How to: DIY hood alignment

Ok this is my first write-up, not that big of a deal but i thought it was interesting so here it goes:

Now not many people should have to do this, but if you are obsessive (thats me) you might wanna check this one out.

If your hood doesn't line up (the spacing on either corner relative to the height away from the headlight assembly there is a simple fix.






see the difference? look closely as its kinda hard to notice....

well to fix this, simply pop your hood, and locate the little rubber washers located on either corner of your hood





once located, you can simply rotate these with your fingers clockwise or counterclock wise until you think youve reached the proper alignment.
(Hint: the further the rubber sticks out from the bottom of your hood, the further your hood will be off your headlight)



now to do this i had to open and close my hood a few times until it was perfect, which was annoying, but the end result is AMAZING....




if this is old news i apoligize, i just figured it was simple, cheap (FREE), and gave you a reason to go outside and check this...

 

+ 1 for you. Good info

 

thanks glad i could help

 

holy cow! I'm totally doing that tonight.

 

Dude, you are just feeding my OCD!

Good to know though. And good job.

 

hey were all just looking for a legitimate reason to go outside and pop the hood and do something rather than just admire

 

Bump... maybe somebody can use this who hasn't seen it?

 

Keep in mind that if the spacers are shortened too much they may cause the hood to rest on metal instead of rubber. I've yet to verify this though......

 

I am stunned at how remarkably simple and effective this is. Thanks for sharing. +Rep sent.

 

Thanks but I can't take all the credit... my stepdad knows a body shop guy and he showed me, but I figured everyone here would enjoy it.

 

Thank you. Mine is out just a little, and won't be for much longer.

Tim

 

aw jeez... now I have to go out with a flashlight and look at my hood.

OCD *tic* *tic*

 

Ever noticed that on EVERY Tacoma, the hood doesnt line up exactly the same left to right?

I believe it's the drivers side that the hood is closer to the headlight then the pass side. It is a lateral deal here; cant really be adjusted. I thought my truck was defective or somthing until I looked at others on the lot. You can easily check this by the space on top of your headlights. The drivers side is smaller then the passenger side. It's just a hood fit problem that was never addressed from the factory.

 

Just a tip, if you put it too low, the hood wont POP when you pull the lever because there wont be enough tension.

 

Oh wow, I never even looked... I will check this out later on!

Thanks

 

Added to the cheap/free mods list for future reference...

 

So glad I found this, I freakin love forums, saved me money almost every time. My hood wouldn't pop up anymore, I thought the cable or the latch was broken, turns out not enough tension on the latch spring so I made a slight adjustment as mentioned above and works like it should now. Thanks! I'm sure the dealer would have told me some BS story of how the latch mechanism was busted and needed to be replaced and charged me hundreds of dollars!

 

Thank you so much! +3000000

 

Right side appears low looking at the pics.

 

It may eliminate a rattle or crack some people are hearing at the dash.


Steve