marcus

I finally received a generic repair kit for bad hood supports. This kit is attached to the existing bad strut. When you open the hood all the way, a spring-loaded rigid plastic arm swings into position and supports the bottom of the old strut. (see pic)

It took 15 minutes to install, and yes it is a perfect fit for 1st Gen GS. It has 3 different sized clamps and the largest one is the right size for our cars. The instructions tell you to disconnect the strut at the lower connection so you can slide the bracket over the end and onto the chrome shaft. The kit assumes your bottom connection is flat. It is not. Therefore save yourself the time and just place a little oil on the chrome shaft and force-snap the new plastic clamp on.Then you also get a little saw and mitre box to cut the rigid plastic brace to the correct length.

It works perfectly!!!! I bought it thru mail-order to J.C.Whitney in Indiana. It cost $8 plus shipping. It is called "Pylon Lift Lock" It is part number 8200. It claims you only need 1 kit even if both front struts are shot.

ONE WORD OF CAUTION. As the pic shows, I mounted this kit so the support brace faces the back of the car. If you mount it so it faces the front of the car, your hood will not close all the way

No More Ghetto brooms or wood stakes to hold up the hood!

marcus

This is what the package looks like. (also.. no extra charge... a shot of the washing machine. )

You might be able to purchase this directly from the manufacturer.

The name of the company is "Pylon Manufacturing Corp" out of Deerfield Beach, Florida.

Happy New Year!

Sovero1

What do you do when you need to close the hood with those things attached? Just lower/drop it like usual?

Thanks


Ed

Jmai22

marcus long time no see, great write up, but i have the same question. how do you close the hood. will you have to walk to the side and pull the clamp back?

marcus

All you need to do is go to the side of the car, grab the hood and raise it slightly,then move the end of the plastic support away from the bad strut and gently lower the hood. There is no automatic hood release.... I am sure you all agree this small effort sure beats hauling out and then removing a wood stake.

Jmai22

sure beats my broom stick.

Manaray

how much are new hood shocks from the dealer?

marcus

You don't really want to know...... new hood supports are $67.00 each, expensive, but I'm sure the Lexus dealership will throw in a free smile as you leave with the new support ! Sorry to have such an attitude, but the Lexus dealership in Grand Rapids,Michigan leaves much to be desired in customer service.

Pianoman72

Did anyone try this idea? I was going to try this in the trunk because apparently it lifts it on its own or something, I think all you need to do is find this part and drill a small hole. I might go and try this sometime.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=40752

Another question, though. What if someone forgets to move the arm and tries to close the hood? Would a bent hood result? I've seen that happen before on cars where the support is along the side instead of up front.

Rico's Revenge

The check is in the mail...its too bad we couldn't get a group buy on these things. I need 4. 2 for the hood and 2 for the trunk.

Jmai22

i don't think it would work for the trunk. even if it did, everytime you want to lower the trunk you would have to reach way back there and fold down the trunk lining because the struts are hidden.

Rico's Revenge

Hey John... I was talking about the shocks. Sorry for the confusion. I'm a little rusty with trying to get my points across.

Jmai22

shock, the trunk shocks that hold the trunk up right?? if thats what your referring to on the first gen gs they are wwaaaayyy in the back. and from the picture that marcus posted on how to close the hood. you would need to reach back there everytime to close the trunk with these installed.

Rico's Revenge

No I meant a group buy on the shocks themselves, not the clips. I want to replace all four of them. Two in the front and two in back.

sbgs400

i need 4 too, we should try to do the group buy. maybe post something in the vendors forsale section and see if any of them would do a group buy?