LittleRedWagon5
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazdaspeed 3
I did this yesterday morning. The instructions were very detailed and had good pictures. The fit and operation of this product is good, how ever I should have painted the brackets first but oh well.
Redline Tuning Hood Supports Installed
- Thread starter LittleRedWagon5
- Start date
Looks great man, but keep an eye out on the hood after a month or so to ensure that the hood is not warping/bending at the mounting points near the brackets.
There have been many a horror story about the redline kit warping the hood. I am sure a large number were incorrectly installed, but be on the look out nonetheless.
There have been many a horror story about the redline kit warping the hood. I am sure a large number were incorrectly installed, but be on the look out nonetheless.
BLUE N BOOSTED
Member
really?? i've had the redline struts for about a year now and i haven't had any kind of warpige....hope the best for u tho
LittleRedWagon5
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazdaspeed 3
You need a marker a rivet gun, a tape measure , and a drill .
I did it my self in about 45 minutes.
Speed3Rookie
Member
LittleRedWagon5
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazdaspeed 3
AllLostThings
Member
- :
- 2007 Mazdaspeed 3
I've wanted to do this since the summer. It looks great but I'm not a huge fan of drilling my hood
I installed the redline hood struts about 3 months ago. I'm going to have to go against the grain just a little bit here. I wouldn't say it was a difficult installation per se, but there were problems. We had to do some re-drilling. (I did the install with a friend.) The problem is that the top-side cylinder / ball joint has to lay down in a pretty narrow gap between two pieces of fender metal. It's not like we were sloppy with measurements, but it was just a little bit off and needed redrilling for the hood brackets to get it to lay in that groove. Afterward, I was a little bummed out because the hood was higher than it was before. But we used some metal shims to raise the fenders a little, and also lowered the front of the hood by turning the rubber stops, and it worked out. Now it looks just fine.
Final install impressions... it's great to not have to mess with the hood prop and wince about scraping paint trying to get the hook end to sit in the hole, etc. Also of note is that... you know that redline video? Where the guy lifts like an inch and the hood pops up like magic? Well it's not that dramatic for me. I have to lift the hood about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way up before the hydraulic pressure kicks in and lifts it the rest of the way for me. Also of note is that this does not make the hood open more/wider; in fact the hood opens maybe an inch or two less than it did before. However, don't get me wrong, I love the hood lifts all-in-all. The convenience doing under-hood work and the pleasing aesthetics make it worth-while.
Edit: just realized this is a zombie thread
Final install impressions... it's great to not have to mess with the hood prop and wince about scraping paint trying to get the hook end to sit in the hole, etc. Also of note is that... you know that redline video? Where the guy lifts like an inch and the hood pops up like magic? Well it's not that dramatic for me. I have to lift the hood about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way up before the hydraulic pressure kicks in and lifts it the rest of the way for me. Also of note is that this does not make the hood open more/wider; in fact the hood opens maybe an inch or two less than it did before. However, don't get me wrong, I love the hood lifts all-in-all. The convenience doing under-hood work and the pleasing aesthetics make it worth-while.
Edit: just realized this is a zombie thread
