Thanks Jeff,
I'll keep that in mind, but miraculously, my hood and windshield are fine,
except that the bottom edge of the hood is bent in a couple spots.
The biggest thing is the hood hinges, which I ordered. The guy I talked to
when I ordered them, from the same dealership I called before, said they'd
be in in three days.
When my dad got home, we went and retrieved the truck, strapped the hood
down as far as it'd go, and he drove it home and I followed in his car.
Once we got here, we took the hood off and got to work, which leads me to
another question: how do you get the wiper blades off (knuckles and all)?
The hinges bent back and scratched the metal piece between the back of the
hood and the windshield, and in trying to bend the hinges to conformity, we
scratched it some more, so when the new hinges come in and I have the hood
off again, I'm going to pull that piece off and repaint it.
After much grunting and cursing, we managed to get the hood to almost close,
far enough down to engage the first latch, which is, by the way, the reason
for this whole fiasco, we found. The latch and spring is all rusted, and
stuck open last time I opened the hood. I _must_ have bumped the latch when
I vacuumed the truck, and the secondary latch was useless, as it was stuck
open. That explains why the hood came up, instead of fluttering.
So now, there's a severly unattractive, but functional, tie-down strap that
runs around the latch, then around the spring, and down onto the air dam on
the bumper, holding the front of the hood down.
It's driveable, but my truck is messed up. Hopefully once I get the new
hinges on, and paint that piece, she'll be good again. I lubed the latch,
and it works now, but I still think I'll replace it.
Thanks all,
-- 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 ""Jeff Durling"" <jdurling@directvinternet.com> wrote in message news:002101c2489c$8b182a70$0201a8c0@Gate... > > Jon, > > If you need a new hood use the parts finder places to see if you can find > one. I don't think there were any changes for the '91 to '96 models years so > the hinge mounts and latch should all be the same. I know I have found many > dakota parts in teh past this way. It shouldn't be that expensive to sjip a > hood if needed. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jon" <jonsdak@midmaine.com> > To: <dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net> > Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 5:13 PM > Subject: Re: DML: Please help! '96 Dakota hood latch failure? > > > > > > I ordered the hinges, my dad's going to look at it to see if he can bend > > them enough to at least shut, so I can drive it to work and school until > the > > hinges come in. If he succeeds, trust me, a safety wire will be installed > > somehow! That's not an experience I want to repeat for the rest of my > > natural life. > > > > -- > > Later, > > Jon > > jonsdak@midmaine.com > > http://jonsdakota.tripod.com > > 1996 Dodge Dakota Sport 4X4, 3.9L V6, 42RE, 3.92:1 8.25 axle, "BackRack" > > Headache Rack, Dodge Motorsports decals, steering wheel cover, and front > > license plate, diamond-plate bedrail covers, Lund VentVisors, Lund > > BugShield, Jensen MP-3310 CD/MP3 Receiver, Pioneer TS-G1347's in front, > > TS-A5713's in rear > > <jon@dakota-truck.net> wrote in message > > news:aju8ju$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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