Hood struts?

I get this now that I have muscle and nerve damage from a work injury

funny how these experiences humble us, I would have been like “herp derp just man up” but now I have limitations and get it

 

So what! Getting in your vehicle and driving to the grocery store is also a recipe for disaster. We take risks every damn day, starting with getting out of bed! You talk like using those aftermarket hood struts (that weren't even designed to be there) are risk free.

 

Bet he wished he'd stayed in bed.

 

I think they were designed to be there but Toyota is too cheap to have them installed at the factory. Some other companies have them as standard equipment. Just saying

 

Toyota uses hood struts on many vehicles, they just don't view the Tacomas as being worthy ... Look at the 4Runners, Tundras, FJ's, Landcruisers, all Lexuses, they have factory hood struts. It has nothing to do with reliability or manliness, it's all about cost for Toyota.

 

I’ not worried about weight. Whoopi do.

 

If this was a GM or Ferd product I would be a hard yes on hood struts because your hood will be up several times a week for repairs, and trying to figure out where that smoke is coming from. But this is a Tacoma. Your hood will hardly ever be up unless you are adding washer fluid.

 

But you still gotta lift it and if you're old with bad arms struts makes it much easier. Where I live you have to replace ww fluid every week because of snow making a mess of the road and the windshield. Just sayin some like struts.

 

2 shoulder replacements. I have the redline and they are awesome!

 

What're the odds of the rivets coming loose and needing to be drilled and redone?

 

Ours are totally solid... guess that's why they use rivets instead of screws or bolts. Getting them to snap off during installation was the only pain. They are tight, the position is a little awkward and

$75 riveter kit

my rivet gun is mediocre at best. (You can rent a better one at many auto parts stores.) Having removed rivets from other vehicles, they can be a pain even when you drill them out. Pretty permanent.

As others have said, be sure the drill bit is marked so that you don't go too far and use a little prime and paint in the holes before you install the rivets to avoid rust.

 

This is very much TRUE about snapping the rivets!

I used Blue Tape around the drill bit to avoid drilling a hole on the hood.

Patience is a virtue to wait for the black prime paint to dry...but I waited. lol

No issues with rivets coming undone...I check them most of the time when I open the hood.

 

suggest getting this adaptor to attach to drill for pop rivets less than $15 Canadian/ $12 US

 

thanks for the link, buying right away

 

Wow, about two pages of very helpful info and pics and four pages of people arguing. You know you guys don't have to explain why you want hood struts on your own truck, right?

 

Lol, you just described pretty much every thread here on TW! Don't worry, you'll get use to it.

 

I love the hood struts. Went with Redline, they've been on there for about 3 years now with no issues on a truck that is parked outside every day in San Diego.

I wouldn't go back, and don't really understand the naysaying in here against them. They're a relatively cheap mod, I have yet to see a failure on this board or elsewhere with either brand, and makes opening the hood much easier/more convenient.

i'm also not that tall, so the height needed to raise the hood to unhook the prop rod is just a hair too tall to do so comfortably with my lifted truck. With the hood struts it rests slightly lower and I can easily just pull it down to shut it.

 

I got Sokietech struts, based on this thread. They work great!

 

I love how we explain ourselves on TW.

Some things are overkill on these trucks but who am I to judge?

Everyone has their own quirks regarding any subject matter.

With the Tacoma, there are lots of members here with plenty of humor & opinions. lol

 

i love the explanations. Helps provide a different perspective one may not have considered

or at worst, it's usually solid entertainment