Grimmspeed hood strut review
 

I upgraded from some generic hood struts that are available for our cars to the GrimmSpeed ones recently and thought that I'd write a little review.

Once I saw that hood struts were available for our cars I knew that it would be an upgrade I wanted. The hood prop is functional, but is really something that I felt needed to be upgraded.

Here's some photos of them installed on my car.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8226/8...27a9ae71_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8515/8...8c8f514c_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8102/8...caa342c2_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8371/8...f786cee0_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8365/8...3c192a03_m.jpg
2013-02-01_15-08-56_95 by adventures with bob, on Flickr
2013-02-01_15-09-05_951 by adventures with bob, on Flickr
2013-02-01_15-09-11_538 by adventures with bob, on Flickr
2013-02-01_15-09-15_780 by adventures with bob, on Flickr
2013-02-01_15-09-23_989 by adventures with bob, on Flickr

They worked ok for holding the hood up while I worked in the engine compartment, but the mounts didn't really look as finished as I would have liked.

The other issue with them was that their spring rate was too high for the hood on this car. If you released the hood and didn't control the rise with your hand the hood would accelerate while rising then suddenly stop moving causing the mounts to flex and make a pretty decent amount of noise as seen and heard in the following videos.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4QSdJoJuG8"]generic_fr-s/brz_hood_struts_lower_mount_movement_on_lift_video _0 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt8XOd25gu8"]generic_fr-s/brz_hood_struts_lower_mount_movement_on_lift_video _1 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg6u8y1hElU"]generic_fr-s/brz_hood_struts_upper_mount_movement_on_lift_video _0 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI3aHBVtM18"]generic_fr-s/brz_hood_struts_upper_mount_movement_on_lift_video _1 - YouTube[/ame]

Given all of this I was thinking that I'd keep my eyes out for another hood strut product in the hopes that someone else would design a better part for this task.

After a while @GrimmSpeed started a thread (http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22658) stating that they were trying to guage any interest in a hood strut product from them. Given the quality of the oil cap, battery tie down, and master cylinder brace parts that I had already purchased from them I watched the thread to see what they might come up with.

After a bit of discussion in the thread, I decided to commit to buying a set for my car. A bit later they announced that the parts were ready to ship, and I got more excited. :thumbup:

A couple of weeks ago my struts had arrived, and after a bit of waiting ;) I had all of the necessary parts.

Last week I made some time in the afternoon to install the new struts, and took a few pictures and some videos during the process.

Here's some shots of the struts pre-assembled.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8107/8...2673f0a0_m.jpg
2013-02-01_15-24-21_431 by adventures with bob, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8515/8...36e1f35f_m.jpg
2013-02-01_15-24-13_887 by adventures with bob, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8235/8...d30a5eb4_m.jpg
2013-02-01_15-23-45_415 by adventures with bob, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8...a5aa728f_m.jpg
2013-02-01_15-23-39_971 by adventures with bob, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8094/8...2f42bd20_m.jpg
2013-02-01_15-23-33_551 by adventures with bob, on Flickr

The mounts and damper are of high quality, and you can see that they were designed for this car. Note the rubber grommets in this photo 2013-02-01_15-24-13_887. I mention these as they are part of what makes the GrimmSpeed product superior to the previous product I had as they keep the upper mount from deflecting during movement.

Here's a video comparing the two different products, passenger's side is generic unit, driver's is the GrimmSpeed part.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Z2ehBmYks"]Grimmspeed hood dampers compared to generic hood dampers - YouTube[/ame]

Here's a final video showing the GrimmSpeed parts on both sides. Notice how the movement is controlled and there is no clunking at the top end of the travel from the mounts shifting.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLIUqV3ZKiE"]YouTube[/ame]

Overall I'd say that this part is well designed, has an excellent finish, and is superior in performance to the other part I had on my car. I'm pleased.

:thanks:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/adventu...ob/8459027761/

Nice comparison review. Certainly clear that the Grimmspeed unit is far better.

That last vid didn't work for me, it said it was private...

Yea, nice vid comparison. I didn't like the look of the other brands so I held out and glad I did. The Grimmspeed one is pretty damn nice. Looks like it came factory.... In fact, it's something so simple and clean that I think the new models coming out should outsource to Grimmspeed and come OEM.

Anybody try the greddy ones?

I've been thinking about picking up a pair of hood struts. Now I know which ones to look for. Thanks for the review.

Great detailed review.. WhatAbout !
take care

my grim struts on order. Liked the idea of no prop bar, even thou it is really not that big a deal to work around.

Fixed, sorry about that. :party0030:

The ones I had were the same as the Greddy ones.

i picked up the "Gimmick" struts, and they pretty much have the same design as your generic ones except for the body brackets included were bolted on with 2 bolts instead of one.

Interesting your mounts are different. Can you take and post some photos?

I may invest in these... my brother was teasing me that he had them on the FJ, while I still had the bar.

Grimm Speed Struts - Excellent !
 

I ordered a set on the group buy, have installed them, and can personally recommend them to all.

They are excellent, period ! Smooth, functional, great fit & finish....need I say more ?

Order a set and you won't be disappointed. :thumbup:

This review is spot on. The Grimmspeed struts are top quality...

but if anyone is interested I have the "other" struts for sale.. haha.