2Pcs Gas Charged Front Hood Lift Supports Struts Shocks Springs Props for 2003-2009 Lexus GX470/2003-2009 Toyota 4Runner

These are amazing! But, getting the old bolts out to install these was very hard! The old bolts were really rusted on the top and one was super hard. I had to have a friend help. He ended up having to use a hack saw to get the knob off the old bolt as we rounded the old bolt head trying to get it out. We used some locking plyers and eventually got it out, but it slipped a few times and he has a very strong grip! The first thing you should try before you order these, is take a #12 wrench and see if you can get the top bolts to even move on the bottom of your hood. If you can't then ask some friends or someone good with autos if they can help, because if you can't get the old bolts out you will not be able to install these new hood struts. These work way better than the old OEMs I had, although they are almost 20 years old to be fair. I was worried I was going to have to take my 4Runner to a shop to have them install new struts for the hood, and of course they may not allow outside parts. The one I use will not allow outside parts. If I did not have a friend who is handy with autos to get the bolts loose, I would have had to return these struts as I would have had no way to install them.Also, DO NOT put the rounded bolts into the slots in the struts until AFTER the bolts are installed! Sounds simple, but I did not realize as easy as it was to put the rounded bolt end in the strut before I had installed it, once that thing goes in, it will not come out! Thankfully my friend was still able to install that in the top of the hood, but it was much harder than it would have been had I not done that.Once the old bolts are out, you will screw the new bolts with this kit into the old holes, the best way to do it is with a socket wrench set, 12mm, but it has to be a long socket to go over it or it won't fit on. You can use a regular wrench to screw it on, but it will be much easier to use a socket wrench 12mm!Once the new bolts are in, you just slip the struts over the bolt ends that are rounded, and they go in pretty easy, and then that's it!Also, you will not be able to compress these struts with your hands, they are way to strong. But, once they are installed, slowly pull the hood down evenly on both ends, and then it will slowly start to go down. Maybe the OEMs worked this smooth a long time ago, but my old ones would hold it up, but going up or down you had to hold them and move them. These new ones, they go up slowly on their own, almost like a garage door being pulled up, and when you pull the hood down, you have to keep pulling it down slow. My old ones were so old, that it would slam down on its own once it started going down if I did not slowly lower it. But, these new ones, they go down slowly on their own, like a garage door! And to close the hood, I then have to push it down for it to latch.These are really nice. I read some of the other reviews and they said the ends are plastic, they may break, and that may be true down the road, I do not know. The old OEM ones are metal. But, one thing I think I do like about these is that down the road, it will be easy if these start to fail, to just use a hack saw and saw off the plastic ends. I can then just buy a new one, and snap then right on the metal bolt ends I just installed. That was the hardest thing, really the only hard part, getting the old bolts out.I think I like these new ones have plastic ends, as I can just hack saw the plastic off if the struts go bad, and pop on new struts. The only metal ones made that impossible to do. I gave 5 starts for easy to install, because the product is easy, but getting the old bolts out was really hard, so the install process is not easy at all, but that is not the fault of this product.That is why you will want to be sure you can get the old bolts out before you order these struts, or any struts, if you can not get the old bolts out, then you will be unable to install this or any other strut set. You will be better off just calling around town to get bids on shops to replace the struts for you.

Excellent product

This strut is exactly as described, easy to install and works great. The only thing I did was install add a washer, before installing the ball. The original had a washer that could not be removed from the ball I took off, but a trip to the hardware store took care of that. It probably would have worked without the washers, but it helps distribute the pressure around the ball.Great price for this item. Hopefully it lasts as long as the original one, which is 19 years.

If you remove the clips on the old one, you can just 'pop-off' the old strut. Then this new one just 'pops-on'. The installation videos on YouTube suggest you need a metric wrench to remove the old one. My experience was simple because my old struts had a clip on each end that could be simply pried off allowing it to be popped off. The new struts are very strong and work well even though they're made in China. It only required about 10 minutes to install both struts. Be sure to place the shaft on the bottom and the black (wider) end on the end attaching to the hood.

It’s a good hood strut and it worked out of the box and was easy to install.