Sokietech bolt-on hood struts/lift review

Need, Schmeed. It's all about want on TW. Just DoIt.

 

never understood hood struts.

don't need to open your hood more than 4-5 times a year because toyotas are reliable. lol

 

The auto-lift convenience is a bonus. I think most appreciate not having to work around the stick in the front when they ARE under the hood. Then again, it could just be another mod that's cheap and easy to do.

 

true true haha. fancy mod for sure.

i can already see a commercial for hood struts. clumsy actor acting like the stick is in the way while installing his raptor lights =P. only joking!

 

Haha funny. I'm going to give it a go with out them. Before I buy some.

 

If u have a second gen I would be careful
I order these for my 14 and the hood would not close right
The struts where hitting the cowl
I could not find any pics of these on a second gen so don’t think they fit without modding the brackets
The guys at sokie where nice and I got a refund no problem
That was a few months ago so not sure if they changed them
Just trying to help with my experience maybe someone who has them on a 2nd gen can post pics

 

Just got my set on. So far so good. FYI for those who are more OCD, they aren't symmetric struts. The driver's side is shorter, the passenger longer. They're ever so slightly wonky right at the top of the opening of the hood. But they're functional and work fine. Super easy set-up no drilll as mentioned above. Can always take off and go back to stock if need be.

 

Amazing, a competitor claiming there product is better. Never heard that before.

There is at least two earlier threads discussing struts.

First, let me say the engineer part of my brain says all struts, regardless of manufacturer, change the stress points on the hood. But, what is the duty cycle of each brand before problems are expected too occur? And second, how many times over the life of the vehicle will the hood be lifted?

I went with the Sokie’s for one simple reason, corrosion potential. You put several new holes in the steel. Each od these is a potential site that did not previously exist.

 

Not sure why they are different, but I found that with both installed the hood height is limited. But disconnect the shorter one and you can open the hood much more.

Think about it usually the lower height is fine but sometimes it’s nice to have more room. And the single longer strut still supports the hood.

 

Is there a strut option that connects to the front of hood? Seems like that would prevent any issues in future. I've used hood struts on vehicles previously and loved them. More on vehicles I worked on often.

 

Last paragraph you say you feel your design is more appropriate. I interpreted that to mean better. Otherwise why use the design?

 

I installed Sokies a few weeks ago. Doesn’t require much effort to close the hood so I don’t believe there is much stress at the hinges.

 

Good to know I like the idea of not putting new holes in the truck.

 

I am rather neutral, maybe slightly negative, in regards to the struts that I installed. I did not like the competitor listing that the hood height was near stock in comparison to theirs which is the only reason why I posted this picture back in April.

I honestly think the Spiker product is a better design and would have probably gone with them but was not interested in messing around with measuring and drilling on something that I do not care for all that much.

Side note. I do not remember if it was Spiker or Redline that was having a technical mounting issue with manual transmission 3rd gens. It looks like someone dropped the ball there. If I remember correctly, some TacomaWorld member identified the issue of poor design by spacing the strut out with several washers. The company in question identified that it was an issue then updated their product to reflect what the consumer was doing. As an engineer and a consumer, it always makes me do a double take when the consumer finds the issue first then the manufacturer follows with a "fix". Good engineering predicts issues, keeps up with model changes, etc. so that the consumer side does not have to make their own fix.

 

Has anyone had these on with a snorkel / ditch lights? Can it be adjusted?

 

Following

 

And again a direct competitor points out a "perceived" flaw in this product.

 

Hi- I want to install these also. Just concerned about using the battery ground bolt for mounting.

Everyone still happy with their Sokietech hood struts, after using them for a few months? Any problems or concerns? Thanks for the feedback.

 

No problems after 6 months opened and closed the hood multiple time’s without any issues