Lmc hood braces

[chrismoore701]

Anybody ever used these? Folded my hood tonight. See the pic on the way the truck looks minutes before I did and imagine the pit in my stomach

[burban nate]

I personally wouldn't use them, they turn the hood into a guillotine in a front end collision.

Nate

[Tom]

I just welded some 1/4" thick pieces of metal plate under the hood in those spots.

[chrismoore701]

Originally Posted by burban nate

I personally wouldn't use them, they turn the hood into a guillotine in a front end collision.

Nate

Do you know what my options are? One of those things. Once bent once it will bend again

[chrismoore701]

Originally Posted by burban nate

I personally wouldn't use them, they turn the hood into a guillotine in a front end collision.

Nate

Do you know what my options are? One of those things. Once bent once it will bend again

[burban nate]

If it were mine, I'd find a different/new hood and paint it. Also making sure the hinges are free and properly lubricated.

My dad was a tow truck operator for 15 years. He saw many of these trucks that had some sort of brace on the hood in a front end collision the hood would cut the roof off at the A-pillars. So for that reason I'll never use them.

Nate

[Front Range]

Originally Posted by burban nate

My dad was a tow truck operator for 15 years. He saw many of these trucks that had some sort of brace on the hood in a front end collision the hood would cut the roof off at the A-pillars.

Nate

Good to know, I never gave that any thought.

[chrismoore701]

What about stressing the braces. Or grind a notch in them at the crumpe zone?

[chrismoore701]

It's not that ad. As long as I can baby it for the remainder of its life

[chrismoore701]

Lubed the hell out of the hinges and now the hood almost falls closed. Did not realize how temperamental those hinges were

[Jaysonb]

I did the same thing right after I painted my 80 k10. Made me sick! It pushed back down fine, and didn't seem to do any damage. Now I make sure to lube up the hinges often, and I did buy the brace kit from lmc. I have not put it in yet, but I will. You just have to remember to duck fast if you crash.

[Pontiac1976]

Ouch: lubrication in all the pivot areas. To clean the pivot area use WD-40 then work the hood then re-lube them every 8 to 12 months. and this should never happen again.

[95 S_Trucker]

The hood is not the problem. It is the hinges. You can put 7 new hoods on and you will still bend them unless you address the hinges.

[chrismoore701]

My cousin told me to push the hood down and back, never pull

[chrismoore701]

But now I have a bow in it. I would love to get rid of that

[Front Range]

I used a brace kit on my 79 and it' still there, I just never thought about any potential side effects. I suppose the upside of having your head sliced off is that your Wife can set it up on the shelf next to your balls.

When I bowed mine I used a 2x4 laid across the fenders in front of then bend and applied light pressure on the bends. Once it was straight I used the braces because it was weak. I did pick up a spare hood eventually though and will replace the bent one. I imagine a lot of people use brace kits, I'm not sure how many shelf mounted heads are out there.

Like the man above said, if you wreck you better duck quick.

[chrismoore701]

another option I could do, that I do not want to. straighten out with the 2x4 as mentioned above, no big deal. But to avoid this from happening again, just remove the springs and use broom stick to hold it up. I think that will look like crap at the shows

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Pontiac1976

Ouch: lubrication in all the pivot areas. To clean the pivot area use WD-40 then work the hood then re-lube them every 8 to 12 months. and this should never happen again.

WD-40 will free it up but it's not a lubricant any more than PB-Blaster, Liquid Wrench, or Kroil... All of which will free up stuck parts.

Get a real hinge lubricant courtesy of modern chemistry. Wurth HHS-2000/HHS-K adhesive lubricant. Get it online. Or. You can probably buy it locally from a BMW, Mercedes, or Porsche dealership. I heard about it from one of my friends that collects Corvettes that heard about it from his Porsche mechanic.
It's incredible stuff. It sprays on thin like WD-40 and flows into the deep dark crevices, like hinge pins, using a volatile solvent carrier that flashes off in a few seconds leaving a thick adhesive lube behind.

I use Wurth HHS on hood hinges, door hinges, door locks, door latches, glovebox latches, ignition cylinders, and the tailgate latch and hinges.
Since it doesn't attract dirt I also use it on battery cable ends, ground stacks, fuse/relay panels, and unsealed electrical connectors like the H4 headlamp plugs. My 2005 VW Jetta electrical panels, battery terminals, and open ground stacks (I treated them a week after I brought it home) look new... no corrosion.

Blaster Spray Lithium grease, that you can get from Home Depot, works OK on hinges and latches but it looks like crap, it sits on the surface and doesn't flow into the pins etc, and it collects dirt.

I wouldn't use braces unless decapitation in an accident is on your bucket list. The hood really will cut right through the A pillars, I've seen it, extremely unpleasant. Your neck and chest is considerably softer than the A pillars. Not my first choice in a way to check out.

[chrismoore701]

Originally Posted by chrismoore701

It's not that ad. As long as I can baby it for the remainder of its life

Is there anything I can do to prolong the life of the hood. You can see from the image above, the damage is very minimal

[allengator]

If it were mine, I would consider using a very small brace just across the damaged area...
Lets face it, if we are REALLY that concerned for safety we wouldn't drive 40 year old trucks with no airbags and a fuel tank mounted outside the frame rails!
Its a personal choice as to the risk you are willing to accept...
but then again, I ride a motorcycle too...

[cadillac_al]

I always use motor oil on hood hinges. It's a little messy but I read it in a GM owners manual years ago. I can see using WD 40 first if they are rusty or very dry. I have never bent a hood but it must take a little bit of force I would think.

[Front Range]

Maybe a lower tension hood spring similar to these?

Only downside I've read about is getting thwacked if your under the hood when a breeze comes up.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by allengator

If it were mine, I would consider using a very small brace just across the damaged area...
Lets face it, if we are REALLY that concerned for safety we wouldn't drive 40 year old trucks with no airbags and a fuel tank mounted outside the frame rails!
Its a personal choice as to the risk you are willing to accept...
but then again, I ride a motorcycle too...

It's a matter of degrees. Rear ending the semi-trailer you were just tailgating in a 78 Corvette will be just as unpleasant. Front end collisions are the lion's share of accidents. The hood is designed to keep you more alive than you could be otherwise when you kiss a tree or wall or any other heavy object at 35mph or better. If the hood bends I'll walk away or at least crawl. I choose to not tempt fate on that level.
I ride motorcycles at high rates of speed with glasses and a bandanna... So it's a bit of a double standard.
OTOH any serious accident on a bike over about 50mph is really not something I want to survive. The brain bucket is the difference between open and closed casket.

The saddle gas tank issue? It was BS. NBC had to use a model rocket motor to ignite the tank in their "News" entertainment show crash. They were sued for this colossal LIE by GM and THEY LOST.
Several reputable engineering firms have since looked over the available data and came to the conclusion that these GM CK RV trucks actually had a slightly lower, or evenly matched, probability of gasoline immolation in a side impact accident when compared to other light trucks built in that time period... using real accident statistics from the NTSB and IIHS.

My 1970 F250 FE390 4x4 has the factory fuel tank mounted behind my seat in the cab. It's covered by a non factory chunk of trunk liner carpet. That's a heckuva lot more dangerous than the saddle tanks on my 1976 K20. Anyone with a 72 or earlier IH, Jeep, GM, or Dodge light truck has the same problem... some of them were mounted in the cab till the late 70's.

My 1969 IH Scout 800A had what amounted to two saddle tanks right behind the seats just forward of the wheels and outside the frame.

[chrismoore701]

I am looking for just a little extra support. As mentioned above the damage is slight. But don't want it to get worse. I used a lithium spray and the hood wants to fall closed now. Really wished I did this before yesterday. You can see from the first pic there is a slight bow in the hood. This was there before then bend so it was bound to happen. I am thinking of doing the 2x4 trick to straighten it out. I am thinking maybe some thin gauge sheet metal attached with some self tapping screws. Not real heavy duty. Something that will hold things in place but still bend in an accident. Thoughts?

[cadillac_al]

Originally Posted by hatzie

The saddle gas tank issue? It was BS. NBC had to use a model rocket motor to ignite the tank in their "News" entertainment show crash. They were sued for this colossal LIE by GM and THEY LOST.
Several reputable engineering firms have since looked over the available data and came to the conclusion that these GM CK RV trucks actually had a slightly lower, or evenly matched, probability of gasoline immolation in a side impact accident when compared to other light trucks built in that time period... using real accident statistics from the NTSB and IIHS.

My 1970 F250 FE390 4x4 has the factory fuel tank mounted behind my seat in the cab. It's covered by a non factory chunk of trunk liner carpet. That's a heckuva lot more dangerous than the saddle tanks on my 1976 K20. Anyone with a 72 or earlier IH, Jeep, GM, or Dodge light truck has the same problem... some of them were mounted in the cab till the late 70's.

My 1969 IH Scout 800A had what amounted to two saddle tanks right behind the seats just forward of the wheels and outside the frame.

We just had 2 crashes up here last week where a pickup truck hit a tree and caught fire. Both guys died too. The new fuel systems aren't perfectly safe either.