I recently purchased some hood shocks (lift supports). In removing the old one, you have to unscrew it from both the frame and the hood.
The bracket part that attaches the shock to the hood appears to be permanently attached. This would lead one to assume they have to replace with an OEM part from Nissan.
NOT SO FAST!...
There IS a workaround for the us 'Boyz in the Hood'. Or, in this case -- 'Under' the Hood'.
Below, you'll find posts that explain it as I (and others) went through the process. Pretty simple all in all. And you'll save a freaking mint!

Regards,
Hadman

 

i was jumping my battery one day and the freaking hood struts gave out on me...they just let the hood fall down on my two clips...put two nice dents in my hood

 

One day I was taking out my grill, on my knees, and the damn hood falls on my head.

It felt like I got an upper-cut from Mike Tyson. My upper teeth were bleeding. I wish I had some warning.

 

ouch!!! i was looking under my car one day, and my hand was right on the crack of where the hood goes, and it decided to fall. it my finger was about 1 cm up farther i would have lost it for sure. pretty damn scary... i felt the air on my finger as the hood slammed.

oh and to answer your question, i heard you have to drill them out from the hood. it sucks, but thats the only way.

 

I guess I will have to do that. Like I said, I removed the shock from the hood and the frame, it's just the bracket that I unscrewed from the hood is still attached to the old shock.

 

mine havent fallen on my head yet, but I like how the hood opens with little effort when the hood shocks work properly. I wanted to replace mine until I found how expensive they are around $120 A PIECE (thats before our discount).

Hadman how much did you pay and from where?

 

I would like to find a fairly good price for these as well. Mine are shot and unless I can find something affordable, I may end up making a hood support that fold down when the hood is open, but I would prefer everything to be stock. I had looked at buying them from JC Whitney for about $22 each but I am not sure if that is where I want to get them. Any ideas?

 

$22 bucks a piece is the cheapest I've seen them. I think JCW might be the right place, but then they charge outrageous shipping charges.

 

Got mine from the local Trak Auto store. $30/each. The instructions that came with the brand they sell tells you that you have to drill out the rivet in the old ones. When I did mine I had to slightly enlarge the hole for the bushing on the new one. Took a half an hour to figure out and do the first one and less than 10 mins to do the second.

 

I got them from http://www.CarParts.com. Just type in your car info.
I ordered (2) Monroe Expert Series - Part # (901223)
and they were ONLY $19.25 A PIECE.
As I mentioned above, when you remove the hood bracket, the old shock remains permanently attached to it.
Of course, you need that bracket for the new shock. It is obviously assembled this way on purpose so you have to buy the shock and new bracket as an entire OEM Nissan part. This is not necessary, here's how to change the shock (or LIFT SUPPORT).

1) You need to separate the bracket from the old shock by drilling out the pin that attaches them together.

2) Once you have separated the two, you will need to enlarge the original hole in the mounting bracket to accomodate the pin for the replacement shock. The new pin being slightly larger.

3) Then you simply reassemble with the parts provided with the new shock (included).

The whole process took about 30 minutes. And this is easy enough to figure out, even for the D.I.Y guy like me.

GOOD LUCK
Hadman

 

That's a fairly good price. I may look into that. When you change them, what do you do to prevent the hood from closing? I want to make sure that all the holes line up right. I don't want anything to be off.

Thanks,
C.D.

 

Just use any stick to prop the hood up. Remove and replace shocks one at a time. Don't remove both old ones - then you'll just be relying on that stick.
As for realigning, the old bracket is already a custom piece with two drilled holes. Just re-fasten the screws. (Keep the old screws). Basically, it is a process that doesn't require you to realign. You'll see once it is all laid out there in front of you.
As Maxmizd27 noted, it'll take you roughly 30 mins to figure out the first one. Then you just repeat. It's pretty easy once you put your mind to it.

 

It will probably only take you 20 minutes to figure out the first one. I'm 10 or 12 years older than most of you guys and things are a little slower at my age.

 

Well your thread master here is going on 32 - if that's still considered 'young', I thank you for your kind words

 

Im sorry but that had to HILARIOUS to see. I guess you have to bleed for your Max before you really love it, right?

 

I've bled for my baby many many many many times. The worst was when I was driving and a damn bird flew in front of the windshield and hit it. The windshield (as well as the bird) cracked upon impact and threw glass all in my face. Got some shards under my eyelids and in my nostrils. It was REAL fun at the emergency room getting that **** picked out.

 

But you know what I hate? You know that shiny thing at the back?
The antenna?
No, the that tube that gets real hot and blows smoke.
The tailpipe?
Yeah, that's it.
Go on.
Well sometimes, after a long drive, I'll wrap my lips around that thing.
Ouch, that's gotta sting!
Yeah, sure does. Especially when all the, the, you know...
Lip skin adheres itself permanently?
Exactly my friend.
Oh yeah, that's gotta be unconfortable.
You said it brother.

 

Okay. Now its getting weird. Are you sure you're okay?

 

A classic. Two guys talking about all the injuries they've sustained, but it gets worse and worse - and it's usually self-inflicted.