BAJA TYM

This afternoon I fab'd a prototype shim out of 1/4 inch steel scrap.


It test fitted well.


Sometime next week I'll fab two "production" pieces; if all goes well I'll have them primed, paint (in OEM Amp'd) and installed by the weekend.

Stay tuned...

14Sport

I wouldn't rush into the painting expense if I were you. It looks like the part of the hinge that is bent is where it is only half as wide. The spacer doesn't address the strength of that point...it just puts the hood back where it belongs. The hinge could possibly bend some more from the increased pressure of the strut being shortened again. So I would wait until I know that's not going to happen before I paint them.

Nevermind if that's what you meant by "if all goes well".

Invest2m4

Agree with the above. If you are going to get something painted, just pull the hinges, straighten them out and then gusset them so they don't bend in the future. I can't recall if that hinge pin can be removed or if it is permanent, but if you can pull the pin, you could make that side of the hinge out of thicker steel.

BAJA TYM

Great advice! With that in mind, I may increase the height of the shim in hopes I'll brace the hinge. I also played with the hood (with the shim installed), the base where the mount is tacked is made out VERY thin sheetmetal, all the flex appears to originate there.

As to the paint... I've got a rattle-can of OEM, no real investment there!

BAJA TYM

I don't have any welding skills, can't gusset them myself...and I don't have the cash to pay for someone else to do it. Your probably right, I'll see if the hing separates and look into straightening it in a vice.

14Sport

That may work. Since you don't weld, you could try to bring the shim up as close as possible to the hinge pin housing. You could use a file to create a 45 degree angle along the top edge, make the mounting holes slotted, and slide the shim as close as possible to the hinge pin casing. The 45 degree angle should allow you to get it pretty close. By re-assigning the stress point closer to the pin, you reduce the leverage of the lateral force across the hinge.

Think of the hinges on a door. Close the door almost to a point where the catch latches. Now push the door open with your pinky finger from right above the door knob. Easy. Now close the door again to the same position and push it open with your pinky again but this time, do it from the hinge side. That is the effect of leverage.

That said. I'm not a mechanical engineer. In other words, that's what makes sense to me and what I would try, but I'm not sure it will work.

BAJA TYM

Just an update here, I made a 2nd shim and primed/painted them both with some Rustoleum bed liner I had laying around. I've been running them for about 30 days, the gap is .25" and holding strong. Looks like I found my answer.

clos0791

Hello, I have a 15 Sahara and I have a larger gap on the drivers side than the passenger's. It's a brand new jeep with less than 1,000 miles and i never installed hood struts. In my case, it looks like it's a factory defect. I even went to the dealer to look at new 16 models and a few also had the same gap as mine. I think your struts had nothing to do with your gaps, they most likely came from factory. I am sure many jeepers out there have the same thing but don't notice it or don't care. I am also OCD. So I need to find a fix.

I called the dealer and they said they will fix it for me since I'm under warranty and the jeep is new. How? Don't know. Hopefully they fix it, and maybe they get this type of complaint and dealt with them before. Anyway, I'm glad you found a solution. I may end up doing the same thing. Do you think I can take care of this by just installing one plate on the drivers side and not the passengers?

Thanks you so much for any advice and for this long post.

BAJA TYM

Well maybe. I'm absolutely certain my issue was caused by the struts, only because the gap wasn't nearly as big prior to installing them. I did a ton of research after the fact and found most everyone who's installed struts was suffering from the same issue. I experimented with flexing the hinges, loosening bolts, and I finally determined that the majority of the give was coming from the maddeningly thin sheet metal the JK is well know for.

In the end I tried the shims and it completely solved my problem. As to your issue, my guess is that the dealership will simply loosen the hood bolts and shift things around until the gap looks symmetrical enough. I'm very OCD... In fact I'm crippling OCD at times, so if the technician doesn't make it perfect I'd also end up doing it myself.

If they're unable to fix your gap... ...man that sounds wrong... ...let me know and I'll post up the template I drafted for my shims.

Hope this helps.

--James

clos0791

I'm going to the dealer on Thursday and see what they say. My fear is that they mess something up, and then I come out worse.

New Jeeps are not made like most cars and trucks. The body lines and gaps are not all perfect. Us having OCD, and being jeep owners, does not help. I literally had to stop myself from looking at all the details of my new jk because the more I looked, the more imperfections I found. LOL! Nonetheless, I love my Jeep, I would buy it again in a heart beat.

Thanks for the quick response. I will post on Thursday after they "fix" it. I will take you up on the
offer regarding the templates for the plates.

Carlos
So Cal.