Spiker Engineering ULTIMATE Lift Hood Struts

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Do you sell that light kit?

 

No, that was something supplied by the customer.

 

Cool

 

I wonder what lift height most people are choosing

Took a look at mine the other day and found my ditch lights start to hit the glass around 8in higher.
Given they can be set from 0 to 8 in higher, I figure I might pick the middle of that just to be reasonable, at 4in.
Because at the end of the day, people were still able to work on these vehicles (and many like it), even with the stock hood open height, and prop in the way, though maybe not ideal.
Passenger cars as well; for example VW/Audi has regular opening hoods (albeit with struts),
whereas Mercedes is the only brand to my knowledge that has the extra locking hinge button that allows their hoods to open a full 90deg straight up such as if you're working on it.

I could find another slimmer ditch light but that would just add cost to the project, so I might just run these and set it to 4" higher, betting that this should be enough to accommodate any possible changes in the future such as picking a different (maybe stronger) light.

but yeah.
curious to know what lift height everyone chose

I went with CaliRaised brackets because they appear to stick forward the most, to avoid hitting the glass.
I don't know if any other company brackets stick out even farther, but doing so could look weird and make the light position less effective. It seems to have better light coverage mounted where A-pillar meets the hood

 

Sounds like the +4" setting will give you lots of margin for any future ditch lights. I believe that almost all lights will allow up to +6", but you'd have to confirm for your specific situation. Keep in mind that even in the worst case scenario, if you set the hood at say +6" and then get new ditch lights that only allow +4", you can change the hood height by relocating the hood brackets. You'll end up with a couple of unused holes in the hood reinforcement, so it's not ideal - but doable.

 

@SpikerEng

Any concerns with the struts hitting anything under the hood in the picture?

 

You should be good to go, I don't see any concerns.

 

How about compatibility with Volant CAI box on 2nd Gen? I installed Redline Tuning struts before installing my CAI and the passenger side strut interferes with the box. If only 1 strut is capable of holding hood, I wonder about just installing the driver's side one if your kit also interferes?

 

The Volant CAI is not compatible with our kit either. Some folks have managed to modify brackets to make it work, but that's outside of something we could stand behind.

We could put together a kit where one strut would hold the hood, but I'm expecting it would be awkward to operate.

 

Any possible Memorial Day sale happening?

 

Sounds like a great time for more sales, give us late comers a discount . . . please.

 

We don't have a sale at the moment, but we are shipping our brand new 4th generation gas springs in our kits. I know it's hard to get excited about hood struts (unless you're like us), but these have better opening action than ever, with better valving and better seals than before.

 

Just received the kit and it seems very well thought-out and constructed aside from a scratch across one of the brackets (just going to touch it up). I do have a question though about mounting the lower brackets. Notice the lower mounting bracket (backside) where the post sticks through & protrudes from the bracket itself:



If mounting the bracket into the "V" notch on the fender it sits flush both vertically and horizontally. The install instructions show to mount it 1/2" behind this "V" notch so I'd imagine putting it here will cause clearance problems.



Notice that square shape on the fender behind the "V" notch? That is exactly where that post protrudes from the mounting bracket.



Holding the bracket 1/2" behind the "V" notch as indicated in instructions causes rear side of bracket/post to land exactly on that square pad and sticks out from fender causing it not to be flush on the vertical plane.



So which is the correct mounting position? I would assume moving it further back towards the firewall would be ideal for clearance but I want to double-check before scraping away more of the seam sealer on the fender/firewall transition than I need to if I'm missing something obvious. I don't think I should mount it so the bracket lands on that square pad - or do I? Appreciate any help/clarification so I can get these mounted up, cheers!

 

That is the correct location for the bracket - the front of the bracket should be about 1/2" behind the center of the V-groove, like this:



That location was chosen to provide clearance for the strut when the hood is closed, primarily so it does not touch the washer reservoir.

I know that some folks have installed the brackets centered over the V-groove, and have not had issues, but that is a function of the chosen hood height - the higher the lift, the less of an issue it would be. Hope this helps, let me know if you would like more clarification.

 

Got it, thanks! Just a bit hard to tell from the photos since they make it appear flush to the vertical plane of the inside fender. Suggestion for future versions of your installation guide might be helpful to include a photo showing that the bracket does indeed end up sitting slightly off that vertical surface.

I might also place a small sticker/protector on that square part of the vertical fender surface to prevent paint wearing off as I could see the backside of that post scraping it off during the unlikely chance that the rivets ever get loose. Probably not necessary but with as much salt as they dump on the roads here every little bit helps.

 

Good thoughts on both counts

 

Finished the install, turned out perfect thanks to good instructions and a well thought-out product. Thanks @SpikerEng !

 

Thank you - always a pleasure to see another happy customer

 

Any word of a 4th of July sale?. Im on the fence about if I need them or not