Here in the cold Minnesota every spring I have to go and replace the hood struts on my Camaro because they no longer keep the hood open. does anybody know of an alternative to them, or a trick to keep them from going bad? I tried leaving the hood open like someone had told me to do, but the next thing I know I went out to the garage and the hood was down because they gave out. does anybody think taking them off for the winter and leaving them inside would work?

 

Do yours not work when the weather warms back up? Mine work fine as long as it isn't cold outside, same with my hatch struts.

Warm weather = good. Cold weather = bad.

 

nope even when the weather warms up they are still toast for the life of me I can't remember the manufacturer of them

 

A trick I've seen a few folks use at car shows to keep the hood up - they get a mini C-clamp and clamp it on the strut when it's opened, thus it can't come down. I've also seen folks use a small pipe cutter (like you'd use on brake lines) and just tighten it on the strut rod enough to hold in place.

Yeah - they usually work in warm weather and not in cold - when it warms back up they'll function again like normal. Its a PITA - but to work under the hood without having a broomstick to get in the way and get knocked out, try a pair of something like I mentioned.

 

Hmmm - sounds like bad quality - we need a shock manufacturer to make a nice $100 oil infused set like a small mono-shock from a mountain bike.

 

Oh I use the vise grip trick all the time. I have owned this car off and on since I was 15 and now I am 32 and I would love to have just one set last through the winter. the funny thing is I have never had to replace the ones for the rear hatch