SuperTek Hood Damper Review/Troubleshoot
 

So I just picked these up from FT86SpeedFactory for about 70 bucks and just finished installing them today. It's roughly about a 30 min install as with most hood dampers. I did run into some issue that I'd like to share with anyone trying to pick these up.

The pictures included in the installation instructions were a little hard to see because they were in black and white and the details got lost in the pixels. You should be able to figure it out after a double take. (Reserved for future picture)

The instructions state that you should install the upper and lower brackets first before you install the dampers but I found it impossible to "simply click" them in with my hands so I tried pliers. Well doing that bent the retaining spring(?) so I found it easier to remove said spring with some pliers.

http://i.imgur.com/Gel4GuF.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/InSXMYg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/W1w1CuV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/aZM6KI0.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ruWXdN2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2z23zGM.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GBSCGId.jpg

Afterwards I was able pop the dampers on and reinstall the spring/clip/retainer/whatever the fudge.

http://i.imgur.com/Enn69aW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/B22bL2g.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8HB4wpE.jpg
So while I was fiddling with the install I accidentally pulled off the carbon fiber doohicky. Not a big deal

[ame="http://youtu.be/GyL_nTKmFaE"]http://youtu.be/GyL_nTKmFaE[/ame]

REVIEW
It's a little too early to tell how long these will last, but they're a little wonky. The way it mounts on gives the brackets a little side to side play while you're ratcheting the bolts down. They do look a tad weak, like if I met some kind of resistance going down, they would snap. The hood does close properly and it seems to work as intended. Only time will tell now.

TL;DR
So far so good. Get it if you wanna save 20 bucks instead of getting the Rexpeed. Instructions suck but you'll figure it out.

I have the Grimspeed struts for my BRZ and they seem pretty solid. It seems like the strut and mount quality is a toss-up and hard to judge from company to company. I've got a different brand on the STI. They're stiffer and not nearly as nice as the Grimspeed struts.

Well I've never had hood dampers on any car I've owned and these are my first set. I can already tell where the standards might be lower in some parts of the construction compared to other brands, like using plastic vs metal caps. Without owning the Grimmspeeds, and using product pictures for comparison, they look more sturdier and have more flair, where mine tries to mimic the competition. Grimmspeed = Volk TE37 SuperTek = Rota Grids

Hi,

Thanks for the review. We tested the durabilty for over 6 months on our test car without issue. In our opinion they are of as good quality as competing hood damper kits. Our kit actually has more metal components than some comparable competitors. With that said, it looks like we should relook at possibly revising instructions.

Well I appreciate you acknowledging the (hopefully constructive) criticism. It's not a big deal, but for noobs like me I can't function without pictures. I'd be the next Steven Hawking if theoretical physics textbooks had colorful cartoons and talking bears. As far as the unit itself, I mean I have no initial qualms and it works just fine out of the box. It does what it's supposed to do and that's more than enough for me.

Thank you again.

It's sooo nice being able to open the hood with a single finger and not have to work around the stupid support rod.

Seeing this helped me a ton... I got a kit from FT86speedfactory but it came without instructions...

it's a 10 minute install once you know where everything goes.

May I know who have a digital copy of the installation instruction as it doesn't come with any. Thanks

how are they holding up?

Honestly I'm not under my hood often enough to put a lot of use into it, but they're holding up just like the day I bought them.

This is probably too late for some people but here's the install video from FT-86 Speed Factory.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1744261

I was going to say we have a full install video on the website. :)

PITA to install
 

Getting past that retainer clip is a b1tch and really a pain in the @$$ had these for about 8 mos already and until now havent been able to put them on. if you remove the retainer clip and attached the brackets to the damper itself, its even harder to put back on the retainer clip, and i dont want to risk using it without that thing that holds it from separating with the bracket, the install video states that you just pop the hood dampers in with the brackets, even the hulk himself couldnt just pop them in that easily. I was able to install one bracket to the damper but with alot of hammering and it doesnt look nice at all and i dont want to ghetto install the rest so i just gave up on it, looking back i would have picked another brand, it may be more expensive but the hassle plus i dont get to use it in the end is really not worth it for the few bucks i saved.:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown: