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

@SpikerEng Good excuse to buy the Milwaukee Cordless rivet gun. Injuries don’t allow me to use a manual gun. Either way install was straightforward and clean. Thanks Leon.

 

TW has cost me yet more money. I have an older friend that has sworn by hood struts for years. Finally pulled the trigger on a pair of my own.

 

I took a short video after my installation to see how close to the side the strut are when/after closing.

I was concern if the Driver side would contact my KC engine bay light switch (had already reposition due to it looked close).

I placed my phone in the engine bay while in video mode. Had plenty of clearance.

 

Same here. Just pulled the trigger on a set. The first time I opened the hood I was shocked how heavy that sucker is.

 

Putting this on the list of mods for the truck I'm planning to buy in the coming months. Definitely like that it's less than redlines kit and mostly lifts higher.
My old Jeep has hood lifts and I like them. good I won't need to live with a prop rod for the life of the truck.

 

I was outside all afternoon. Did a sizing measurement with a Boonedox T-bone bed extender. Installed my bed Lighting kit and LED reverse lights then the hood struts. Today I installed my dash camera and it seemed colder at +3 C as it was cloudy. Very happy with the struts they work with little effort, one finger to open or close lol.

 

I think the current driver side is fine, but depending on what you do with the powertray and solar charge controller, that may change.

The passenger side will need some work - the CAI will need some trimming; it looks similar to @Profounddiver 's setup, you can see how he trimmed the air box:

 

Thanks for the video, simple and clear! Who's the grump who gave it a thumbs down??

 

What a great looking truck, even better now that it has the hood struts . And those Milwaukee rivet guns are awesome, they make riveting fun. Enjoy!

 

Thank you for the order, you'll definitely appreciate the ease of opening the hood once you get those struts in .

 

That's a very clever idea, and certainly gives a definitive answer on clearances.

 

Thank you for the order! Agreed on the hood weight on these things - hood struts to the rescue!

 

Sounds good - once you get used to hood struts (in any vehicle), dealing with a prop rod seems so "yesterday".

 

Sounds like you had a nice long day out in the cold (by my standards), glad that you got all the projects done and are happy with the hood struts .

 

What rivet gun are people using. Trying to install now with my harbor freight red handle gun and it won’t pop the rivets. Not sure if it’s just worn out or not strong enough. The big gun I have I’d have to take the hood off to use...

 

I used this one from Amazon.

$28 Astro Pneumatic Tool 1423 1/4" Heavy Duty 13" Hand Riveter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0039697ME

You are using a 3/16 tip, correct? Not that I would ever forget to check and have trouble with my rivet gun not popping the rivets.

 

I used this Arrow rivet gun for the 3/16 rivets (Yellow Tip), from Home Depot.

 

If you need to make room to use the big gun, you can temporarily raise the hood higher to get the needed clearance to drill and rivet the fender brackets - then lower it back to the desired height for strut and upper bracket installation.

 

I made a noob mistake. Was using the incorrect tip. Got it installed. Thanks guys!

 

Good to hear!