i looked thru the stickies and dont' recall seeing instructions on how to replace those. mine are going and i want to replace them. how much do they normally cost by the way? thanks

 

The hood struts unscrew right off the hood and the body of the car. You remove the strut along with those round ***** at the ends.

 

You can pick up cheap replacement struts at partsamerica.com - I think they are 19.99 each.

Here are some instructions provided years ago by an invaluable member of the org - Daniel B. Martin:

"Installation is not difficult. Prop the hood open with a broomstick.
Use a 13mm open-end wrench to remove the upper (hood) and lower (inner
fender) ball studs. The ball studs are permanently mounted to the sockets
on each end of the factory lift. After both studs are backed out of their
threaded bosses, the lift comes off the car (with the ***** still in their
sockets). The Strong Arm replacements ball studs are not attached to the
replacement lifts. Thread the ball studs into the threaded bosses on the
hood and inner fender and tighten with a suitable wrench. Then simply
"snap" each socket end of the replacement lift on the ball studs. Repeat
the process for the other side."

 

thanks, sounds simple enough.

 

its very simple. unscrew the 2 screws on each strut then put new ones in. autozone has em for 20 bux each.

u need help of a friend/ something to hold hood up while u changin them

 

no probs.

 

I replaced mine recently with Super Struts for $17 each.

 

i suppose they're all the same right? is one brand better than the other?

 

I just did mine last night with a $20 Mighty-Lift model from Autozone.

Removing the ball studs from the hood or bottom mount isn't necessary if the OEM ones have already been replaced (once or twice). Use a small flat blade screwdriver to pry the back side of the strut bolt head end. It's a metal clip that captures the ball and pulling it back with the screwdriver will release the ball. To install, just snap the new ones onto the *****. Took less than 5 minutes to do both sides. I previously installed Strong-Arms, but they only lasted 2 years! The Strong-Arm and Mighty-Lift models appear identical.