I finally broke down and got some new hood struts the 2*4 just wasn't cutting it anymore and I was sick of the hood falling on my head when the board couldn't be found. Now my hood shoots up and stays. I took an Ebay gamble and bought these and it worked out http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96...19166899QQrdZ1

$34 shipped I always see posts on here asking where a good place to get them is, I recommend this ebay seller they are more heavy duty then the stock ones.

 

I paid 36$ for AutoZone lifetime pieces. On my 2nd set in 3 years.

 

hm....i should get those too

 

could of just carried around some vice grips.

 

Vice Grips? To clamp under the strut to keep it from falling? hmm not a bad idea

 

I've done that(vice grips) as well as the broom idea. It's just better and more satisfying when you hear the struts when you open the hood quickly.

Get new struts.

 

the autozone ones only last a little over a year, at least for me...i need to look into this lifetime deal...

 

That's just the thing Autozone warrants them for life, so everytime they die, you take the dead ones in, and get new ones, free of charge, hence lifetime warranty.

Thought it was clear in my 1st post.

 

+1 On my second set from Autozone. Seems like the second set is made better than the first.

 

some ******* mechanic using vice grips is what caused my hood struts to fail in the first place. The vice grips scratched the metal and that caused the seal to fail and all the oil started leaking out of the strut. Hasn't worked since. I was standing there when the ******** did it too.

 

yea and u didnt say anything... nice

 

rececipts needed or they got your name and info on the "computer"

 

I'm sick of using vice grips on mine. I'll be getting teh ebay ones soon.....

 

if u want cheap *** ebay stuff that is probably gonna break... go of it i learn my lesson... get the ones from autozone at least you can replace them when they go bad...

 

I dunno. I cut a piece of 1/2" wood dowel that fits in one of the holes under the hood and the other end tucks into a little pocket above the headlight housing. It fits like it was supposed to be there, and it will never ever come loose.

I've considered buying new struts but this piece of wood hides in my trunk and is easier than even changing the struts once.

Dave

 

POS strong arm ones from Advanced Auto suck and only work for 5 min

 

I like not having them at all for a greater hood angle when working/detailing.

 

Ok ... this may sound just plain stupid, but how did you get the old set off? I have new ones, have had for a couple months now, and I can NOT get the old ones off. I have tried lots of things, including a hammer (not recomended btw) and I can't pry them loose. The new ones have a snap on clip that fits over the ball after the strut is put on, the old ones seem to have a clip inside somehow.

 

Considering how long the OEM struts last I'm really surprised more people don't spring for them. Might only have to replace them once, ever.

 

in colder climates these struts have a tendancy to fail more often.
Over engineer something and it will never fail. I tihnk nissan didnt try too hard with these things.

 

Nissan doesn't make the hood struts. And I disagree with the first statement wholeheartedly.

 

If I remember correctly the OEM's cost a pretty penny. I would rather spend my money else where.

I will have to look into them just to make sure though.

 

I just replaced my hood struts today with the lifetime autozone ones. $45 for the pair, better than $60 a pop from nissan.

 

How do you get the OEM struts off?

 

the oems don't just "pop" out. You need to "unscrew" the pricly things that go into the strut.

 

I don't know about AutoZone but with O'Reillys you need your receipt in order to get the lifetime warranty. I initially replaced my hood struts on my sold 97 Max in Feb of 00, I bought replacements from O'Reillys and they are still holding strong over 7 years later.

 

my autozone lasted me 2 weeks

 

Ok .... then what? lol I have taken the strut off the car, but I for the life of me, can't get that stupid ball out!

 

there's no need (unless your new ones don't come with new ones) Otherwise you're SOL.

 

$13.33 each ... from Nissan for the strut ball. Crazy! The dealer told me that there is a clip that snaps from the outside, my new ones are like this, but the OEM struts don't have any clip that I can tell. Guess I'll check the bone yard for some.

 

same here, no point in buying the expensive oem struts

 

well ... can anyone point me towards a place to get the ball, 12mm thread, other than the dealer? I have been told that some new struts come with the ball, but mine didn't, and none in town do. How can something so simple be so difficult?

 

the ones I bought at advanced auto had everything. If I remember correctly you just remove the plastic ring and pop out the old ones and put in the new ones.

 

The problem I am having is that I can't get the ball out of the OEM struts. I have tried and tried, but it will not come out. Seems strange to me, if it goes in, shouldn't it come out? I just can't justify spending $75 to do these. $13.33 + tax X 4 + struts.

 

I used a Dremel to cut the strut head open and removed the ball.

 

Go with the Auto Zone ones, if you haven't noticed yet mostly everyone posted thier new ones broke down at some time or another, so why not go with a place that warrants them for life. just my opinion

 

Why is the max cursed with this problem of hood struts??? I gotta go get me a set from autozone too...I have a little metal thin stick that fits perfect in there, but I hate having to go grab it out of my trunk everytime I wanna prop my hood....

 

I just bought and installed the ebay struts. I had to remove the old struts by using an open ended 12 mm wrench to remove the threaded ball mounts from the engine bay and hood. I did not use the old ball mounts with the new struts because the new struts came with new ball mounts and I could not remove the old struts from the mounts. I don't think it would have been possible to "pop" the old struts off of the mounts so I just unscrewed them as I described above.

I screwed the new ball mounts in first (13 mm wrench this time) and then I attached the new struts with a retaining C clip (included with each strut) that tightened the strut onto the ball mount.

So far so good - I will let you know how long they last!

 

Nissan doesnt make them, but they do buy them, and they do select the specs of everything they buy.....