracket and hood with the MMD hood struts. Since the hood hinges stick out past the hood slightly, it forces a small gap when mounting the straight MMD brackets.

I haven't seen any issues with having a small gap here. As long as the mounted bolts are secure, you shouldn't have have any worries. Tons of other forum members are running these hood struts with no issues, plus we've equipped all of our AM Mustangs with the same setup!

Hope this helps ease your mind. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Shane

Thamac15

When I close my hood the brackets move slightly inboard. The brackets are labeled and are on the right sides. A guy at a car meet has the same issue. You make them straight and tighten back down then when you close it they move again. Crap.

Hadtohaveit'13

Yeah that's exactly what I'm experiencing

Thamac15

Perhaps AMShane can chime in again about this.

Jzpd405

Mine also move.

Hadtohaveit'13

Wow, pretty misleading reviews on these things..

Six7One

Hood flex? You're lifting the hood arms and not the hood. The load is transferred from the strut to the strut mount to the hood lift arms.

I will go look at mine again; but I observed zero flex when using these post-installation.

Worth looking into.

Hadtohaveit'13

The hood flex happens when closing the hood, pullin down on it

sakol

When I first got them, they're sorta similar to the rear trunk lid ones, except shorter.

Matt's 95 Stang

I have them on mine and dont notice any hood flex.

Matthew

Thamac15

I don't notice hood flex, I have a problem with the brackets turning when I close it. Others have it too.

Six7One

Looked at those as well. Just didn't like the idea of loading a part of the hood that was not reinforced. Probably won't matter. But the attachment points of the ones with a bracket were my preference.

Those are nice too.

Six7One

Double check your installation. If followed to the letter AND bolts properly torqued, there should be zero movement. Also, if they are tweaked at all (not straight when the bolts were tightened), they will try to straighten out through their range of motion.

I saw some flex between the hood and bracket as a result of the load being placed on the hood countering the force of the struts when lowering.

I am going to try a small patch of dense foam to take up the space and provide some support to the hood as it is closed. It's minor, but flex on metal can equate to paint cracks later.

Hadtohaveit'13

Yeah it's pretty minor flex but nonetheless it shouldn't be happening, and it scares me. I've thought about putting something in that gap as well to help out with it but I may just take these things off

AMWill

A very light movement of the bracket is normal for these hood struts. The hood will experience a small flex too. We haven't found or experienced any issues with this, as long as the brackets are installed properly. Make sure to follow the installation instructions about you'll be set!

Shane

Thamac15

Instructions were followed to a T. I went ahead and swapped the lower brackets. So the right bracket is on the left side and left is on the right,...strange how they don't move now when I close. Got the tip from a boss owner at a car meet.

Hadtohaveit'13

Thanks going to try that