MMD Bolt On Hood Strut Kit; Black (99-04 All)

Video Review & Installation

Hey, guys. Adam here with americanmuscle.com. And today we're taking a closer look at, and of course, installing the MMD Bolt On Hood Strut Kit in Black, fitting all '99 to '04 Mustangs. In exchange for these modernized updated hood struts, they're gonna make your life a whole lot easier opening your hood and give you a lot more room to work on your engine. Now, we all know whenever we're popping the hood, we're of course, either working on it or showing it off and either way, you don't want the ugly hood prop in the way front and center at your hood latch. It can get in the way when you're trying to work on it leaning over the front end of your vehicle making you reposition into a spot you don't wanna be in. And when you're at a car show showing off the underhood dress up or whatever you got going on, a blower, so on and so forth, you, of course, want something clean, modern, and updated.These MMD hood struts are black. They blend in so well with the engine bay and they make opening your hood a breeze. All you got to do is flip that latch and push up and the hood struts do the rest. We all know the factory hood on these New Edges are pretty heavy so this can make life a lot easier. These guys come in black, there are two gas-powered struts included in the kit with four brackets, two for each side. They reuse the factory hood bracket locations at the top and your factory fender bolt on the bottom. So, no drilling, no modifications. You can put these guys on and off as you please, and it's very very simple. Now, one thing I really like about these hoods struts aside from the actual use of them and get rid of that prop, I like the fact that they are just a plain gloss black finish. There's no branding, no logos everywhere in your face, nothing that sticks out like a sore thumb. These guys really just blend in and look super clean.Now, these come in right around 80 bucks which is one of the most affordable options in the category here. If you're not a black fan, there is a polished or a chrome option out there for you if you wanna make it stand out a little bit more. And of course, there's other brands out there in the category too that have branding on the side. So, really it comes down to what you're looking for. If you're looking for a clean, stealthy look, the MMD option here is a good way to go.Now, the install is gonna get one out of three wrenches on our difficulty meter. Anybody can install this on their factory hood in about 30 minutes in the driveway at home with very simple hand tools. Now, one thing I do wanna note before we get started here, guys, if you do not have a factory hood, if you have an aftermarket cowl hood whether it be fiberglass or carbon fiber, whatever the case may be, these will work for those aftermarket hoods. You just wanna make sure that they reuse the same factory locations that you're factory hood did. So, if they're using that same bracket, the same studs, and the same bottom bolt, you're good to go. Keep in mind that these are designed for the weight of the factory hood. So, if your fiberglass or carbon fiber hood is a lot lighter which they would be, just be careful opening the hood. It may open a lot faster than you would expect. Just keep that in mind moving forward. So, I'm gonna show you guys every step of the process. Let's get to it.Tools used in this install include: A quarter-inch ratchet, 8-millimeter, and 10 millimeter deep sockets. All right, guys, to kick things off here, we're gonna start on our passenger side working on our upper bracket. So, you wanna locate the bracket included in the kit labeled PU for a passenger side upper depending on which side you're starting on here. The way we're gonna install this is basically face down just like that with the stud on the outside of the vehicle. Now, in order to install this here, what we're going to do is completely remove this top nut from our upper hood bracket. We're going to loosely back this up halfway. We don't have to fully remove the bottom guy, we want to make sure the hood is staying attached to that bracket in some way. So, let's completely remove the top guy first with our 10-millimeter socket and our ratchet. Now we can loosen up that and bottom nut about halfway, enough to slide our bracket on. All right. So, from there, we're gonna take our bracket and again, you wanna make sure that the stud is facing out. Slide that on underneath the bottom nut and pop the stud to the top hole. Once you have that taken care of, grab those nuts and tighten them down. Since we half loosened the bottom guy, we can just start with that. So, next, we're gonna focus on our passenger side, the lower bracket. So, if you're working on the passenger side, grab the bracket labeled PL. And basically, we're going to install this on the second bolt closest to the cowl. So, go to where the fender meets that firewall. Back to the cowl, there's one bolt here. Move up one and we're gonna completely remove this with our 8-millimeter socket and install a bracket. Like that. So, I'm gonna grab our eight and remove this guy. All right. With that removed, set your bracket into place with the stud facing the front of the vehicle like so. Take that factory bolt and put it through that open hole. All right. Once you have that tightened down, repeat this exact process for the other side.Next step, grab one of the hoods struts. They're not side-specific. We're going to install this starting on our passenger side. Now, what you wanna do is just crack these guys loose because they are tightened down from the factory, just get them nice and loose just a little bit here. When you're going to snap this onto the stud, it may be helpful to push back the retaining pin just to loosen it up a little bit to get a little bit more room to snap it in and then you can pop the retaining pin back in. It's basically just a clip that goes around the edge here. Just push back on it just like that, it opens up. Just wanna make sure it doesn't come out. Now, for this guy, you may need to disconnect your hood prop to get it to come down far enough and then snap it onto that bottom stud. All right. There you go. Repeat this on the other side. Once you have that strut snapped into place, if you did pull the pin off, put the pin back in and make sure it's nice and tight. Repeat on the other side. All right, so you've got this pin pulled back, snap the stud on.Well, guys, that's gonna wrap up my review and install for the MMD Bolt On Hood Strut Kit in Black available for the '99 to '04 Mustangs. You can pick up your set exclusively right here at americanmuscle.com.