Sokietech bolt-on hood struts/lift review

Preface

I have zero connection to this maker or seller of these. I simply was not keen on drilling into painted surfaces when I live in the northeast where we salt heavily in the winter.


I paid $55 with $10 in shipping and $4 in tax from eBay for these for a total of $69. This is ~$40 cheaper than Redline, though that gap is eroded a bit by the seemingly yearly sale Redline does for 20%. They came in about a week and were well packaged with no damage in transit. Looks like since I purchased it they now cost $5 more:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/sokietech-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649


Review

Overall, pretty positive thoughts on these. The price is solid, they open the hood easily and smoothly while also allowing you to close it with ease, and the installation was very straight forward. As mentioned above, not drilling was a huge plus to me as someone who lives in a winter salted area. I actually have a set of unopened Redlines I was about to install when these popped up on my radar.


Installation

Installation was a breeze. To install the hood side bracket you remove the top bolt that hoods the hood to the hood hinge and expose the double sided tape backer on the hinge. The only concern I had here is that the collar of the factory bolt is no longer long enough to fill the void in the hinge. There is a chance, though small, that this will cause hood alignment drift over time. The mounting is the same on the left and right, aside from the strut brackets being mirrors of each other.





The bottom mount of the driver's side replaces the grounding hub bolt. Utilizing this could be an issue if you have a lot of powered accessories. I only have a single light bar, raptor lights, and a front cam, so it was not much of an issue for me:





The passenger side bolts into an unused threaded hole that mirrors the grounding post on the driver's side. While the strut does slightly rub on the trim here, I doubt it will cause issues. If it does, you could always notch it to fit:





Actually installing the gas struts after the mounting bracket is greatly aided by a second person lifting the hood as the struts open the hood quite a bit further than the factory stick:





Actual increase is ~5.5", which is pretty substantial, plus you no longer have a stick in the middle:





Finished product:

 

Has anyone bent their hood from these things yet? I have always wondered that when I see them. They get stiff over time, you pull the boos down and it bends along the crinkle zone.

 

I don't foresee that being an issue with this kit. The bracket mounts to the factory hinge location, so it is already taking advantage of the reinforced area. Also, struts get less stiff over time, not more.

 

I always enjoy a good, detailed review with pics. Mahalo!

 

I've had similar thoughts. The hood was just not designed for bending forces in that area.
But I've also not seen any reports of it being a problem.

For me, the OE hood prop is working just fine.

 

right? Hood isn’t designed to be pulled down, its designed to be lifted up. With a designed area to intentionally bend.

 

but corrosion or build up might make them more resistant to collapsing.
And mounts to factory hinge location, at rear end of hood. Problem is force plneig applied at the end of the hood, where it’s not reinforced

 

Bought a set of these for my 14 Taco
I like the idea of no drilling.
Let you know when I get them installed.

 

When struts get corrosion the corroded rods shred the internal seals and the struts begin to fail, making them less resistant to collapsing. A strut is never stronger than the day you install it.

 

looks nice, I hope they last a lifetime for you.
If my analytical mind, As previously stated in other posts, I'm concerned about the increased loads on the hinge points as well as the load being reversed. In original state, the hood weight is supported by three points and all three have a downward supported weight. You have introduced a fulcrum point just in front of the hinges and increased the load exponentially on those hinges as well as reversed it. The hinges are now holding the fulcrumed hood weight down instead of holding it up . Hopefully those hinges and hinge areas are over engineered,

 

Once closed wouldn’t most of the force be rearward facing, causing mostly a shear force against the hinge bolts? I definitely see the concern you pose during opening/closing. Like you though, I suspect there’s enough engineering in the OEM setup to handle things.

 

I was looking at my 2009 F-150 yesterday, and these actually look more robust than that set up. The hinges on the Ford even flex, but I’ve never had an issue with them in 11 years. So, I am believer.

I just bought a set of Spiker Engineering struts because I hadn’t seen these, but I haven’t installed them yet. Kinda dumb the Taco is about the only vehicle in the Toyota lineup with out hood struts.

 

I believe there were a lot of these hood props sold.
if something went bad it would most definitely show up here and elsewhere but I haven't googled for SokieTech hood prop problems

 

The Tacoma is the Toyota ‘cash cow’. Lol.

 

Sweet. Just ordered mine. Can't wait to install it. Thanks for the writeup buddy

 

Your analytical mind is correct, and is backed up by what we saw during strut kit prototyping of the 4Runner and Tacoma kits. As you apply the downward force to close the hood, that force needs to get transferred through the hood reinforcement and into the hinge. Because the hood reinforcement was not designed for such loading, there was notable local deformation of the hood reinforcement right in front of the hinge's leading edge.

Obviously the Sokie system works, and it has its advantages (i.e. no drilling). But we were uncomfortable with having that deflection at the hinge every time a customer opens and closes the hood, and used a strut system we feel is more appropriate for the Tacoma hood design.

 

I bought the stainless Redline and painted where I drilled and siliconed under the brackets. I'm fairly certain the truck will rust out before where I drilled will.

You saved a few bucks though so it's worth a try.

 

I have the sokie's on my table. I'm going to install them Saturday when I'm off. I've noticed one is longer than the other and I see no mention of that in the instructions?

 

These just popped up on my radar. anyone have them and have issues with them?

 

Thanks for the review... still trying to decide if I actually need these or not