So I didn't see any reason to pay the $70+ for hood struts from a certain seller when I could order all the same parts they use for 1/2 the price.

Theirs $70.
Mine $40 including shipping.

Here's what you'll need. Head over to www.McMasterCarr.com.

For my 1999 Mazda B3000, these are what I ordered.

Under "Gas Spring Bracket":
2 x 9512k95 "90* Inverted bracket"
2 x 9512k94 "30* Bracket

Under "Gas Spring":
2 x 4138T56 "40lb 17.13" Gas Spring"

I choose 40lbs of force. For a little sketchy physics read on. I weighed the hood by closing it at the point where the struts were to be mounted. It weighed it at 45lbs. So from there I used a little basic physics by taking the inverse SIN of the weight of the hood over the Force of the strut, which gives me the angle that it will start to lift at. That means with 80lbs of force, it'll start lifting at approximately 34*.

Additionally, you'll need some 3/16" rivets and a matching drill bit.



Step 1:
Mark location for the 90* bracket.


Step 2:
Drill. I found that if I wobbled the drill back and made the holes a bit oversized it worked much better.



Step 3:
Anti Sieze to keep the rust away plus rivets!



Step 4:
Mount the strut to the bottom bracket.


Step 5:
Repeat for the top.


Step6:
Then do the other side and enjoy!

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1999 Mazda B3000
Belltech 6400 rear, T-bar crank front, energy suspension all around!

"Anti-seize is like Frank's Red-Hot, I put that shit on everything!"

My inexpensive hood strut mod!

Looks good...explorer hinges/shocks work great too

For sure they do, but I think this option looks a little more "sporty"

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1999 Mazda B3000
Belltech 6400 rear, T-bar crank front, energy suspension all around!

"Anti-seize is like Frank's Red-Hot, I put that shit on everything!"

My inexpensive hood strut mod!

I like. Next mod!

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2006 Ranger. 2.3l 5 speed
Air box mod and throttle cable mod.
Tri-fold tonneau cover. VHT taillights. Tinted corner lights.
fog lights.black headlights.
LED driving lights, dome, 3rd breaklight, LED tailgate light bar and LED foot wells. LED tails.
4.10 stock gears[/COLOR]

My Build:

http://www.fordrangerforum.com/proje...ger-build.html

Great Job! Thanks for sharing the nice write up and pics...Bob C.

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List Of Mods

My Albums

OL'Blackie Movie

Dec.2013 TOTM

Ordered some 1/4" rivet nuts to replace the rivets I used, this will make them adjustable / removable, will post more when they arrive.

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1999 Mazda B3000
Belltech 6400 rear, T-bar crank front, energy suspension all around!

"Anti-seize is like Frank's Red-Hot, I put that shit on everything!"

My inexpensive hood strut mod!

I did this mod the other day, ordered everything that was listed in this thread, took all of 20-30 min to complete. great easy, cheap mod

Overview

Top Mount

Bottom Mount

Left Side Strut

Hood Open

I like this mod, but wonder about doing it with the fiberglass hood on my Edge package. Anyone done this on an Edge hood? Any problems?

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Joe Guinan - Spitfirejoe - Fremont, NE
2003 Ranger Edge Plus Extended Cab Flareside, 4.0 SOHC, Automatic, 4X4, Oxford White with Charcoal Gray interior. 32,600 miles on purchase date of 6/17/2013.

I've had struts on my edge for years. No problems. It is a different shaped bracket for the hood. You probably need to look into that.

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Lifted and junk

Double Lifted Rangers

I have the "kit" that he doesn't want to buy on the power dome hood. There is only one location you can put the strut mount and its made for it. Open your hood and you will see the notch out for the mount. Now the hood weighs more then these guys alum hoods might want different shocks idk

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I'm glad to see everyone is enjoying this mod! I love mine, it comes in super handy.

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1999 Mazda B3000
Belltech 6400 rear, T-bar crank front, energy suspension all around!

"Anti-seize is like Frank's Red-Hot, I put that shit on everything!"

My inexpensive hood strut mod!

Nice write up Valculinchuk.
I ordered the parts you listed and they are to be delivered today.
Thank you for the how to.

Nice write up! This is one thing I wish my ranger had OEM lol.

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2008 Ford Ranger Sport 4x4 4.0L
-5 speed, undercoating, tinted windows, keyless entry, 3.73 gears
-Pioneer AVIC-F700BT GPS w/10" Pioneer woofer
-3 inch Performance Accessories Body Lift
-33x12.5 r 15 BFG M/T KM2's

How well does the hood close? Like how do the struts fit in out of the way??

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And its cool cuz its from McmasterCarr..i can order it thru work and get 10% off!!

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1999 Ranger 3.0FFV-ExtCab-4x4-My 99 Build
1998 Ranger 3.0-ExtCab-4x4-PROJECT TRUCK-My 98 Build

They fit like they are meant to be there. You might have to remove the hood fender bumpers mine got in the way but they don't do shit anyways.

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