Hood hinge adjustment

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Larryjb

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I forgot I had my sockets sitting at the back of the engine bay when I closed my hood. The sockets got pinched underneath the hood and now as a result, the hood in that corner sits a little higher. Is there an adjustment, or have I actually bent something?
 

OR VietVet

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A picture would help but you should be able to see if you in fact bent something. I would bet you could see where the hinge mounts if it has shifted. Were the sockets laying down or standing up in a rack holder? What was the exact location of where the sockets touched under the back of your Tahoe. I have an 02 and can look for you.

It may be something as simple as a large surface object, like a hunk of wood, and a slight smack with a hammer to fix.
 

OR VietVet

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IMG_0434.JPG
IMG_0435.JPG





The hinges have just one top and bottom mount point that is not adjustable, as you can see in the passenger side pic and the drivers side pic. The drivers side lower single bolt mount does bolt to a plate that has two bolts that can loosen and MAY be able to be pushed down just a hair because as you can see, the lower single bolt mount is at a raised area and the downward push is limited as to how close you can get to that raised portion. There is none of that type of chance on the passenger side.
 
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Larryjb

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Ron,

to be clear when you say that point is not adjustable, are you referring to the hood spring mount or the hood mount farther back? I'll take a picture later today if possible. It will be getting dark soon though.
 

OR VietVet

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The hood hinge in and of itself is a single bolt attachment at the top and bottom. The passenger side lower and upper plates that those single bolts attach at are also not adjustable. The driver's side lower plate, where that lower hinge bolt attaches, is hidden behind another plate and is bolted in place with the 2 bolts in the pic. Even if you loosened both bolts at that plate you can MAYBE only push that hidden plate down to only where the raised portion would interfere with any further down movement.
 
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Larryjb

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First shot shows the raised hood. Next shots show the hinge from two angles.

20200214_154833.jpg 20200214_154642.jpg 20200214_154856.jpg
 

OR VietVet

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I see now what you are talking about. Passenger side is definitely not adjustable. Look at the hinge assembly and see that where it attaches at upper and lower are not adjustable and the places/plates they attach at are not adjustable. Get a 2 or 3 step little ladder of some sort and get up there and plop your ass down at that back corner of the hood and do the "butt/ass plop" adjustment. At 320 lbs. I could do that for you easy but you pay for the plane ticket and one night at a nice hotel and one big meal.

I just saw something. In the middle pic, if you look at the white bracket that is actually attached to the hood itself that the top attaching hinge bolt attaches to, the lower hook type part of that is white may be hitting the the wavy other piece of the thinner body metal to the rear of where it attaches with those two bolts in the pic. That white piece of body metal is wavy in your pic but mine is straight. That wavy part may be hitting that bracket that bolts to the hood as it closes down and pushing the hood up right there at the back corner.
 
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Larryjb

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Hmmmm, we will be going to Anaheim next summer....

I'd rather find out what I bent and try to bend just that one part. I'm trying to figure out if I bent the hinge attachment on the back of the hood or the attachment to the fender. If it's the fender, I could put a large punch on the top of the hinge and sledge it back. I just checked with the factory service manual and there are no adjustments indicated. That means I bent something. I can live with it. It's an 18 year old truck. In the next few years I'll probably upgrade. The new AFM seems very reliable, and easier to fix than Ford's Ecoboost engines. Ecoboost looks nice, drives nice. I also like Ford's 4.6L engines, but the overhead cam is a real PIA to do any head work.

Silly me, I put the sockets in the socket holder on the cowl just where it would get pinched under the rear lip of the hood.
 

OR VietVet

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Hmmmm, we will be going to Anaheim next summer....

I'd rather find out what I bent and try to bend just that one part. I'm trying to figure out if I bent the hinge attachment on the back of the hood or the attachment to the fender. If it's the fender, I could put a large punch on the top of the hinge and sledge it back. I just checked with the factory service manual and there are no adjustments indicated. That means I bent something. I can live with it. It's an 18 year old truck. In the next few years I'll probably upgrade. The new AFM seems very reliable, and easier to fix than Ford's Ecoboost engines. Ecoboost looks nice, drives nice. I also like Ford's 4.6L engines, but the overhead cam is a real PIA to do any head work.

Silly me, I put the sockets in the socket holder on the cowl just where it would get pinched under the rear lip of the hood.


Look at my edit of my post just before your response. That wavy thin white piece that is right there is likely hitting the bracket the hinge attaches to. That wavy part should be straight.
 
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Larryjb

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In the third picture you can see the end of the hood side of the hinge. It is sitting higher than same part on the drivers side.
 

OR VietVet

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I see what you are saying but read my edits. That pocket it all folds in to is impeded by that wavy white thin body metal piece. The top back white piece of your fender is curled over toward it.
 

Fless

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I think what @PNW VietVet might be saying is to look at the bottom hinge attachment at the fender. See red arrow. It's hard to tell from the angle of your picture but I think in this area.

White hinge_resized.jpg



Then look straight down that bracket to see if it's in the same plane, until the bend going up to bolt to the cowl. See yellow lines:

Hinge02_resized.jpg


I need a better camera or better shooting skills! LOL
 

OR VietVet

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I think what @PNW VietVet might be saying is to look at the bottom hinge attachment at the fender. See red arrow. It's hard to tell from the angle of your picture but I think in this area.

View attachment 240576


Then look straight down that bracket to see if it's in the same plane, until the bend going up to bolt to the cowl. See yellow lines:

View attachment 240577

I need a better camera or better shooting skills! LOL


Exactly. I don't know how to include a circle or an arrow in my pic or I would have done that. Thanks Steve.
 

Fless

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Open it with PAINT in Windows, if you're on a PC. I also use Freesizer to downsize the pics so they're not too degraded yet aren't huge files. I have to think that the forum software limits the pic size to some extent.
 

OR VietVet

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Actually, when I open the pic to a much larger size it looks straight right there, before it curves over, and I don't think it is the problem now. I think the ass plop is the answer.
 
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Larryjb

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That "hook" that folds down into the recess is no longer aligned with the sheetmetal properly. So far I cannot tell if I bent the hood end or the fender end.
 
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Larryjb

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I took some measurements. So far, the fender structure seems identical each side.

The distance between the back lip of the hood and the hinge bracket is 3/4" on the drivers side, 7/8" on the passenger side. Either I bent the inner panel of the hood or the hinge bracket itself, or both. I may be dropping by Ron's house this summer ;)
 

iamdub

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Lay a folded bath towel over the corner of the hood, put a piece of 2x4 over that, climb up next to it with a step ladder and stand on the 2x4. Step off and see if just your weight did anything. If not, get back on it and lightly jounce up and down. Step off and check, etc. I'd also suggest parking next to something or under a tree so you'd have something to hold on to in case the towel and board slip.
 

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