Premium Hood Struts

Offered for informational purposes only, not an endorsement. Found these on T4r.org forum. 01-04 Tacoma’s for $99 plus ship. What’s better is the sale $79 plus 5.95 flat rate ship total $84. Check out ....https://spikerengineering.com

My son has the Spikers on his 97 4Runner. Where as I bought the stainless steel Redline on my Tacoma years ago. Both seem to work as intended without restrictions.

Do your research before buying either, the utility use improvement is excellent.

Hope this helps .....

 

Thanks, picked up a pair.

 

Nice, they have the 01 - 04 available now...couple weeks ago they were still in development I heard

 

Go with the stainless version if available.
RedLine hood struts are another option too.

 

I remember talking to Timmy about that. 9 months ago I commented his YT video that is now used as installation instruction on this website (interesting, all my comments are not longer visible - were they removed?).

Anyway the main difference between Redline and Leon's struts is the lower mounting point, this is what I questioned. My issues:
1. Leon's uses existing threaded hole in fender which is just factory welded nut. Tim did not noticed any flexing but that nut was not probably designed to carry a side force from compressed strut.
2. Lower mounting point may work well for 3rd gen 4Runner but when strut is compressed it interferes with windshield washer piping and possibly with CC (if installed). Also if someone relocated washer reservoir it may interfere too (may not). On the pass side that mounting will interfere with charcoal canister (in early years). And I think (I don't remember but I will check) that I don't even have these threaded holes in my truck.

That 6 inches higher hood lift is not reality - at least not in my truck. When I was installing Redline kit I was thinking also I can get as high as possible by placing the upper mount closer to the hinge. But it did not work, not because of the strut design but simply my hood can not be opened more than 1 inch higher that the original prop-stick will do. If lifted higher the "horns" close to hinges interfere with truck's fenders. So I achieved only 1 inch higher and this is the max. Again on 4Runner it might be different.

 

As noted above, there's a major difference between my 4Runner and 1st Gen Taco kits. The 4Runners use the threaded holes in the inner fenders for lower attachments, but the Tacos don't have those holes, so they use angled brackets. Both are more than strong enough. The tapped holes/nuts are identical to those found in OEM strut installations, there is no flexing to be concerned with.

Also as noted, the 4Runner installation in 4 cyl engine may require lowering of the cruise control module. You'll also need to slightly relocate some washer tubing. There is no need to relocate the washer reservoir, it's in a completely different location.

If using the high lift configuration (which is unique to Spiker kits), you may need to extend the washer tubing a little.

I'm not sure I understand the issue with not being able to increase lift above stock. My 4Runner hood is 8" above stock height, and I've personally installed kits in Tacos at 6" above stock with no issues (look at the pics in my signature or on website). Several members here have done the same. I don't think you can do this with Redline struts, their kits are not designed for this capability. But you should have no issues doing this on 3rd Gen 4Runners and 1st and 2nd Gen Tacomas, using Spiker kits.

Let me know if you guys have any other questions!

 

Spiker is where it's at!!!

 

Got mine last night. Will get them in tonight or this weekend. Will get some pics and thoughts on them here soon.

 

I was thinking about modified trucks with relocated washer reservoir (which is often done with installing off-road bumper). Relocated reservoir is under the hood next to CC (or somewhere there) and in this case the proper clearance needs to be addressed by owner. Depending on the relocation method it may not be an issue.

When installing Redline I was going to push the upper mount as close to the hinge as possible to achieve maximum lifted height. To compensate for the compressed length I was going to to put lower mount closer to the hinge as it would be required. There is plenty room for that. This is how my lower mount is placed - (if required it could be moved back at least on inch).



The upper mount also can be placed closer to the hinge - no technical issues here:



With both mounting point moved closer to the hinge obviously the lift will be higher (that's geometry )

The problem was in that part:



If I try to lift the hood a little bit higher the hinge geometry will make that corner of the hood hit the top of the fender.
Comparing to the stock prop stick this is the best I was able to get:







Now my truck does not make the world rules: it is 1995 Tacoma, and even during the first gen details might change between years, so I am not saying it is not possible. I just could do it with my truck.

I remember when doing head gasket I tried to lift the hood by attaching it to rafter in my garage, but I could not open it wide enough to have good access to the engine bay, so I ended with removing the hood altogether.



Sorry for the lengthy post, I just wanted to answer to the hood lifting height problem in my truck.


By all means I am not promoting Redline over Spiker's struts - I'm sure both are great product and this is the NUMBER ONE" mod everybody should do. I waited that long because I was afraid of drilling holes in my truck. But after I installed hood struts I felt stupid for waiting for it so long.

If I would build a list of the best bung for bucks mods to 1st gen Tacoma it would be (not in any particular order):

Replace hood prop stick with Hood struts,
Replace stock windshield washer sprayers with Odyssey
Replace 6054 sealed beam with Hella 200mm Rectangular E Code H4 Halogen (for early models)

This is "must have" list simple because Toyota in its rush to deliver the new model failed to do it in Fremont factory.

 

RysiuM,
Here is what I did for the reservoir relocation and Redline hood strut install:

 

Love the setup. Crowded but very clean layout. It's a pleasure to look at it.

 

Gotcha, that makes sense now. That should not be an issue as long as the reservoir is not any higher than the cruise control module (BTW, my Taco kit is almost identical in mount type to the Redline kit, so this would be the same concern for both types of kits).

I see what you tried to do. I would not recommend trying to modify a kit that's designed for stock lift into a high lift configuration, there are too many variables at play that would make it an uphill battle. I'd get a kit that's already designed and engineered for the high lift.

That's odd. I've opened 1st gen hoods all the way against the windshield, and the corners never hit the cowl or fenders, the hinges hit the cowl first, but that's at well above the high lift height. Take a look at @WileECoyote's '98 Taco high lift install - the hood corners are nowhere near the cowl. And if you look at the geometry, with the hinge pivots hidden behind the fenders, the hood corners will not start going down until the hood is past 90 deg open (here it's only open ~55 deg):

Funny you mentioned that - a T4R member told me that his mechanic was highly appreciative of the kit as he was able to pull his 3rd Gen 4Runner motor out without removing the hood .

I couldn't agree more . The other day I opened a buddy's 4Runner hood and found myself cursing at having to lift and hold the hood with one hand, while fumbling with the prop rod with the other - how primitive! I guess I got spoiled!