thespeedline.com genpu hood strut kit

After reading the awesome review of thespeedline.com genwin hood strut kit by @SharksInSpace I decided to try out the genpu kit for my speed. for $67.40 shipped to my door they're relatively inexpensive and arrived after only 4 days from Taiwan!

The instructions that come with it are pretty awful so here's the basics:

1. Open the hood and support with ye old factory prop rod.

2. Remove the rear-most bolt from the hood hinge and re-install it using the supplied washer and bracket (marked L for driver side, R for passenger if you're in the US).


3. Remove the front-most fender bolt (should be near the headlight) and install the supplied small bolt, washer and bracket.


4. Prepare the dampers for install - This part was completely missing from the included instructions so if you're installing this it should save you some time. You need to actuate the dampers (an inch or two is fine) by hand since sometimes they get stuck if they've been sitting for a long time or if they are never actuated by the factory. I held the damper by the body and pushed the other end into a 4x4 block of wood. Finally add some grease to the ball sockets so they don't fill with water and corrode or freeze. I used Napa Sil-Glyde (silicone grease) for mine but really probably anything that's somewhat water resistant is fine.

5. Attach the dampers to the hood hinge brackets. You can usually just push these on with a little persuasion but if its too difficult you can use a small flat head screwdriver to pry the metal clip up about 1/8" from the back of the ball socket and get it to pop on.

6. Moment of truth time! Support the hood with your hand and put the factory prop rod back into its storage position. raise the hood until the damper socket lines up with the ball stud on the fender and wiggle it on there. Repeat for the other side.

7. Double check that everything clears ok by slowly lowering the hood and listening and watching for areas with tight clearances (notably the windshield cowling and rear hood seal. But if everything is good cycle the hood open and closed a few times to make sure the dampers are operating ok and enjoy.

Overall its pretty nice kit; you don't have to drill any holes in your hood, it opens a little further (5.3 degrees according to my cheap angle gauge) and its relatively cheap.


On the slight downside though, compared to oem hood dampers (usually full height in 1-3 seconds) these are pretty slow and can take 10-15 seconds to reach full height if you raise them only to the point where they support themselves. They may speed up after using them a few times. I'll update this review in a month or so if I see any improvement.

If you're thinking about getting a set, go for it and pickup any other goodies you like there since shipping is a killer.

 

[doublepost=1485044581][/doublepost]I didn't think to grease the balljoints on my kit...hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass later, haha.

 

I'd get that done soon especially if your speed lives out doors. I have dampers on my truck canopy that were only a few months old and we had a cold snap. I went to open the canopy and found both dampers were disconnected due to the sockets being split apart. Could be just shitty plastics but the amount of ice I found inside the socket pieces makes me think that the expanding force of water freezing shattered them.

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Shiiiiit. Good lookin' out, man.

I forget if I mentioned it in my thread, but I did pop the clips out on one of the struts before I realized that just a bit of force was enough to get the socket over the joint with the clips in place...they were actually a pretty big pain in the ass, surprisingly (the clips didn't come straight out but rather shifted/rotated to the side, blocking the joint from being able to enter until I persuaded them back into place with some pliers), so I'm not looking forward to doing that again in order to grease them.

 

Just a quick update. After a few heat cycles and open/closing they are a lot faster now and close to OEM struts in that they open in about 2-3 seconds.

 

@nekret; you got a link to these gen2 strut kit? Looked on their site and can't seem to find them

 

It's here, I'm not sure I'd recommend them though as the dampers seem to have gotten slow again. The brackets are solid though so I may try to just get some different dampers.
http://www.thespeedline.com/09-mazda3-hood-bonnet-damper-lifter/

 

Mine are going strong, fwiw

 

Did you get the gen2 kit?

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juan, but I'm assuming the struts are probably the same in both kits.

 

I have a hoodscoop blockoff plate since I'm FMIC and I want to keep the engine bay cleaner. I wonder if they have a higher-capacity shock option. My hood has an extra 10-15lbs on it...

 

Could always use the brackets and source your own struts

 

15lbs for a block off kit? Wtf

 

It's a solid aluminum plate that will not flex in 150+mph conditions.
[doublepost=1490044918][/doublepost]

http://www.dfwmazdas.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=13754

 

Interesting... That's what a regular 3 hood is for

 

I think you also need to change out the fenders and bumper to make everything line up right. I always wanted to see someone use their non-functional scoop as an inlet for the air box kind of like the corksport ram air kit but with the typical SRI location... maybe something to try and build this summer.

 

Perhaps, but @nekret raises an excellent point. I don't think it's a simple swap. Also, I want some air going in there, just not nearly as much, especially dumping right on top of my purrrrty PC'd black VC. Also, I have channels/vents still flowing fresh/cool air over the EM/turbo. I also like the look of the scoop, especially since I one-of-a-kind customized it. Finally, wanna guess the price difference between an OEM 3 hood painted Celestial Blue Mica and my solution? LOL

Finally, I can create some ducting with the driver's side of the venting down there and have it dumping cool air right on my intake, if I want; just haven't undertaken the project. Besides, with methanol, there's really no point.

 

Fair now can we get back to the actual thread? I realize I'm mainly to blame for the derailment

 

Just picked up a set of these now that I have a genpu; I always really appreciated having them inatalled on the juan. I found them being sold on ebay under the name SokieTech and swooped them for like $45 shipped; they're identical to the kit from speedline.

The struts were pretty well frozen out of the box, I couldn't hand actuate them at all and had to use the weight of the hood to break them loose after mounting them on the brackets; we'll see if that impacts their length of life or not but they have enough strength to them right now that they'll lift the hood themselves once I have it about halfway up -- something my juan set never did.

Install took literally like five minutes, including getting out and putting away the sockets. Highly recommend getting a set of these.

p.s. fuck Redline

 

Once you go hood strut it’s hard to go back. Really makes a difference and frees up working around the hood prop. With that, I’ve found that when the struts age and in below 0 temps the strut won’t stay up. I’d keep the hood prop installed if anyone sees negative temps.