Re: Please help! '96 Dakota hood latch failure?

From: Jon (jonsdak@midmaine.com)
Date: Tue Aug 20 2002 - 17:13:17 EDT


I ordered the hinges, my dad's going to look at it to see if he can bend
them enough to at least shut, so I can drive it to work and school until the
hinges come in. If he succeeds, trust me, a safety wire will be installed
somehow! That's not an experience I want to repeat for the rest of my
natural life.

--
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
<jon@dakota-truck.net> wrote in message
news:aju8ju$pur$1@bent.twistedbits.net...
>
> "Jon" <jonsdak@midmaine.com> wrote:
>
> : 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!
>
>
>   Ouch!   Sorry to hear about that!   The same thing almost happened
> to me in my '96 Dak on the way down to the Nats.  I had popped the hood
> at a gas stop to top off my winshield washer fluid.  I guess I hadn't
> closed the hood securely, because once I got out onto the highway, it
> popped up and started fluttering.  Fortunately, the safety on the latch
> caught it, and I was able to pull over and close the hood firmly.
>
>   When you pull the release in the cab, the main latch will release,
> but there is a spring in there so that the latch catches before the
> hood opens fully (which requires you to reach in with your hand and
> release the catch before you can open the hood).  I'm guessing the
> hood went from fully closed to fully open?  Does the latch move freely?
> Maybe if it were rusted up a bit the spring didn't have enough force
> to move the latch back before the hood passed by the "catch" point.
>
>   As far as using the truck goes, in a pinch you could just unbolt the
> hood and drive around without it.  (Might want to check your local
> laws first.)  At night or when parked, a tarp over the engine bay
> could keep most of the rain off.
>
>   If you know anyone with a torch, it might be possible to heat the
> hinges up and bend them back into place in order to at least get
> the hood to shut and stay shut.
>
>   Another alternative would be to check other dealers for new hinges,
> or on-line salvage yards (see the DML faq for URLs dakota-truck.net/faq)
>
>    Is this covered under an extended warranty or insurance?  If
> so, either of those might cover (or partially cover) the cost of
> a rental car (or truck).
>
>   After reading your post, and after what happened to me on the way
> to the nats, I think I am going to look into rigging up a safety wire,
> from the latch to the truck, that will only allow the hood to open
> up 6" or so.  (Just got to be careful to do it so it doesn't get
> in the way of the fan, probably do it in front of the radiator.)
>
>    Good luck!
>
> --
>
>                                               -Jon-
>
>  .---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or
jon@jonsteiger.com -----.
>  |  I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA.   Rec & UL Pilot - SEL
|
>  | '70 Barracuda, '92 Ram 4x4, '96 Dakota, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly
|
>  `-----------------------------------------
http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'



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