What I see as a positive note to counter all of this negativity is at least the hood stays attached and is not getting ripped off to hit another innocent............ 
Oh, and it took me less than 15 minutes to get our hood aligned on our 2015, primarily to clear the Madstad windshield, so, just lucky I guess? 
Bill
Has anybody ever had the latches spontaneously disengage once they have been confirmed latched?
Bill
Yes, I have had my rear latches open while turning steering wheel...
Not sure how that happened more than once but after hood extenders and a couple adjustments it has not happened again.
Guys, I have one more bombshell that I have not covered, but it is also important for hood alignment purposes. When I installed my Extended Range Hood Hinge Kit, I use the provided instruction. They showed pictures of how the Rear Link Arm is suppose to mount on both sides of the hood. I mounted exactly that way and watch a video of the the Hinge being Installed and that confirmed to me all was good. When I finished my installation, I found I had a larger space at the Passenger side back hood area near the rear view mirror. I decided I would correct it with a hood alignment procedure. I loosen the two bolts at the Pivot plate on the Passenger side and found I could not move the plate back. I took the Gas Lift Shock off to see if I could move it, no. I looked closely and found that the flat side down mounting like instructed, hits the Frame brace. I saw that this actually causes stress on the pivot hinge bolts I am sure and you can not move it back with it hitting. I put my head together with my logic and saw that if I turn the Rear Hinge Over with the ride side down, I have a good 1/2 in clearance and can make the adjustment.
I have a strong suspicion that most guys have their Rear Hinge Arm Mounted upside down. Don't worry, it is easy to correct, just take one side at a time and turn the rear link arms over. This is in the closed position with respect to the ridge side. You should all have a nice little line across where it hit the frame. In the video you will see mine are upside down, they are back correct with the ridge side down. When my hood failed I turned them back around thinking that may have caused my failure.
Here is a photo of what a correctly installed Rear Link Arm should look like.
Here is how it should look when closed and there should be the clearance between Arm and Frame bracket.
When I installed mine before I attached the hood I made sure the front striker bolts were properly seated in the latches.... playing with the back ones is harder because the hood had to be attached...it’s hard to see inside to tell how the strikers are in the latches.
My helper shock rubs on the frame some. I almost had to bend it to get it connected right.
Bigdog, I can see the rear latch alignment, I use my camera to see the alignment. I mount lights and the camera pointing at the latches and slowly lower the hood. You get to see that the gas Lift device pushes the hood over to the left. I use my newly discovered closing technique to appIy pressure to the left side of the hood and push toward the drivers side slightly. All close and latch all the time. I did just what you talk about, adjust the front latches with the Latch bolt before I placed the hood on.
I am not sure how this got into the Rear Link Arm discussion, but I want to help with that also.
Here is what I am talking about to see how the strickers are lined up.
Sam, do you think having an open assist shock on both sides is the answer?
scene capture from the movie “Silence of the Bigdog”
We just wish the "Big dog" would be silent.
RNJ12
Sam, do you think having an open assist shock on both sides is the answer?
Bigdog, that would help with closing as you would have the hood with even pressure from both sides. the rear latches could then line up better, I have found that the driver side latch and striker hit first and the passenger side is still up and not into the latch yet, sitting on the latch frame as the photo shows. I have seen all this with my camera and video from under the hood. That will not be a solution as a safety issue. Here is what I think, for a totally safe condition for a Lift assist designed device, there needs to be a secondary catch, or hood pin, or something that will stop hood from coming into drivers view due to a mistake on their part. The operator of the Slingshot should not pay a price for his latching mistake. That to me is the only solution that can be considered the best solution.
Folks, I have request to leave Slingshotinfo Forum all together. I had a very valid message and was give no support for something that I feel is very important. I am totally interested in informing the owners that do not understand a lot of technical stuff. I want to give them details of the whys things are important to do, show them details explanation of the technical points to better understand. My message was why you should make sure that all latches are fully latched. I was clear that the Extended Range Hood Hinge is not at fault by itself. It is cocked and always ready for the driver that fails to latch the hood and the gas lift shock responds when the air pressure is high enough to lift the hood at the speed of 60 mph on my Slingshot. The hood and windshield area act as wing area of an airplane and lift is created along with the air from under the hood. I felt the owners would except the video along and a real full explanation would not be need. The more technical minded the people are, the more detail are needed. I have reached the full explanation with my exit from the site.
I will be on the other Forum if anyone wants to hear and see my messages in the future.
Sole long and all have a safe ride always.
samowen44
Sam
I will miss your valuable insight.
Not sure I understand why you are leaving but I hope you stay well.
@Samowens44 I wish you would not do this. We need all of this information, especially the new people getting in the Slingshot's. I also like @MACAWS am not sure why you are doing this.
I love how people are debating the fact that a "hood lift assist system" will NOT help in assisting the hood to lift when the latches aren't engaged properly. ha 
I would agree though, that the title could have been worded better.
I have left my hood unlatched a couple of times on accident ("Hey, check out my turbo! Sets down hood gently. Hey, check out my halos! Then drives off like an idiot.) and have found that wind and bumps make a huge difference on if/when the hood will try to open. Once it opened almost 2 feet at 60mph (hit a bump into a head wind) and another time at around 90 mph. In both instances, I looked around the hood to the left (another reason why I am not a race harness fan for street driving) and got off the gas and the hood closed by itself.
If any "hood assist system" starts to engage around 2 feet open, then my hood would have opened fully and stayed open. Either way, the blame would be placed on myself, but the situation would have been different.
I like the extended hood range kits and think the pros of this product heavily outweigh the cons.
I’ve noticed if any latch did not completely seat it’s my passenger side....the side with the assist shock...as Sam mentioned above.
@Sam Owens the info and videos you share are some of the most useful information/guidelines out there! Please don’t let others actions deprive us!
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Constructive criticism does play a vital role in everyday growth and learning. Sam was simply stating that folks should check their hood latches. His way is a bit more detailed than that, I didn’t take it as him bashing the added hood system he has, more so explaining his experience with said system. Sam is a wealth of knowledge and a good guy to boot. His presence will be missed...
Marco when did you get pigtails...they sure are helpful on those messy hair days
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I had my hood come up 2 or 3 times in the past. When I had the factory hinges, and did not ensure that I pushed closed the top (near the windscreen) latches closed. With the factory hinges, the hood would come up in a floating manner, and return down when I started slowing down to pull over.
I have not had my hood come open with the extended range latches, because I developed the habit of at least pushing on the top of the hood at the drivers side when I enter into the Slingshot. This insures I have at least one of them locked! I could see that if it did come open with the extended latches installed, it would not return down on its on because of the gas strut.
I’ve been reading through these posts. Think about this carefully. If your hood comes up while driving. It means all 4 latches have failed to latch. Not just the back ones. So I would suggest checking that all the latches are properly engaging.
Does anyone think that with the back ones not latched it could pull the hood out of the front latches? And there must have been a pretty good reason for Polaris to install 4 latches.
...........
