How much effort to close your hood?

[shirleyb]

I've opened and closed hoods all of my 45 year career in automotive business and I too am uncomfortable closing the Ranger hood.

I just fixed the hard to close hood. It took about 10 minutes.
Remove the plastic radiator cover.
Remove the hood latch cover, that covers the latch. One bolt and one push in clip.
Carefully unscrew the two bolts that hold the latch.
Raise latch 1/8 to 1/4.
Test the hood closing.

Mine now shuts the way it should.

ssshirley

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[SubVet]

Mine was hard to shut before the bug Deflector so I had Ford Service adjust it, No more issues. Closes fine now even with the Bug Deflector

 

[DrRoger]

I just fixed the hard to close hood. It took about 10 minutes.
Remove the plastic radiator cover.
Remove the hood latch cover, that covers the latch. One bolt and one push in clip.
Carefully unscrew the two bolts that hold the latch.
Raise latch 1/8 to 1/4.
Test the hood closing.

Mine now shuts the way it should.

ssshirley

Had the hood up today. Closed with no problem. Guess I'm used to it now.

 

[mike]

I just fixed the hard to close hood. It took about 10 minutes.
Remove the plastic radiator cover.
Remove the hood latch cover, that covers the latch. One bolt and one push in clip.
Carefully unscrew the two bolts that hold the latch.
Raise latch 1/8 to 1/4.
Test the hood closing.

Mine now shuts the way it should.

ssshirley

Thanks. Love it when people don't take no for an answer.

Gave me the perfect excuse to go by some tools although all you need is a 5/16 socket, ratchet, and a common screwdrivet.

As you said, move up 1/8 to 1/4...think I moved the latch up maybe 3/16.. Closes exactly as all my other cars. I can lower it to pre latch then push down to lock. Not so hard on that inside plastic release handle either.

Thanks again!

 

[Floyd]

I've opened and closed hoods all of my 45 year career in automotive business and I too am uncomfortable closing the Ranger hood.

Its the strongarms and the aluminum combination. For many years with the proprods and the heavy fiberglass or steel hoods, all you had to do was drop the hood from an adequate height and it would latch itself.
The new Ranger hood has less mass plus strongarm resistance, yet it is easy to shut confidently with the right technique.
It will get easier as the strongarms get past their break-in period.
I found that true of trunks and hatchbacks.

Besides... Its a Ford, how often do you need to open the hood anyway?
If you just want to admire the engine Take a picture and make it your screen saver.
I remember changing lots of worn out hood hinges on SOB trucks.

 

[mike]

Its the strongarms and the aluminum combination. For many years with the proprods and the heavy fiberglass or steel hoods, all you had to do was drop the hood from an adequate height and it would latch itself.
The new Ranger hood has less mass plus strongarm resistance, yet it is easy to shut confidently with the right technique.
It will get easier as the strongarms get past their break-in period.
I found that true of trunks and hatchbacks.

Besides... Its a Ford, how often do you need to open the hood anyway?
If you just want to admire the engine Take a picture and make it your screen saver.
I remember changing lots of worn out hood hinges on SOB trucks.

Going to disagree. If that's what it was then moving the latch up just 1/8" wouldn't make things significanlty easier. Besides, once down in the pre-lock position, the strongarms have no influence since the hood is pretty much closed. There's room for adjustment for a reason and it looks like the installers just had the latch in the lowest position. I think the issue is either that there are compressible cushions on each side of the hood and when the latch is set in the lowest position, you really have to compress the cushions or there simply is an optimal position for the latch... or maybe both come into play to an extent...didnt look at that close.

I can lower the hood down now where it pre-latches and close with what I would say "normal" (i.e. what I've been doing for the last 30 years on the cars/trucks I have owned) pressure. I might have put up with it, but I really had to pull on the fragile feeling plastic hood release and was worried that would break. Now, feels "normal" (like all the other hood release tabs) now.

Anyway, very easy and took all of 30 minutes. Having done it...would take 5 minutes to do it again, so if anyone isn't happy with the effort, there is no reason to put up with it.

How often does the hood get opened? At the very minimum, at least Every 5k-7.5k miles plus whenever the WW reservoir needs refilling if not done at oil change time.

 

[Floyd]

Going to disagree. If that's what it was then moving the latch up just 1/8" wouldn't make things significanlty easier. Besides, once down in the pre-lock position, the strongarms have no influence since the hood is pretty much closed. There's room for adjustment for a reason and it looks like the installers just had the latch in the lowest position. I think the issue is either that there are compressible cushions on each side of the hood and when the latch is set in the lowest position, you really have to compress the cushions or there simply is an optimal position for the latch... or maybe both come into play to an extent...didnt look at that close.

I can lower the hood down now where it pre-latches and close with what I would say "normal" (i.e. what I've been doing for the last 30 years on the cars/trucks I have owned) pressure. I might have put up with it, but I really had to pull on the fragile feeling plastic hood release and was worried that would break. Now, feels "normal" (like all the other hood release tabs) now.

Anyway, very easy and took all of 30 minutes. Having done it...would take 5 minutes to do it again, so if anyone isn't happy with the effort, there is no reason to put up with it.

How often does the hood get opened? At the very minimum, at least Every 5k-7.5k miles plus whenever the WW reservoir needs refilling if not done at oil change time.

No disagreement, your hood needed a minor adjustment and most don't.
The member complaining about the hood gap getting smaller toward the front probably needed the same adjustment as yours.
Still, it is an Aluminum hood with strongarms and it will require a totally different technique than other types.

 

[OrangeStreak]

Mine closes normally by giving the hood a firm push from about 6" above the latch. It does not take heavy pressure but feels about right compared to most other vehicles I've owned. I did have to re-adjust the latch after installing an AVS Bug Deflector because the extra gap caused it to close harder than normal.

 

[LoneRNGR]

I'll look at it and see if I can adjust it myself, but curious as to what kind of effort you guys need to put in to closing your hood.

My 1976 Caprice Classic and 1979 Suburban had the big spring hinges. They took effort to close. My 2009 Escape and 2018 Explorer had prop rods. I just held the hood up about a foot and let go. Ranger just closes. No problems. I do use two hands just because I was always taught to do that, with my first two cars, to keep from getting the hood out of alignment. Seems to be applicable to the Ranger so you don't push a dent into the aluminum.

 

[CB750F]

I always seem to do it twice... I need to adjust....

 

[Trigganometry]

I must have got lucky! Mine closes from 6” with a light push. They probably want a little load on it to “flex” so it doesn’t vibrate. It is lighter than a normal hood.

 

[AzScorpion]

Mine closes normally by giving the hood a firm push from about 6" above the latch. It does not take heavy pressure but feels about right compared to most other vehicles I've owned. I did have to re-adjust the latch after installing an AVS Bug Deflector because the extra gap caused it to close harder than normal.

Paul, Here you go again bringing up a thread that's 2 years old. I think it's time to put the drinks down and head to bed. lol

 

[OrangeStreak]

Paul, Here you go again bringing up a thread that's 2 years old. I think it's time to put the drinks down and head to bed. lol

I went to the wrong school...it taught to do your post and let the date take care of itself Ranger5g school teaches...3 strikes and your out

 

[FoD]

My dad always said that a 2x4 could fix any alignment needed so things would c!use like they are supposed to on car...I remember him using a foot long piece to "adjust" the hood spring on an old 50 chevy one time ?

 

[AzScorpion]

I went to the wrong school...it taught to do your post and let the date take care of itself Ranger5g school teaches...3rd strike and your out

We all know where you went to school.

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