hood flew open !!

[slepysal]

Last Saturday I was driving my dog back from the vet, it was raining ,whe all of a sudden wham !!! the hood pops up ! I automaticly droped my head to look under the hood to make suer I didnt hit any thing, its amazing how things happen so quickly,and came to a stop.
I noticed that the hood got bent a bit, and it would not close, I used ny dogs leash to tie it down (the Corps taught me to improvise.) and drove home
I thought I addjusted it right, but today "pop" goes the hood again! It didnt fly up like it did last time, but it opened , and thats not good.So............what can I do ? I didnt want to use hood pins but I dont want to be driving wondering if the hood will decided to open. any Ideas ?

[89 crew]

I would probably pop the grille and close the hood, check the latch to see what it need to work. I'm guessing the latch is either rusted, broken spring, or grease packed till it isn't working right.

[Mr79C10]

Or maybe some sort of safety cable or chain to prevent that?
Ive story of that happening before, Thats a massive FREAK out!

[chromyelow1]

it happens to me also, the hood be completly shut and when i drive over 40 mph, i can see it raise up. never actually flew open but sometimes it does look scary

[old Rusty C10]

lube the lock assembly good and test it with a screwdriver to make sure it is properly working.. chances are you have it out of proper allignment

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by old Rusty C10

lube the lock assembly good and test it with a screwdriver to make sure it is properly working.. chances are you have it out of proper allignment

Thanks Rusty, how do I test it with a screwdriver ?

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Had that happen to me once while driving down the highway heading back to Ft.Bliss from White sands missile range with 20 troops in the back of my 2 1/2 ton truck. No real viewable gap at the back of the hood so my sargent riding shot gun opens up his door real fast, (I thought he was bailing out) stepped/leaned out and watched the road and guided me over to the shoulder.
4 pairs of boot strings later and we were back on the road.

[f.monroe]

Pat yourself on the back for not panicing . Those situations can get hairy sometimes . Frank

[OJOE]

if the lock failed, what happened to the safty latch?

[slepysal]

I went ahead and installed the pins, I didn't have to drill any holes on the radiator support, just used some oe holes there. After I installed them my bro in law comes over and after looking at the latch tells me "here is your problem, your safety latch spring is wrong" The po had used a weak spring.
Oh well live and learn, I dont feel to bad since my hood is bent and needs to be replaced any ways.
But at least for now it isnt going to fly open , hmmmm maybe a good time for a cowl hood .

[1966gmc]

I had the same thing happen to me at the track one time.I hit the 1/8th mile at around 88 mph and blammmmm.Hood pin failure was to blame.That was so scary yet so much of a rush,it's unbelievable.At least you survived,the truck can be fixed

[8T3GMC]

Get a new hood.

[Frosty]

I would've had to get a new pair of shorts if that happened to me... I think I'll safety check mine when I get home. Glad to hear you kept your cool.

[SRH916]

That just happened to me two days ago, it didnt fly open luckily, the saftey latch caught it, but I saw it pop up when I "launched" from a stop sign I pulled over pretty quick after that.

[wicked_sky_gazer]

My '81 has a similar problem, at highway speeds the hood develops a violent rock side to side, and i know deep down that its just a matter of time before i end up with it in my face, i am trying to put it off for a week or two as my closing on my house is friday... yea me... and starting this weekend the truck is going into my newly aquired shop for its rebuild. I checked my hood stopps on the front corners and the latch its self and they all seem to be correctly oriented and aligned, so i dunno whats going on with it, i do know though that it will be recieving hood pins after the new cowl hood is put on.