Lexozz

I just bought a pair of hood supports for $40 bucks ($20 each) at Autozone. They are 'Mighty Lift' model number 95029. Fits perfect, the only headache is, you have to reuse the ball joints from the old hood supports and slip them in the new ones, they don't come with any. I had to drill a hole in the old supports to get them out, not fun , but I saved a whole lot of money. There's no way in hell I was about to spend a hundred dollars just for hood supports. Guys check it out....its worth it

rybikowsky

Thanks for the info.I recently had to pay the high price from dealer.They came with new ball joints.I tried to take the old ones off of the old struts could not do it.Carpe Diem

retrodrive

I have heard of these particular shocks as a good replacement for our hood supports. I am pretty sure they should also work for the first gen Lexi.

retrodrive

OK, I ve been messing with the old supports to take the balljoint out but it is not an easy thing to do. How exactly did you drill it?

Lexozz

Retrodrive, its not easy. What I did was use a small cutting pliers to make a tiny incision on top behind the ball joint, that gave the drill bit a sort of track to follow. You have to apply a lot of pressure to actually make a hole. It could be a little time consuming, but like I said before its better than paying a $100+ bucks. Once you get deep enough you should see a thin ring inside (cut it with the drill if not already done), pry it out and then the ball joint should pop right out.

kreativ

I saw a tech at the dealer use a clip on one of the weak hood supports to keep the hood up. The clip looked like it was made to serve that task, but I guess any type of clip that can keep the hood strut in place will do.

That'd probably be the cheapest solution to weak hood supports if you don't have the skills or inclination to do what Lexozz was able to do.

retrodrive

Yeah, I have one of those...looks peretty ghetto though!

kreativ

Where'd you pick yours up?

retrodrive

Got it long time ago at Sears. Don't remember any numbers or how they call that tool though.

hyperopt

Lexozz,

I called my local Autozone for the hood struts but they needed to know the letter (eg. B,D,E) in front of the model number.
Can you find out the letter and which Autozone did you get the struts from?

retrodrive

Should be a "C". Just tell them that they are for the hood supports, they should know.

Lexozz

The letter is C, you can go to any Autozone.

kreativ

Thanks, I'll have to give Sears a call. I went to Kragens, and the guy said others had come in asking for the same thing, but they didn't have it.

rybikowsky

J.C Whitney,had those strut clips the last time I checked.A thought,If someones struts are really shot,and you use the clip.I would not want to be the one with my head uner the hood if that clip failed.

djr73999

Mine are somewhat losing the air also so
I use a trusty broom handle to keep it up(of course when I'm home only).

dj