Hood latch on Jeep Rubicon...

[jeshua]

My co-work has a new Rubicon and a couple weeks ago when he was driving on the freeway the hood started to wobble really bad so much so that he though it was going to fly off. He was driving about 70 mph and wind speeds were about 40 mph. Is there any fix for this like new latches that will keep the hood down nice and tight when at freeway speeds and when the winds pick up?

[jeshua]

Anybody?

[FlyingWil]

I am not aware of this problem... Under the hood there will be two rubber hood adjustments on the the top of the Grill. They are typically black, and look like the back of fat crayon and the pointy side got shoved into a hole. Once you find it you can twist it (no tools needed) this adjusts the pressure on the hood latches, up for more pressure, down for less. It sounds like it just needs a bit more tension.

[David]

I have had the same experience. It happens a lot on 2 lane roads with passing trucks. I thought I saw a strap that would anchor the hood but cant find where that was. The hood is not going to come loose but it sure gets your attention when it moves.
David

[toms]

This is a common problem with the new JK wrangler 07-08 hood tie downs (includes Rubicon). I have also expereinced the flutter on my 98 TJ in a heavy wind at highway speeds. I thought I had forgot to connect the latches!

Day Star has addressed the problem for the JK. They introduced after market tie downs at SEMA last october. They call it the Hood Wrangler. The price is about $25.00. Their web site is http://www.daystarweb.com

This link should take you directly tot he hood Wranglers:
http://www.daystarweb.com/ItemForm.aspx ... 24c47b15bd

While we are talking about Day Star - they introduced two other products for the JK - an upper dash panel and a lower dash/ switch panel. Both looked like they could be useful depending on your needs.

Here are some pictures I took in March at the Off-Road Impact show.

[FlyingWil]

I have had the same experience. It happens a lot on 2 lane roads with passing trucks. I thought I saw a strap that would anchor the hood but cant find where that was. The hood is not going to come loose but it sure gets your attention when it moves.
David

Did you try the adjusters? Just wondering if that worked out...

[jeshua]

thank you guys you all rock.

Toms the day star straps looks perfect I will show him that tomorrow at work.

Will I don't think those little snubs will do any good as the hood tries to lift up when the wind picks up, adjusting those things out more would only make the hood sit out of alignment and not bang back down as far when the wind drops the hood back down, at lest from my understanding.

[LemonTwist]

You can also do what I do, 11" black zip tie wrapped around the rubber part of the latches, adjusted to allow the hood latches to just clamp on, but no stretch allowed. I also removed the hood spring whose only purpose was to make the hood lift easier when opening. Works fine and cheap too, just like me

[cruiserlarry]

Anybody?

I have worked on hundreds of Jeeps over the past 25 years, and have never seen a working latch fail.
I would guess the hood bump stops are incorrectly adjusted, or the latch wasn't securely attached. The latches do not have much "stretch" to them, so maybe the latch itself is broken...Glad to hear the hood didn't come loose at freeway speeds, though, or this post would have a different tone....