Ring Brothers Hood Hinges question
 

The hood will not stay up, the struts are the 260# versions. I have a stock Cowl induction hood. They were installed by Prodigy Customs when the car was painted and assembled last summer.

Do I have defective gas struts or do I need different struts?

Has anyone else had this problem?

Does anyone know what strength of struts are used by the other billet hinge companies?

Thanks for your help.

The hinges come with specific struts based on your hood... IE- steel, fiberglass, etc... Talk to The Rings and you should be able to tell by the part # or some visual cue on the strut itself. I remember Staci asking me specifically what hood I had, and the struts were selectedbased on my answer. It could be that your builder mistakenly installed the wrong ones? ( dont take that as a slam on your builder.... not my intention, but mistakes do happen and that would be an easy solution to your problem.)

KT.

Also those gas struts work differently in different temperatures and the weight of the hood can change considerably after paint. What works in the winter on a baremetal project will change in the summer when it's all painted.

Just my experience.

I have the Ring Bros hinges with a steel hood and I've never had a problem in 3 years. Call them....

its a difference in neutrons and protons

Thanks for the technical answer. I was trying to explain it for the masses.

Start your problem solving by calling the company who makes the part???

That was what I was expecting.

I did call Ring Bros and they told me that the 260# struts work on greater than 90% of first gen cowl induction steel hoods (not 100%) and that I could purchase the 325# struts for $67.50.

Am I expecting too much? At over $600 I thought that I wouldn't have to worry about them working at least as well as the stock hinges.

I still have a lot of other parts needed that I could put that $67.50 towards.

buy the #325 and then sell the #260 to re coup some cost

If that is the only extra part you have to buy in your entire build, Your doing way better then me.

If you have not figured it out yet, no 2 cars are ever the exact same. Just buy the #25's and put up your other struts up for sale to the guy who made a hood change or did some other swap. Lots of people have to do that.

If Ring Bros sold you the 325 and it held the back of your hood up from being to stiff you would be on here complaining that you hood was lighter then expected.

I could never find a gas shock light enough to hold the back of my carbon non-cowl hood down properly so I have to just not run a strut or have some rear vent from the hood peaking up if I do. Lots of guys run a carbon hood with no problem, Not me.

No need to be condescending on here.

I'm not just on here "complaining".

I was trying to find out if other people who actually have used these hinges have had this same problem.

I think the company should back up their products. If it doesn't work, than it should be corrected, what if these are defective struts and I sell them to someone else and they don't work for him? The company should take these back and test them, if they're defective then send me replacements (they should be able to get them replaced by their supplier) if they're not defective than supply the 325# struts.

I guess some people on here have money to burn, but I don't. If I spend that much money on a product, I don't think it's too much to ask for it to work.

505, the Rings are stand up guys. "IF" is a big word and very speculative and has a broad range. "IF" they are defective then go back to your vendor you bought them from...Prodigy.:_paranoid :_paranoid "IF" they are not, then Ring or no other supplier can be responsible for you or your builder for ordering the wrong thing. Im pretty sure the Rings test their product for quality assurance before it leaves their house.

Are you positive you have the correct 260# versions? You have verified the part number? Since they look identical on the outside it would be easy for a shop to get them mixed up.

Sounds like complaining to me. Up till now I was trying to be helpful. But apparently that is not enough.

Good Luck with all this, I sure the way your now going about it is a great way to handle things keep it up. I'm sure it will get you a long ways.

I hope I'm interpreting your post wrong. My point is, they work just fine with the correct/functioning struts. My bet is on the wrong struts.

Todd,

What struts do you have on yours?

I did double check mine and they are the 260# struts.

They did work at first, then they stopped working. I haven't even driven the car yet and the hood has not been open much since I've been working on other areas of the car.

I've left mine open for extended periods. I'll look and get back to you.

I pulled the stickers off mine a long time ago. I thought I did.

It's a hot rod ---- and if you can afford $600 hood hinges -- you can afford a lousy $67.50

You bought 'em from Frank. Did he install 'em? Did you spec the 260# strut? Why should the seller be responsible for someone else's mistake?

I just installed mine on a steel cowl hood p/n of shock is #260 GS 13011. They work great. no issues. I had to cut out a section of the passenger side hinge to clear the bolt that holds the inner to outer fender but I did it from the back underside of the hinge body so it's not visible.

Id say the struts went bad. Happens more than you think.

Not sure why you don't go back to Frank?

If they were installed last summer and worked fine until now then they went bad and you need new ones. Fork over the 67$

If Ring has 2 different available struts for Steel hoods. They have a stronger strut for 10% of the heavier steel hoods. Then they should trade them out to a customer. If the strut is bad or defective then Ring should take them back. They should last during the build stage. There not 10 years old. Its called good customer service.

Greg,
Kugel didn't tell you, "you are in the 10% that breaks rear ends, so pay up". Good customer service, they hopefully fixed the issue. You have the money to buy a new one or to replace it with something else, but you shouldn't have to.

There are fewer and fewer companies that offer good customer service. Very few companies understand how important it is, especially with the Internet these days.

Agreed. And most do not know nor will ever know just how many orders they are leaving on the table by not paying better attention to this.

Call Frank, he'll take care of it for you.

I think that was my point --- that he didn't buy them from Ring Brothers. For all they know he bought them used off FleaBay... He should be dealing with whom he bought them from.

The hinges might have worked perfect when the hood had no body work. You would be surprised how heavy a hood can get with a body work and paint applied. What worked in mock up might not work once assembled. I have seen it happen many times.

Why not go back to the mfg. instead or a re-seller. To me that's a mfg problem, not a reseller.

He did not buy from the manufacturer. He bought from the reseller. That is the first contact. If the reseller does not provide the type of service needed, then the mfg. is next in line. At that point you have 2 issues to discuss with the mfg. 1. You need help with the parts. 2. why are they using a dealer that is not servicing the customer properly? This is not to point fingers at anyone. To me this is how it should work.

I also told you that we have a one year warranty policy and if you could provide me with the original invoice I would be happy to replace the gas struts for you at no charge. If it has been over a year then you would need to purchase the struts. Gas struts are not an exact science. Everyone's hood is different.
I'd be happy to except the invoice from Prodigy... if it has been within the 12 month timeframe.

If you have any further questions please email me at [email protected]

:thumbsup:

:thumbsup: Nothing wrong with that :thumbsup:

I'm so glad that this is being taken care of. Tammy is going to exchange the 260# struts for the 325# struts. I have sent her a copy of the invoice.

These are beautiful hinges that look even better in person than in pictures. It sounds like with the correct struts, these will work great.

Thanks to Tammy. Also, thanks for everyones input. :lateral:

Figured it would work out, Ring Brothers is an outstanding organization. First class in parts, builds and customer service.

im lost as to what was the point of starting this post...
if before you started this post you called ring and they told you to get them the invoice and they would make it right then why even post if at all untill after you did that??

not trying to be a "TODD" but it seems you jumped the gun... now ring might have lost bob as a customer.lol

Thats why these forums are great.

He stated that he contacted the mfg first, he didn't get the response he was expecting. Asked here if it was common for them to fail or if there was an option. Got feedback and advice, whether bad or good. Was contacted by the mfg and it was cleared up.

Not sure if RingBros asked for the invoice on the first call but its a lesson for everyone. No tickie no service. Have your paperwork ready.

I don't think Bob would leave after all of this. I think he would be more careful about holding on to reciepts.

But then we would miss the drama.

LOL.

I think I need to give RB a call and order some hinges for this boat I've been working on.

thanks Staci! :thumbsup:

Glad things worked out for you. I've had my ring hinges since they first came out. They still work and I hope they work after paint. Rodger just had to plant that seed in my head now.
I have a few of their other products, and they are nice items.

Dude when Staci called and told you this, it should have ended immediately with you posting their response. First of all they are taking care of this without inspecting them for your or the installer abuse. Kudos to the Rings.

$600 hinges and you making an issue about 67 is like buying a ferrari and asking the price of an oil change.