While putting together a spare parts and emergency kit for the CX-5, I put a fire extinguisher in with the tire.
Later I realized an engine/electrical fire under the hood would be daunting to put out. Because the hood lacks spring assist, and the hinges are mounted high, relative to the front to the hood, much of the weight of the hood is shifted to the front. That combo makes it the heaviest to lift hood of any car or truck I have ever experienced.
Add to that the prop rod is the fiddliest I have ever used to insert into the hood.
Trying to get to hood opened and propped up to put out a fire would be a gauntlet. It was time for hood struts to lift and hold the load.
Due to the high ratings, I ordered up a set of Redline hood struts. They come well packaged with decent, but sometimes confusing instructions. It took me about 15 minutes to install. As I tried to mount the passenger strut, I noticed it was too long to engage the mounting ball on the hood. I foolishly tried to hand compress the strut to shorten it. The strut did not budge. I tried the other strut. It did not budge. I then realized I needed to ditch the prop rod, then lift the hood higher, to line up the strut and the mount. Bingo! It popped right on.
I then attempted to close the hood. It would not budge. The driver side strut even bowed a little with the pressure. It took several tries, before the strut rod finally moved up into the strut. The struts are shipped fully extended. I think this caused pressure at the end of the extension, that bound up the inside seals a bit. Once freed, the struts moved as designed.
The hood now lifts very easily. Closing now, is a bit more work. The hood now opens higher than the prop rod position. There is also significant up force to hold the hood open. My wife had a bit of difficulty reaching the hood and pulling it down to close it. Right now it is too easy to open, and harder than necessary to close.
I think the struts would have had better balanced performance with a bit less pressure. Maybe time will fix that.
Hopefully this will help anyone considering this mod.
Cheers, TR
Later I realized an engine/electrical fire under the hood would be daunting to put out. Because the hood lacks spring assist, and the hinges are mounted high, relative to the front to the hood, much of the weight of the hood is shifted to the front. That combo makes it the heaviest to lift hood of any car or truck I have ever experienced.
Add to that the prop rod is the fiddliest I have ever used to insert into the hood.
Trying to get to hood opened and propped up to put out a fire would be a gauntlet. It was time for hood struts to lift and hold the load.
Due to the high ratings, I ordered up a set of Redline hood struts. They come well packaged with decent, but sometimes confusing instructions. It took me about 15 minutes to install. As I tried to mount the passenger strut, I noticed it was too long to engage the mounting ball on the hood. I foolishly tried to hand compress the strut to shorten it. The strut did not budge. I tried the other strut. It did not budge. I then realized I needed to ditch the prop rod, then lift the hood higher, to line up the strut and the mount. Bingo! It popped right on.
I then attempted to close the hood. It would not budge. The driver side strut even bowed a little with the pressure. It took several tries, before the strut rod finally moved up into the strut. The struts are shipped fully extended. I think this caused pressure at the end of the extension, that bound up the inside seals a bit. Once freed, the struts moved as designed.
The hood now lifts very easily. Closing now, is a bit more work. The hood now opens higher than the prop rod position. There is also significant up force to hold the hood open. My wife had a bit of difficulty reaching the hood and pulling it down to close it. Right now it is too easy to open, and harder than necessary to close.
I think the struts would have had better balanced performance with a bit less pressure. Maybe time will fix that.
Hopefully this will help anyone considering this mod.
Cheers, TR
