One great mod I did on my 2005 Tacoma was removing the stupid 1950's-ish hood bar and installing struts. My Tundra came with them. I've been researching if a strut kit exists for our Gen 4 Prius but not having much luck...even on EBay (which I only search when in desperation). Maybe because our design leaves no room along the edges for placing a connection? Or maybe I'm missing something? Anybody have them and want to help a brother out?
I was in the opposite camp, I wanted to go retro and take the simple approach. I tried looking for a hood support rod for my 2010 Toyota Camry when the gas support struts went bad long ago but was unable to find anything. An appropriately sized length of wood served its purpose to prop the hood open for many years, until I finally installed replacement gas charged struts when my son started driving the car as a daily driver. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Funny you should ask about this. I actually just received my set and didn't realize I can't use it with my Cusco strut bar. But they do make a kit. I'm still debating whether I'll remove my strut bar to install. https://hybridpit.com/prius-50-series-exclusive-bonnet-damper-kit-toyota-prius-2016-2021.html Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Thanks, JTERAN5! I didn't have that website in my list...they are now! After looking at their picture, it seems our Prius have pre-drilled mounting holes where those go...great idea!
A FYI for folks....even though it seems our Prius is pre-drilled with mounts for the struts, Toyota parts said they do NOT have Toyota OEM Struts or mounts lists for installing them. Must've been a miscommunication between the design engineers and the production team. Anyway, I got my black pair ordered from Hybrid Pit.
After a lengthy shipping delay off the coast of California (made in Japan), my strut kit came in from Hybrid Pit. But the lower brackets are positioned wrong and don't connect with the struts. They are looking for the right ones. If they can't find any, I'm thinking of re-engineering the ones I got to make them face the correct way for use. (They have tabs that go down and are in the wrong place...so would have to remove them, probably just pound the flat, and find a way to secure the bracket so it didn't move when the struts do their thing.
Update: Was not able to get those lower brackets repositioned to get them to work. Hybrid Pit also had their folks trying to figure out something but was not. Returning them to them for a full refund. They were nice enough to pay for return shipping...so kudos for that!
Mine are still in the packaging. Haven't bothered to try them yet lol. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Yup. The air struts tend to vary a lot in their willingness to assist and support depending on the temperature and then they finally just give out. I've had a few of them do that. But the simple hood prop? Somehow, it doesn't seem to care how old or cold it is.
