Hood can open if latches not latched.

    @samowens44 Let me just say I appreciate the time and effort you put in. When I had some questions before buying my sling, I reached out to Sam via PM, and he was extremely helpful, and gave honest answers, As a couple others pointed out, I know more about the sling thanks to the effort Sam puts out for the community. I've watched most of his vids on youtube just so I could learn more.


    Hats off to Sam for expanding my world.
    :00008674:

    The trouble with bucket seats is not everyone has the same size 'bucket'.

    I took some pictures today of my hood with the hinge extensions.

    This is where the hood stops when you start to close it.

    In this picture you can see how angled the bracket is. The hydrualic assist bolts to it.

    This is the view looking at it the other way.
    I don’t know if that’s the way they all look or I screwed it up? I had to leave the bolt pretty loose so it would move. Tight it would not move at all.

    As the hood is resting on the shock as you are preparing to close, mine does not bind it is straight. Now my photo is with the hood in the full upright position.
    This is mine at the rest point, my bracket is straight You also have the Rear Long Link arm mounted backwards. Look at my link arm in the first photo. Looks like Your lift support arm is bent as you say. Look closely at how the lift support arm is mounted.

    Edited 2 times, last by samowens44: Correct some things. ().

    My hood was halfway down....for the pictures...I’ll check it again...I see what you mean in the lower picture....


    If I remember correctly I flopped that bracket around many times trying to get it to not rub and bend the shaft of the shock....that’s what I come up with....

    Quote from Bigdog

    Sam look at the top picture from my instructions...your long brackets are upside down according to my instructions..
    My other bracket is on just like yours...

    The instructions are wrong, if you look below, the flat part of the arm hits the frame bracket. It binds the hinge and keeps from alignment adjustments. Close the hood and look at how it hits the frame, I called the manufacturer and Madstad said it should be installed as I have it. Look on page 4 of this thread and I have photos of how it clears the frame with the arm mounted the way I have. Here is Madstad the Manufacturers video and you can see when they go close up his rear hinge are is mounted the way I have it. I found this out through having problems making a hood alignment. You can not move the hood back as it will bind even more. The rail you will see is cut down to give clearance of the frame bracket. I venture to say most folks have them upside down. You would not know until you try to make a hood alignment.

    Quote from Bigdog

    Sam can you post pictures of the instructions that came with your hinges?

    The Instruction you receive with the product are correct except for showing the wrong position of the Rear Link Arms. The Lift Support arm is show correctly assembled and all other parts of the instructions and photos are correct. Now the Rear Link arm can easily be turned around one at a time. Just put the hood in the full upright position and unscrew the mounting bolts from above and below and just turn with the rail pointing up. This will not correct the problem you are showing. I am not sure if your pivot plate is mounted on the correct side, I can not see enough details in your photos. Examine the plates and look at the photo on your top, it smooth side is towards the engine, that is the driver side. If it is wrong, the other would be wrong. That is the only thing I can think to check for sure. The Lift Support bracket must be flush with the hood mounting bolts. If they are up on the edge of the Pivot plate it would tilt out like it shows to be. Look at my photos very closely for each detail. See if this shot helps.

    Sam, right now it’s out of line because the tube is hitting the frame and kinda pushing it over...
    I need to look at it in the daylight..


    Something else...in the video the hood on that sling hardly takes any pressure to push the hood release ....mine was hard to push before with the factory hinges and it’s hard with the extended hinges....

    Quote from Bigdog

    Sam, right now it’s out of line because the tube is hitting the frame and kinda pushing it over...
    I need to look at it in the daylight..


    Something else...in the video the hood on that sling hardly takes any pressure to push the hood release ....mine was hard to push before with the factory hinges and it’s hard with the extended hinges....

    Get you some light in to examine and compare to mine. Take the Gas Lift Assist Shock off the Lift Support arm and then you can see what is happening. Good light to see by. Now to test the latches for if the cables are binding and what may be causing the hard hood release. Open the hood fully, Now with fully open, go around to each latch and press the high latch catch down until the latch clicks. With all latches latched, press the hood release and see how hard it is. If it is the same amount of tension, then you may have a bind in one or more of the latches or cables. Underneath each latch where the cable attaches, you can manually pull that and test each latch for smooth operation. A kinked cable could be the problem. The the latches are all smooth then you may have Latch pins and strikers need to be lubed, everything works better with grease. I put a light coat of grease on the latches and all strikers.

    I have learned, all hoods and latches are not created equal. Some open easy, some won't open at all. I've adjusted, kicked, cussed, hammered, ground off half, pulled, swapped brackets, added extended hinges, greased, oiled and bled on my latches. Most of the time, the hood opens fine.


    Welcome back Sam.

    Alpha Supercharger is still spinning fine... it gets rode hard, every time.

    Quote from Bigdog

    I have all my latches opening at the same time...I hear one snap....can we lubricate the inside of the latch cables? I’m afraid I’m going to snap off the hood release lever..

    So you have a hard press for the latch test. You need to find which latch or cable is causing the hard resistance. If you pull the latch lever, you can slip the cable connector out that goes to back latch one at a time until you have isolated the one that causes the resistance. I would look at the cables for any kink or sharp angles. I don't think they need lubing. Good luck. I would think it will be one latch or a cable or one side.

    Quote from Texas T

    I have learned, all hoods and latches are not created equal. Some open easy, some won't open at all. I've adjusted, kicked, cussed, hammered, ground off half, pulled, swapped brackets, added extended hinges, greased, oiled and bled on my latches. Most of the time, the hood opens fine.


    Welcome back Sam.

    Thanks @Texas T, All of the above, I agree! We have to learn our latches, grease always help overcome adjustment and everything else. The back latches are the ones that have the great problem for receiving the striker, a drop from good height for factory hinge and my technique of pushing from the side and middle of hood pushes for the Extended Range Hood Hinge. I have learned my latches and can latch all latches every time, yes lube I have also.