Spiker Engineering High lift hood struts for the 3rd Gen Tacoma

Worked w SpikerEng and installed his clutch reservoir spacer on my 2020 TRD Pro MT. This is a much better solution and easier install than the washers for spacers, provides a perfect amount of space for the reservoir to clear the strut. Literally a 5 minute install! Thanks to Leon for coming up with a superb solution to fix this issue. I most highly recommend these struts in your 3rd gen - raised the opening about 5 inches, and they are perfectly balanced for the hood. If you are on the fence bw this and that other brand, I think this is the better choice! Let me know if you have questions.

 

Looks Pro

 

Installed the Sokie Tech struts the other day. Took about 30 minutes, including getting the two wrenches I needed. No holes to put into the sheet metal as it uses existing tapped holes. Simply remove three fasteners, install four and attach struts. Work great, and no extra holes.

 

Thanks for sharing the pictures @Hurl19; looks perfect. And thanks for working with me to develop the proper spacer kit!

 

Dropped mine in. Matched up with my stacked washers solution and now I have my washers back.

 

^^

 

Since installing my Spiker hood struts with an extra 6 inches height, I wondered if adding ditch or pod lights would be an issue. Here are some pictures showing that Cali Raised low profile brackets adjusted fully forward away from the windshield. Also you should tightly install the pod lights to the brackets before installing. You will still be able to point them with mild force as the lock nut will rotate with the carriage bolt. Here is a way to tighten the lower nut without moving the wrench. Since there is only enough wrench room to hold the nut, rotate the light and bracket together a 1/4 of a turn. Remove wench and rotate the light and bracket back and the nut will stay tight. Repeat the sequence by rotating the light and bracket to where it fits on the nut again and the wrench is clear of the painted hood. This can be done with the hood closed. Cali Raised low profile brackets come with a 3/4 inch standard bolt and the Rigid Industries Radiance 3x3 Lights come with a 1 inch carriage bolt. I used a 3/4 inch carriage bold with a flat washer and nylon lock nut and skipped the lock or split washer. You need the carriage bolts as the square portion fits into the bracket which allows you can tighten by just holding the lock nut with the wrench. Other wise you will have to hold the nut and tighten the head of the standard bolt. After completing the install of lights and brackets with the hood open there is room to place your hand between the light and windshield. I wear XL or 2XL gloves so that's plenty of room even if the light is pointing at a 45 degrees angle.

 

Thanks for the feedback Darrin, good to know!

 

Your welcome! I believe having the struts installed helped the hood stay in place when installing each bracket. I also removed both bolts briefly to install the bracket vs 1 bolt at a time. The struts work great and I really enjoy opening the hood. The struts were used alot during the install of the wiring harness, light bar and ditch lights.

 

I know I should've done this earlier, but couldn't justify the price for the other brand before I found out about Spiker. But with the 4th of July discount and under $100 delivered, I had to get it.

And this, along with glove box and cubbie organizer, is a minor mod, but HUGE benefits. You wouldn't think that the hood prop would get in the way that much, until you remove it and realize how much "more" space you have to work under the hood.

You could definitely source out your kit and save a few bucks, or you can just buy the kit. Definitely worth the money.

 

Wanted to pass along a tid bit of info, courtesy of @corgimas - there are two implementations for clutch fluid reservoirs on the manual transmission Tacomas.

Some models have the reservoir on a bracket on the inner fender (these typically need to be spaced away from the fender to clear the struts). But other models use the brake fluid reservoir for the clutch, so there is no separate reservoir. No reservoir = no need for spacers.

To the best of my research, Sport models use the shared reservoir, and TRD models have the separate reservoir. But check your own situation to determine if you would need the spacers.

 

Unless you've added something under the hood there are no clearance issues with a 2020 or other Gen 3. I also live on an "improved farm road" aka dirt and have no issues at all with the Spikers. I love them!

This is my daily drive.





And after installing the struts.

 

Do the struts have to mounted that far back? I have my fuse and relay box mounted there and I don't think it will clear, and on the passenger side I have my slee mount with compressor and the manifold is right up against the first divet

 

The only known interference with stock components is the manual transmission reservoir on models using a separate reservoir (as opposed to sharing it with the brake MC). That's an easy issue to overcome with a spacer kit.

As for aftermarket add-ons, some air intakes may require some notching, and spacers will be needed with some power trays. Many other aftermarket components, such as secondary batteries and TRD air cleaners, are fine as is. It just depends on what you are planning to add.

As for vibration, you shouldn't have any issues. One end of each strut is firmly attached to the inner fender bracket, and the other to the hood bracket. The only deflection you'll see is the hood moving relative to the fender, which should be minimal (if it's not, you have bigger issues ).

 

The fender bracket location is where it is to accommodate the whole range of hood heights from stock to +6". Once you start deviating from it, you might run in trouble with the hood bracket being too far forward or the strut fully compressing before the hood is closed.

You may be able to change to bracket location for some cases, depends on the chosen hood height. It's usually easier to move the components using spacers or other techniques, depending on the issue.

 

The S&B cold air intake takes up the space for the hood strut. This vehicle had the Spiker struts installed prior to the S&B cold air intake. One strut remains and supports the hood by its self. I would not recommend only using one strut. The engineers would tell you that the load is to be distributed between 2 struts.

 

You probably could get by with one strut, but you'd have to learn to always push the hood down on the side with the strut. Plus one strut could be a little weak to hold up the hood on an incline or in a wind storm.

 

You mean the closing force? It's a lot less than it might seem when thinking about it, but I don't have any data or even a fish scale to back that up. I had the same worries but barely a single left hand from the center and hood is closed.