Dancing Hood (1 Viewer)

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May 15, 2005
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Do all hood on 80s wobble @ speed or am I the only lucky one? Mine shimmies at speeds of 45 mph or more. It kind of looks like air is getting under it and pushing it up. Should I try to fix it (if so, how?) or just ignore it? It has the rubber spacers on top of the inner fenders. Everything seems to be in adjustment. :confused:
 
I do not think that's normal Jenny, the most likely cause, assuming that the latch is working well, is that those rubber stops you referred to need to be adjusted UP so that they push up on the hood which will then push against the part of the latch that pulls the hood down. Adjust in 1/4 turns and adjust each side equally. HTH. :cheers:
 
If you're referring to the flutter between the windshield washer nozzles, mine does it too.
 
I've got an old 93 battle axe of a cruiser, and I also had the hood flutter.

I found that my hood didn't exactly follow the 1/4 panels and it looked pushed forward 1/2".

I simply aligned the hood, adjusted it back 1/2" and adjusted the 2 rubber upwards.

It's kind of a 2 man 5 minute operation because the hood bolts will bind, but 1 person can fool around with it on his own if necessary.
 
Bear80 said:
What year is yours? My father noticed riding in my '97 that it does not flutter like his '95. His has done it since it was new. We figured it was improved in the later years but that's just a guess.

1996
 
I'm not noticing any flutter in mine, but in the LC the hood is "migrating" to the left. Almost touching the left quarterpanel now. Road vibration?
 
The center of my hood flutters up and down enough to have caused two noticable metal creases where it "gives". I don't see how adjusting it would solve this problem. Mine really looks more like the center of the hood pops down and then back up with the force of the wind blowing down (from the outside) on the hood.
 
TX_TLC said:
The center of my hood flutters up and down enough to have caused two noticable metal creases where it "gives". I don't see how adjusting it would solve this problem. Mine really looks more like the center of the hood pops down and then back up with the force of the wind blowing down (from the outside) on the hood.


I agree, there is something else screwed up in this case. Perhaps the hood has come off completely for some body or engine work? Perhaps a spot weld or two in the ribbing under the skin has popped, again, possibly from removing it for body or engine work. Either way, not normal, and I hope not what Jenny has seen with her dancing hood. If i read it right, I interpreted it to mean that the front edge of the hood dances up and down and in that case my vote is for the rubber stoppers needing to be adjusted up so as to put some upward force on the underside of the hood, this on its own or along with adjusting the latch mechanism DOWN should solve the problem.

Ohh, a curiousity, Jenny, would you say the hood is dancing an "Axle Rose" slow sway up and down or is it an "MC Hammer" epileptic type dance??? :D


HTH, and as always, :cheers:
 
I had some fluttter in the front corners of my hood this past week, and determined that it was caused by misadjusted rubber stoppers -- only in my case the passenger's side stopper had started pressing through the sheet metal where it was bolted to (tearing through it actually...). I backed the adjusting nut up and removed the rubber stopper, placed a washer over the mounted nut and then reinserted the rubber stopper and retightened the adjuster nut. The washer spreads the load from the adjusting nut over a larger area and allows the rubber stopper to be adjusted and not pushed through the mounting point.

Hopefully this makes sense and helps you!
Mike
 
TX_TLC said:
The center of my hood flutters up and down enough to have caused two noticable metal creases where it "gives". I don't see how adjusting it would solve this problem. Mine really looks more like the center of the hood pops down and then back up with the force of the wind blowing down (from the outside) on the hood.

might be a replacement hood. Friend at work has a Tacoma that State Farm fixed with Chinese replica parts. Thinner metal, fewer braces - same result.
 
I have the exact same issue on my 97 as TX_TLC is having. It's basically like the center of the hood is popping up and down at speeds above 55 or 60.

The hood just feels soft - I can push the center of it down easily with one finger. Anyone else??
 
Pull off your under hood insulator and take a look at where the hoods outer skin meets the inner reinforcement ribs. The outter skin of the hood is held onto these ribs with some sort of epoxy type compound. My hood flutters as you have described and I found out that this epoxy is no longer holding these two sections together. I have not researched what sort of compound this is so if anyone has had the same problem and figured out a fix please give us your two cents.
 
TX_TLC said:
The center of my hood flutters up and down enough to have caused two noticable metal creases where it "gives". I don't see how adjusting it would solve this problem. Mine really looks more like the center of the hood pops down and then back up with the force of the wind blowing down (from the outside) on the hood.


I wonder if the sound/heatproofing under the hood has separated from the hood, causing a "parachute" situation where air gets caught.

(Or, is it only happening in the Texas heat, and it's actually heat waves you are seeing :grinpimp: )
 
No dancing with my hood. I got her up to 85mph on the way to work today w/o issues at all.

Must be an adjustment thing.
 
OZCAL said:
I wonder if the sound/heatproofing under the hood has separated from the hood, causing a "parachute" situation where air gets caught.

(Or, is it only happening in the Texas heat, and it's actually heat waves you are seeing :grinpimp: )

The insulation/sound/heat/proof is all still in place. I am 99% it is the original hood....and if it isn't it IS a genuine Toyota hood. I might check those inner braces.

Mine only does it at 65 mph or higher. OR when there is a stiff West Texas wind (30-45 mph) blowing. ;)
 
Mine dances at +70 speed as well (center at least). Scares passengers when they recognize it. My stoppers are right where they need to be, keeping the front of the hood tight, so it's not that.
 
If the whole hood bounces up & down evenly, it's likely the center latch the culprit. If the hood wobbles side by side with no play in the center, then it's the rubber stoppers.

A properly aligned and adjusted hood does NOT bounce!
 

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