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

From: JAMEPC@aol.com
Date: Tue Aug 20 2002 - 21:54:04 EDT


Jon-
It happened to my '93 also! Here's a couple people parting out their gen II
Dakota's:
ozzyscustoms@yahoo.com
superlift@hotmail.com
There's another one but I already got his hinges (thanks greg)

In a message dated 8/20/2002 3:42:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jonsdak@midmaine.com writes:

> 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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