Hood struts options

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bdobyns

bdobyns

Joined
Oct 30, 2020
Threads
16
Messages
199
Location
Yorba Linda
I have researched and found much with replacing with aftermarket as well as OEM gas struts. I know mine are spent, will barely hold the hood up on flat ground and if the LC is on a downhill slope, better wear a helmet. I can of course rig something to hold the hood open, old broom stick, however, I am wondering if there is a rigid brace on the market that could be installed or if someone has fabricated one. Thanks in advance.
 
bdobyns said:
I have researched and found much with replacing with aftermarket as well as OEM gas struts. I know mine are spent, will barely hold the hood up on flat ground and if the LC is on a downhill slope, better wear a helmet. I can of course rig something to hold the hood open, old broom stick, however, I am wondering if there is a rigid brace on the market that could be installed or if someone has fabricated one. Thanks in advance.
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I just installed the Toyota ones. More expensive, but they already lasted 200k miles, so I'm hoping they'll last another 200k. $91 a piece at my local toyota. You can probably get them cheaper from McGeorge Toyota.

Hood Lift Support Left (53450-69026)
Hood Lift Support Right (53440-69026)

I saw some posts about Strong Arm or Monroe, but reviews are all over the place with them. For me, I like the peace of mind that they're gonna fit and will last.
 
Mike NXP said:
Why don't you want to replace the struts?
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I am, just curious if someone has found a hood support. My current ones, even on level ground can't hold the hood up. I usually deal with this when connecting my air compressor and the hood comes crashing down as I am airing up.
 
bdobyns said:
I am, just curious if someone has found a hood support. My current ones, even on level ground can't hold the hood up. I usually deal with this when connecting my air compressor and the hood comes crashing down as I am airing up.
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I think I'm still confused. Are you afraid new struts wont hold it?

New OEM will hold the hood very well. On a slope, in the wind, in the rain, etc....

I have not seen a rigid brace, but the struts are pretty fool proof when new. :)
 
I just replaced mine with some I found on Amazon. They are stout. Now if they'll last.
 
I replaced my hood and rear hatch struts last February with pairs from rock auto. they are holding everything up very well.
 
$91 a piece is outrage!
 
LiftSupportDepot is who I have used on my 60 and my 100 when I replaced the struts. No issues and plenty strong. No real need to pay the OE prices when you can get them for 1/4 of the cost.

Outside of that, just get new stuff and call it a day. R&R is super easy and maybe a :banana: max. If you have someone there to hold the hood up for you then it makes it like 1/8 of that. Otherwise go to the Dollar Store or HF and grab a cheap, expandable broom/mop handle and use that to hold things up while you replace the struts.
 
In the interim, a small vice-grip on the spent strut support will hold the hood up. The handle from a highlift jack also works well.

I replaced mine with Strongarm from Amazon January of 2017. They are still holding strong today, 4 years later.
Amazon product ASIN B001O12368
 
hotdiggitydamn said:
$91 a piece is outrage!
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It does seem outrageous.

However, I've owned Toyotas with the gas struts on the hood for about the last 16 years on 6 different cars. The OEM struts seem to last around 10-15 years. All the aftermarket ones I've tried have died in 2-4 years. One set died in about a year.

That makes the cost/year about the same either way. Sometimes, even cheaper on the expensive OEM ones.
 
suprarx7nut said:
I think I'm still confused. Are you afraid new struts wont hold it?

New OEM will hold the hood very well. On a slope, in the wind, in the rain, etc....

I have not seen a rigid brace, but the struts are pretty fool proof when new. :)
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one less thing to fail or replace was the general idea though I have new ones on the way
 
When I bought the '11 GX last year...Car Max

Hood struts were bad...they supplied new OEM's

Actually just installed them 2 weeks ago...work great..no helmet required

Bell Lexus listed them at $76 a pop....

Amazon has a bunch listed for cheap as mentioned
 
I just bought the strongarm ones from Amazon. And it came with lift support depot label on it. They work okay for now though I can not speak on how they will hold up over time. I was having a difficult time to find the complete OEM set, the strut + the ball screw/bolt. And I could not find how to get the factory strut out of the ball joint bolt. So they have to came off as a set. The LX part for the strut alone is $90+. So I was under the impression that $200+ for 2 struts + 4 ball bolts. The $35 strongarm became no brainer for me.

PS: some post here did mention the strongarm ones are about 1 inch shorter than the oem ones, with about 3inch lower at the end of hood vs oem.
 
bdobyns said:
I am, just curious if someone has found a hood support. My current ones, even on level ground can't hold the hood up. I usually deal with this when connecting my air compressor and the hood comes crashing down as I am airing up.
Click to expand...
Just clip a pair of vice grips on the shaft of one of the struts when working on the truck if you are looking for temp measures.
 
Can't speak for the long term use, but I replaced mine when I bought my LX almost two years ago with these. I've had zero issues with them since. If they die in the next 1-2 years maybe I'll go OEM and change my tune, but until then I'm happy with my purchase.
 
I did get these, Amazon product ASIN B074G8G5YT and installed today. Install was about 10 minutes. We shall see how things work out. Previous owner had two different struts, one was OEM and the other wasn't. Going out tomorrow so we shall see if the hood stays up when airing up tires, which it should. Last several trips, the hood came crashing down, you would think that I would have learned the first time and propped it up, but of course, no. Now, onto planning and installing a Ram Mount for a tablet and connecting a blue tooth OBD 2 and the Torque app. Thanks for your help.
 
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