Gas Hood Struts in 15 Minutes

[blake4591]

Well I ordered a set of struts. So now I have to remember to garb ball studs the next time I'm at the junkyard.

I forgot about doing this don't have a prop rod on my silver car (don't know if I lost it or it wasn't in the car when I bought it). I have just been using a scrap piece of wood that seems to always find it's way under one of the seats when needed. haha

[1990new]

Sorry I goofed up on the tracking numbers that I sent everyone.

The 9th position of the number should be a 5 instead of a 6.

For anyone planning to pull these in the junk yard.. your best bet is to find two ford explorers 2002-2005 range and get the two studs off the side of the engine bay form each. They must be 6mm bolt size and short shaft that the ball is on.

[firebush357]

I just looked online and my local yard has a about 5-6 explorers that I should be able to pull those off of. I'll see if I can make time this week to pick up a couple extra sets.

[Shin Hayata]

They also have these (Only 3 sets left) which are the same size but have 45lb lifting power instead of 35. They will work fine. (The first ones I bought and put on Nellie I believe were 45LB ones)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Qty-Univers...tXtqK4&vxp=mtr

Thanks for the heads-up. I got the last pair.

I did the same mod to one of my MGBs. The other guys are correct; having these struts on your car makes you want to open the hood for no reason.

[1990new]

These would require a little more push to get the hood up but I'm sure with two of them they would hold the Festiva hood up fine.
They are a few dollars cheaper ... maybe someone would like to try them and see if they work ok.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Qty-Univers...item2111b17de7

In fact.. at that great price I just ordered a pair myself so I will know first hand how they work as soon as they arrive.

There are also 8 of these still available but 65lbs might put too much strain on the ball studs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Qty-Univers...item2116c53589

[wwwdotgov]

Will have to add these hood struts to the to-do list. Pretty slick!

[1990new]

These would require a little more push to get the hood up but I'm sure with two of them they would hold the Festiva hood up fine.
They are a few dollars cheaper ... maybe someone would like to try them and see if they work ok.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Qty-Univers...item2111b17de7

In fact.. at that great price I just ordered a pair myself so I will know first hand how they work as soon as they arrive.

There are also 8 of these still available but 65lbs might put too much strain on the ball studs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Qty-Univers...item2116c53589

The 26LB lift support that I order and paid $13.89 for on Monday arrived today and they do work fine.
But I see the price has been raised to $20.99 now.

But it looks like they have 5 35lb ones available for $17.99 now.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Qty-Univers...tXtqK4&vxp=mtr

They must have a program running to adjust the price based on demand.

[Shin Hayata]

Received and installed. 10 minutes; totally plug-and-play. Thanks to 1990new for the ball studs. It's as though the Festiva was intended to have this feature.

I installed the 45 lb. struts. That lift force is more than sufficient. The 35 lb. struts would work just as well.

[w4rkry]

I just installed my 45 LB last night as well. I bought the ball studs from Ebay, 2.50 each, Hong Kong seller, free shipping. Took about 2 weeks to ship, but was the cheapest option.

Everything fits well and works great!

[radi8u]

I just installed mine this evening. Thanks 1990new!!!

[1990new]

Great to see all you guys enjoying those hood struts.

For the ones from Hong Kong, that's $10 for 4 ball studs.
I got them from Hong Kong the first time I installed the hood struts on a festiva too. But since then I've leaned that the ones from
the Explorer are better quality..and cheaper.

I shipped 4 OEM Ford studs with 3 day delivery for $8.
My cost to ship the four first class parcel is $2.67 so I'm selling the 4 for $5.33 + shipping... that's $1.33 each.

When I pull them at LQK and I've bought some other parts, they often don't charge me anything for them but if I only have the studs they usually charge me around $.75 each for them.

So I encourage everyone with a Festiva who hasn't installed the hood struts yet to check their local P-N-P for 2001-2004 Explorers.
I don't have any more sets right now but I will get some as soon as LKQ replenishes their Explorer stock.
When I get some more I will post them here again.

[Advancedynamix]

I just ordered a set of the 2 26lb struts for 16 shipped. After having these on Pedro, I couldn't imagine living without them.

[bravekozak]

Driving for me is neither a right nor a privilege. Driving is my passion, as it was for the people who invented the automobile, the people who paved the first roads and the people who continue to improve the automobile. Please respect this passion.

My parents told me that the very first word I uttered was "car" after I pointed to one that drove by in front of the house.
Not "mommy" or "daddy".
Priorities.

[ThisVelologist]

Does anybody know if this mod works on Aspires as well? I've put these on every Festiva I've had to work on it and hoping it will fit the next project too.

[TominMO]

Does anybody know if this mod works on Aspires as well? I've put these on every Festiva I've had to work on it and hoping it will fit the next project too.

Oh? Are you planning on buying an Aspire? ;-)

I don't see why it wouldn't work just as well on Aspires.