What's causing the gap on the hood?

You're talking about the piece that's halfway on the hood, right? I'll have to check later, but I'll try it out.

Thank you

 

Good chance I could be completely wrong, but worth a shot!

 

On the hood itself on the corners, there are little cylindrical black rubber pieces that you can rotate to adjust the hood height. Lower the one on the passener side and see if it makes a difference. My money is on improper height adjustment

 

Let me try to help since i was trying to be funny earlier. Its the thing the crappy arrows are pointing at.

 

There are two round, black rubber bumpers mounted on the underside of the hood. They adjust by turning. Try turning the driver's side CCW to make it longer.

 

The part attached to the underside of the hood..."Cushion Rubber" in this diagram.

Edit: Oops...posted too late...see the under-hood photo above, better perspective.

 

Is it possible the truck was in an accident? I would have to check mine to compare but under the hood, the sheet metal channels on either side next to the fender look "wrinkled." Maybe that's how they all look..

 

Check it for frame damage/repair.

Have the hood bolts been turned? Fender bolts? Look for wrench marks on the paint

Look for spot welds down on the fender aprons behind the headlights. A factory spot weld will be a little circle/dimple, done by a robot. A hand weld will be bumpy/rusty, sometimes with some bondo type patching stuff.

If it was in a front end collision, even a minor one, the hood not lining up is a common symptom

 

I hope not. The truck had a clean carfax. Looked like the previous owner took pretty good care of this truck.

 

Run the Carfax and see if there has been prior repairs. Maybe it was damaged before and the body shop was on the lower end and did not line it up properly

 

My first guess was accident. I trust Carfax about as much as I trust Mexican tap water. Hopefully its just the rubber stops however if that's not the problem perhaps you can remove the grill and check the gap above the headlights? If that's possible I'd do that before buying a new grill.

 

Think it just needs adjusting.

 

This ^ dont buy anything until you adjust the rubber stop,and that dont do it,then try adjusting the grill itself.

 

I popped my hood and I have the same "wrinkles" in the sheet metal. Must be manufacturing process. So no worries there.

 

If nothing else, a good body shop could adjust not only the rubber cushions, but check the adjustment of the mounting of the hood hinges themselves. Long shot, but, hey, you never know...

 

I would be tempted to get a friend to hold one corner while I held the other and gave it a twist.

But the right way is stops and hinge bolts. It’s not the grill.

 

Also, is the gap above the headlights the same on both sides?

 

Nope. It's uneven there too. I twisted the rubber stop. Seemed to help a little bit tho

 

Yeah, it's the hood that's a bit out of adjustment, NOT the grille. Just diddle with the hood bumpers and you'll get it right...

 

OP all great suggestions from the posters above. I might add that you also check the condition of the radiator core support bushings at the base of the radiator. They are poor quality bushings and have a history and many have replaced them with better aftermarket ones from Energy Suspension.