let me rephrase what i said... the quality of their parts is horrible. especially their duraflex stuff. some of the worst junk ever used to this date. if people try bringing me duraflex parts i refuse them unless its for a race car where its literally shoot it as is and drill holes to bolt up and then im done. trying to make the duraflex stuff fit is a joke, trying to get all the waves out, cracks, un filled pin holes etc etc is a living nightmare. the very last body kit i did for them was a c-west replica kit for an evo..... by the time i was done i billed the guy for more then what a cwest kit would of cost with paint

their customer service is good. they did warrenty the kit for me as it was pure garbage but the next one was just as bad so i lost all hope for the stuff. their carbon creations stuff is a lot better then their duraflex.

 

Thanks everyone for your advice!

I ended up going with #2 in carbon fiber. The fitment is good, installed myself. I did have to cut away some of the material behind the clip so that it would close fully. I assumed you have to do this will all CF hoods?

I am seeing some movement during high speeds. Right now the hood clamp is bolted on at its highest point, I think if I move the hood attachment clamp down it will get rid of any freedom the hood has to move while driving at high speeds. Otherwise, I am going to install pins.

Did I read somewhere on here that I SHOULD NOT re-install the hood support rod?

 

yes dont re install the hood shock and hood pins are definately recomended

 

How hard is it to install hood pins? I guess I will have to get a body shop to do that? I just moved so I don't have the widest variety of tools.

 

any carbon hood might require trimming. they are made inconsistently so they tend to require some mod to fit um,

yes DO NOT run the strut UNLESS you find a company like glasstek or a few others that make a light weight hood strut. you will warp the hood running the oem strut.

you should be running pins in any fiberglass or carbon hood. its unsafe imho to run them without it.


depends on which pins you buy. if you buy aerolatch(i recommend these) have a shop install them because they are kind of a bitch.

 

Nice choice of the ones listed. Get pins, dont install strut, and even if you move the latch down a bit the hood will still bounce because the hood side metal loop is too thin and allows movement in the stock latch, hood pins are best but you could also thicken the metal loop by using heavy duty plastic or metal wrapped around the lower portion of the new hoods latch loop.

 

are you talking about the thickening the U shape rod that latch catches on to? how would thickening that help? wouldnt it be the same thickness as the OEM hood? lol. sorry for the stupid questions. i have the RAM air hood and need to get it recoated before i install it but was trying to avoid doing pins.....

 

you should put pins. end of story.

if the layers seperate theres nothing stopping it from flying off unless you have pins

 

Before my hood blew off my car I found some thick grade coax cable, gutted it and used the heavy duty insulation to make it thicker. I ran a slit down a piece of this cable with a very sharp blade and it was just long enough to cover the lower portion of the U that sat in the latch.

Whatever material you use you it needs to be hard enough to hold it self on, picture a piece of plastic or metal pulled apart with pliers slid over the crappy aftermarket hood U and then bent or forced into place creating a thicker mount. Hard to describe but I think you know what I am saying.

If you try and hold the insulation on with tape or some other means the latch will eventually just tear through it. So try to find something at a hardware store that is will take some abuse and will last.

 

yessir, i get exactly what you are saying. but that didnt work for your hood? cuz it still blew off? O.o and im sure some double bubble will hold it on there nice and good. now just to find something thick enough to latch it on tight.

 

my hood seperated in two. The latch and lower portion of the hood were still on the car, see pictures in on the last page.

 

holy ****! so it split in the middle!?! i cant see the pics because im on a military computer but i will try to log on later when on my laptop.

 

HOLY **** DUDE! it ripped the skin clean off it.........that scares me now lol. cuz im not sure what brand my hood is........i have the RAM air one that is sold at andysautosport.com? i think.....i bought it off someone used.

 

We put a modified OEM hood strut on my buddy's CF hood.

1. release air pressure inside the shock by drilling a tiny 1/16" hole in one end
2. tape over the hole
3. install onto car
4. lift hood open to your desired "up" location
5. mark the metal rod where it goes into the strut body and remove from car
6. get a small ~1/16" cotter pin
7. drill hole through the center where you marked the metal rod and another near the end that it it attaches to the car
8. install back in the car

Now that cotter pin can be moved from "open" to "closed" locations and you have a functional hood prop for the cost of the cotter pin.

 

run pins.

 

thread for installing pins? lol.