At 129K miles, my struts wouldn't hold the hood up anymore. I read all that I could find on here regarding replacing them, and was more confused than ever. People were using dremels and hammers and cutting things. I ended up buying Strongarm 4161's from Amazon for $30.02 delivered. They did not come with the new ball bolts. I squirted a little light oil on the old *****/sockets and just popped them off. Took the new ones, put some oil on those and popped them on with my fist. The Stronarms are exact replacements at least on my 02. Now when I get the hood half way up, they push the hood up the rest of the way.

 

link please

 

I was interested so I looked it up:

http://www.amazon.com/StrongArm-4161...4963448&sr=8-1

 

Good find, them things usually cost $40+ each

 

advance auto website with a coupon code for 17 bucks for both not just 1

 

weve been using StrongArm in the 4th gen section for quite a while. ive had mine for about 3 years and they have held up great

 

what coupon code did you use? and what was the part #

 

my apologies I just checked my order history and I actually paid 27 including tax not 17 for mine after using a code(you can pm me if you want it)

Part No. D4161(picture you see is generic)

 

Just get them off of eBay. Should be around $20 shipped for both.

 

This. I purchased these for my 5th and VisciousMo is using the same brand (different part #) on his 4th. I believe they were about 25 for both after my coupon code, but I purchased a few other things with them for the better discount. They work exactly as intended. Install took about 2 minutes. The PLUS is that these can be locally replaced for free if they start sagging. Ebay and most internet sites can't.

 

I just purchased a set of those from rockauto.com about 2 hours ago

 

I just checked e-bay and found Stronarms for a Gen 5 for 21.80 for one plus shipping. Not a great deal. When I went to my local Advanced Auto store, they wanted $23 and change for one plus tax. That's why I went home and bought it on Amazon. Came in two days.

 

If you're going to purchase from Advance, you need to plan ahead. Purchase online with a coupon code and choose to pick up at your local store. Win. Otherwise, you wasted a trip or spent too much. I'll reiterate that it is difficult, if not impossible, to get free replacements under warranty from online dealers. If one is ok without that, they probably don't mind the difference of a ten dollar bill between vendors anyway. Some items I buy online exclusively, some I exclusively buy locally. The hood struts just happen to fall under the latter.

 

Strongarms are Strongarms no matter where you get them. I figure if one fails, I can buy another on Amazon for what I saved. I'm pretty sure these will last longer than I have will the car.

 

Just received the Strongarm 4161 struts from Amazon, and will install as soon as the weather warms up. 27 degrees in Austin, TX - WTH!!


I ordered from Amazon , for $16 apiece, and when I checked out, a promo discount was automatically applied to my cart. Some weird amt, $25.67 or something, so I ended up paying around $6 for the pair. Nice.

 

Thanks for the link. I added them to my Amazon Wish List for when I need them.

I also found these push type retainer clips which I can use. I think they are a great price for the amount you get.

 

People aren't kidding when they say these are easy to install. The old ones pop right off, and the new ones pop right on - the whole process took maybe 5mins. I would recommend having a helper though - it makes it a lot easier if someone else is holding up the hood in the right position to accept the new ones. Best $6 I ever spent!

 

It sucks that I don't get a promo discount on checkout.

 

Yeah, it was weird. It said nothing about a discount on the ad, and it didn't say what it was for. Maybe I passed some milestone spend on Amazon. I have Amazon Prime - maybe that was something to do with it. Even at $16 apiece, it's still a good deal, especially when you consider the Nissan OEM ones are $104 apiece!