Do you care if a vehicle's hood has a prop rod?

[Boomer]

Thy rod and thy struts, they comfort me!

 

[Passport1]

This is how they used to do hood (bonnet) struts.

 

[riverblue]

Prop rods are fine by me.

 

[ZZman]

I do prefer the struts on my Avalon

 

[blueglide88]

Doesn't bother me at all. Once you have a strut failure on your hood, you come to appreciate them

 

[UG_Passat]

I'm not Joe Raiti from Raiti's Rides, so I won't zonk a prop rod. Having multiple positions for the Prop Rod is even better

 

[WylieCoyote]

Struts please. Rods get in my way. Interesting to look at Ford vs. GM when it comes to rods and struts. My '11 Camaro and '15 Canyon came with them, the newer Focuses (even the ST) and Mustangs didn't.

 

[Furious]

I don't care really, but if you keep your vehicles long term you will be replacing the hood struts at some point, not that big of a deal considering they range between $20-50 unless of course they fail while you are under the hood.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Don't much care but I refuse to own a car with one or the other not working. Just fix it and move on with your life rather than getting a constant reminder.

 

[UG_Passat]

Strut or spring all day every day, I don't care if I have to replace them.

Once you get used to a strut or spring, you can't go back. I saw a friend of mine taco his hood, as he had been used to having a car with strong springs, and forgot the rod. While I have not personally bent a hood, I have tugged on a hood with a rod before and realized I forgot it.

Replacing the struts every 5-10 years seems like cheap insurance against a bent hood.

Edited to add: You can always cut a nice broom handle to keep in the trunk in case you think your struts might all of a sudden fail on you. I have used these myself in the 90's...

So struts/springs better... but you still have essentially a prop rod as your fail-safe when the strut fails on you?

 

[JTK]

I prefer a prop rod, because like said, at least you can lift the hoods up high on most vehicle's equipped with that. My 2022 Nissan Frontier uses lift struts that are too short and the hood doesn't lift high enough. There are already some aftermarket longer struts available.

 

[dishdude]

Springs were the best, but I don't think any vehicles sold today still use them. Struts are fine, prop rods are ghetto.

I especially dislike the prop rods that come up from the fender, yes they are out of the way but I destroyed a hood on a Corsica a few years ago when I tried to close it and forgot there was a prop rod.

 

[MCompact]

The struts in the Club Sport lasted 23 years; replacements from FCP Euro cost $21.

 

[eljefino]

I prefer prop rods. I've had cars with both gas struts and those garage-door springs built into the hinges. The hinges get rusty and fight you until one folds sideways... that's a fun day. Be sure to hit them with WD-40 before that happens.

My 99 camry, for whatever reason, has the world's heaviest hood and it's on a prop rod.

 

[atikovi]

Prop rods are annoying ALL the time. Struts, only when they fail, maybe every 10 years. And many of them are cheaper than wiper blades that may last a year or two.

 

[repairman54]

Here's a thought, how more prevalent is lack of oil in the motor in prop rod vehicles vs strut or spring hoods.

 

[RooflessVW]

The front of the engine is difficult to work on with a front-hinged hood.

Yeah but they're way cooler

 

[fisher83]

I'm okay with either system. I think a prop rod is plenty sufficient for the job. Funny this conversation popped up as I just ordered all new gas struts for my lift gate and lift gate glass on my Trailblazer today.

 

[atikovi]

If only they were all like older Mercedes. You can position the hood straight up vertical for greater access.

 

[wemay]

Not one bit. It's nice if it has shocks but if not, no issue.