Redline CX-5 Hood Struts

[mazda-mania]

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

 

[RedBaron]

I had the same issue (different brand) when I added them to our 2019. I unscrewed/removed the clips, and with a scrapwood buffer, gave each a hearty whack on the ends with a mallet. Freed them up just fine

 

[paris1]

Right now it is too easy to open, and harder than necessary to close.

That's why I've stayed away from accessories that are not specifically designed for the car I'm putting them on. No real engineering or thought goes into the application. Be careful you don't damage the sheet metal or hood welds over time!
BTW, seems to me you may be overthinking the "spare parts and emergency kit" thing!

 

[mazda-mania]

BTW, seems to me you may be overthinking the "spare parts and emergency kit" thing!

Nah! Overthinking is underrated!

Besides, In my many decades of driving, every item I put in the kit has seen duty sometime in the past.

I know car reliability is much better these days but being stranded on the side of the road is not my idea of fun.

 

[HyFlyer]

... In my many decades of driving, every item I put in the kit has seen duty sometime in the past. ...

The "modern" repair kit is a Bluetooth OBDii and FORscan appy on your phone.

 

[mazda-mania]

The "modern" repair kit is a Bluetooth OBDii and FORscan appy on your phone.

Got that too. Really a superb diagnostic device. But still need to do any physical repairs.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

@mazda-mania

I'm still running the same hood struts I put on back in 2014

 

[SlothMan]

Anyone have recommendations for a 2016 since redline doesn’t make a set for that gen?

 

[RedBaron]

Anyone have recommendations for a 2016 since redline doesn’t make a set for that gen?

It's the same as the 2013-2015, right? Same body/hood.

 

[Candurin]

I’ve had these in for just over 2.5 years with no issues at all: https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

 

[meow_man]

I’ve had these in for just over 2.5 years with no issues at all: https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

Same here. No issues. Easy install.

 

[jadmt]

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.

View attachment 321419View attachment 321420

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

curious how these are doing after they have been in use a while now? I have a set on the way and just saw your post.

 

[clownshoes2]

Link?

 

[jadmt]

Link?

Redline Tuning 2017+ Mazda CX-5 Hood QuickLIFT PLUS

Replace your hood's prop rod today with our Redline Tuning Hood QuickLIFT system. Progressive gas springs will lift and hold your hood without the need of a poorly placed prop-rod. Simply start to lift your hood and let our QuickLIFT system take over, lifting and holding firmly at the raised...

www.redlinetuning.com

 

[clownshoes2]

My good man...my good man...Ah good la dee do, Ah good la dee da!

 

[N7turbo]

I'm pretty sure the Amazon ones are the same thing. That's what I used.

https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

 

[mazda-mania]

curious how these are doing after they have been in use a while now? I have a set on the way and just saw your post.

I just did a test and I have to admit, I'm disappointed.
The struts may have settled in a bit, but the overall force in the struts is poorly matched to the hood weight and hinge geometry.

There was noticeable stiction on the left strut. When starting to lower the hood, it takes more force than should be needed to get the strut to start to compress. The hood does flex on the left when beginning to close. After it moves , the force is reduced, but still too high. The right side does not exhibit initial stiction or any hood flex.

I cleaned both rods with 3-in-1 oil and wiped off any excess. This helped some. The left strut now has roughly 50% less initial stiction and hood flex.

Both struts exhibit intermittent stickiness on the way down (stuttering). There are no real issues lifting the hood.

It is good to see that some folks are pleased with their hood struts. Good for them.

Regarding mine, it is possible that the factory pressure tolerances vary greatly between struts, (mine are different side to side). It is also possible that there were having ongoing inventory issues in the post-covid world and they substituted a higher pressure strut of a similar length, for the out-of-stock intended strut. Neither is acceptable.

From my experience. I don't believe these struts were tuned or even properly matched to the CX-5. I believe they designed attachment hardware, then grabbed generic struts of a length that would fit (not necessarily optimal length), off their generic strut shelf, tossed it in box, slapped a Mazda CX-5 label on it, and went to lunch. "If it looks like a hood strut, it's a hood strut!"

What ever the reason, I can say that if they fail I will not replace them with Redline struts, and cannot recommend these for other CX-5 owners looking for a reliable and effective hood strut solution.

Good luck

 

[bpwj2012]

I've only had mine installed for about three months now, but my struts also require too much force to begin to close the hood. When I first attempted to close the hood after install, I felt like I might snap the struts in two. My passenger side strut requires more force than the driver's side one. They do not exhibit any stuttering on the way to closing though.

When opening the hood, it will fly up very forcefully. If you aren't ready for it, it can take you by surprise.

 

[RedBaron]

There was noticeable stiction on the left strut. When starting to lower the hood, it takes more force than should be needed to get the strut to start to compress. The hood does flex on the left when beginning to close. After it moves , the force is reduced, but still too high. The right side does not exhibit initial stiction or any hood flex.

I got a cheapy pair off Amazon and they were locked up initially. I had to beat on them with a mallet and wooden blocks to get them to release before I installed them. After that though, they were fine and smooth and have remained so for the six years since.

 

[jadmt]

I just did a test and I have to admit, I'm disappointed.
The struts may have settled in a bit, but the overall force in the struts is poorly matched to the hood weight and hinge geometry.

There was noticeable stiction on the left strut. When starting to lower the hood, it takes more force than should be needed to get the strut to start to compress. The hood does flex on the left when beginning to close. After it moves , the force is reduced, but still too high. The right side does not exhibit initial stiction or any hood flex.

I cleaned both rods with 3-in-1 oil and wiped off any excess. This helped some. The left strut now has roughly 50% less initial stiction and hood flex.

Both struts exhibit intermittent stickiness on the way down (stuttering). There are no real issues lifting the hood.

It is good to see that some folks are pleased with their hood struts. Good for them.

Regarding mine, it is possible that the factory pressure tolerances vary greatly between struts, (mine are different side to side). It is also possible that there were having ongoing inventory issues in the post-covid world and they substituted a higher pressure strut of a similar length, for the out-of-stock intended strut. Neither is acceptable.

From my experience. I don't believe these struts were tuned or even properly matched to the CX-5. I believe they designed attachment hardware, then grabbed generic struts of a length that would fit (not necessarily optimal length), off their generic strut shelf, tossed it in box, slapped a Mazda CX-5 label on it, and went to lunch. "If it looks like a hood strut, it's a hood strut!"

What ever the reason, I can say that if they fail I will not replace them with Redline struts, and cannot recommend these for other CX-5 owners looking for a reliable and effective hood strut solution.

Good luck

hopefully I will have a better experience. The redline tuning ones I have on my jeep rubicon work exceptionally well so I hope the cx5 set up works better than yours. have you contacted redline? they have been super responsive to me. you very may well may have a bad strut.