Driving down the road, 3/4 of a mile from my house this morning, 50mph,
suddenly my windshield is black. My hood has flown up!
I manage to safely bring the truck to a stop, ease it off the road. I get
out, and the hood hinges on the back are all bent out of shape, I muscle the
hood down so I could see to limp to my grandparents, 300yd down the road.
Once I'm there, I inspect it further, and the right edge of the hood now
sits on the fender. Is there a recall on these latches, or is it a fluke?
I had just vacuumed the truck out before this, and I thought I might have
hit the latch release with my elbow when vacuuming the t-case/driveshaft
hump, but the lever, to disengagae, tilts to the left, and takes quite a bit
of muscle to pull (as anyone with a '96 Dak, or maybe even a Ram, knows), so
I can't believe that I could just bump it enough to disengage the latch
without knowing it, especially on the elbow, a sensitive spot. Even if I
had, though, shouldn't the underhood latch kept it shut? It probably would
have rattled (that was another thing, it didn't rattle at all before it flew
up), but I would think that the latch should have kept it from flying up
like that. This latch is in perfect condition, on inspection. My biggest
problem is, the hinges are bent, I can't close my hood, and I need my truck
for the rest of this week for work, and then next week for school, and my
Dodge stealer needs to special-order the hinges, which will take two weeks,
they say. I can't be truckless for two weeks.
Any info or ideas well appreciated!
-- Later, Jon jonsdak@midmaine.com http://jonsdakota.tripod.com 1996 Dodge Dakota Sport 4X4, 3.9L V6, 42RE, 3.92:1 8.25 axle, "BackRack" Headache Rack, Dodge Motorsports decals, steering wheel cover, and front license plate, diamond-plate bedrail covers, Lund VentVisors, Lund BugShield, Jensen MP-3310 CD/MP3 Receiver, Pioneer TS-G1347's in front, TS-A5713's in rear
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