RA40

iTrader: (6)

Both mine died and so I picked a pair up at Autozone and installed them...now it bows the hood up about 1/4" when closed, these things are strong! Any of you have this problem?

SharpLS-96

I just checked and my hood is sitting perfectly level/flush with the fenders.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

I suspect that possibly the hinge on that side may be loose/worn so it allows the hood to shift slightly. I wound up removing that side and it now sits normal. Even one is enough to hold the hood up!

EXE.UCF10

iTrader: (3)

I have the same problem as you Mike. You said it only bows on one side, right? I think that's the case with mine.

persian451

mine looked like that too at first, but i think that was because i was used to seeing my hood sink down too far from the dead shocks..

moshlub

So I bought the Mighty Lift 95029 today from AutoZone. The blue sticker on the strut body itself has two numbers -- 4408 on the upper left and 0775 on the upper right. Instead of drilling the old struts to get the bolts off, I decided to use a pneumatic cutter. It worked okay.

Here goes my question. After installing the struts, I go to close the hood with a light tug, but the hood wouldn't budge. I had to literally pull down hard to close the hood. I popped the hood and noticed it comes up almost 2" at the front bumper. Releasing the lever in the front causes the hood to immediately open.

I think my struts may be the wrong one. When I went to AutoZone, there were only 3 lift supports there. Two had the 4408 and 0775 on the sticker. The other one had something else. Did I get the correct supports?

persian451

they are pretty strong struts..once you break them in, they arent that bad

moshlub

Those are the struts that I got. My question was, what are the numbers on the strut body itself? They seem too strong for my taste. Looks like I'll be going to Napa. They sell the supports by extended length, compressed length, and poundage. Does anybody know the poundage required or the Lexus part number?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

Part # 200992 O2020-124729 for UCF20 1995-2000 LS's.

for UCF10 1st gen cars idk what u would do since the 2 sides use different hood shocks.

-Annant

P.S. lemme know how urs turn out and what u used and $$$ please. my shocks are shot and i need to replace them BADLY.

bicol-ini

thats what i got about a year ago part #C95029 its only strong for the first few months since it new after a while it will just be as good easy to close my wife can close the hood now no problem, but when new she cant id say give it some time

moshlub

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. But I already returned the Mighty Lift C95029's (AutoZone). I just don't want to risk bending my hood; as a matter of fact, I may have already bent it a little bit.

Here is what I found:

For my 1990 LS400, the Lexus part numbers are as follows:
53440-59015 RH
53450-59015 LH
Lexus told me they don't know the lifting pressure of the stock pieces. Measuring the stock pieces, they are 21" extended and 12" compressed.

Napa could not cross reference the Lexus part numbers, but looking at their catalog and using the above information, I tried these:
PowerLift Gas Charged Lift Support: Napa part # BK 819-5520
20" extended, 12" compressed; 80 lb-ft lifting force
They are $21.99 regular price, or 4% off with AAA member card.


With the 819-5520, I found this to be evident:
1) the ends come pregreased
2) with one side installed, the hood still could not stay up by itself (with the C95029, it did)
3) with both installed, the hood stayed up
4) with the hood closed, pulling on the hood release pops the hood up
5) releasing the hood latch in the front causes the hood to raise by itself at approximately half the rate the C95029's did
6) the rate of raising slows toward the end of full extension
7) closing the hood is easy, as I would expect a new Lexus hood to be able to close; to me, it felt perfect

Although these lift supports seemed to be what I want, some people may opt to get the next one up, which is rated at 90 lb-ft. I don't have the part number for that. (Maybe your Napa counter person can get find it for you.)

damon

Nice bit of detective work!

I love it when the post include part#'s!!! Makes life so much easier.

saustin

I'm still looking for a better solution for my '98 LS 400 than dealer hood supports. I think the "setup" is different from pre-'98 models so I doubt if the above mentioned would work--

Anyone had any good substitute experience with NAPA or Mighty Lift?

moshlub

Update:

The ball ends keep falling off on the hood side. I am taking the supports back to Napa. Hopefully they'll give me a refund.

wmbyrd

I ran across this thread and, thanks to you guys, hummed up on a cheap fix to my hood support problem. So I bought the Mighty Lift C95029 today from AutoZone. Like mushlub Instead of drilling the old struts to get the bolts off, I cut the damn things (after breaking four titanium drill bits). I had a pnuematic cutter but someone stole the parts except for the cutting disc. So.. I put the disc on a car buffer. It cut very well without all the sparks .

In any event, the mighty lift struts worked perfectly. One strutt could hold the hood up! Closing my hood is only slightly harder that the OEM struts. It opens slowly by itself, after releasing the latch. It looks cool...like it has an automatic door opener or something .

Over this holiday, I saved $1000 on fixing my starter (lexus charges $1100; I spent $100 for tools), and $184 on my hood supports (Lexus charges $220 [$102 ea + 8% tax]); I spent $37.
Total savings.....Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching...Cha-Ching: $1,184 .