I purchased my Sokie Tech hood dampers on eBay for $49.99 shipped and I also purchased 2 new driver's side radiator brackets from my local Honda stealership for about $15ea to completely get rid of the hood prop.
The directions included in the package are very easy to understand and they even go as far as labeling the left and right hood brackets with R and L.
The fender ball screw comes with a larger washer to cover up the area the original fender screw sat.
The dampers are nitrogen injected and each end has a slip-proof pin to keep them from coming off the ball screws. The fenders were the hardest to replace when installing because of the tight area to work with.
These dampers do push the hood higher than OE prop so it is unnecessary at this point, lol.
Over all the installation took me less than 20 minutes by myself.
Close-up
EDIT 8/10/11: After 3 months of having these installed they still work great. The one drawback I have found is they are too big for our fenders. They rub on the ridge in the center and squeak when they do. Hardly noticeable to see but the squeaking can be annoying.
EDIT 11/27/11: The squeaking has stopped mostly because the shock body has worn enough space for itself into the fender ridge. I suggest modifying your Prelude's ridge in order to save its paint and not have to go though the squeaky stage. Still works great.
i want to do the same thing but ive heard u cant use normal hood dampers with a cf hood because it will cause more stress and /or rip off...was told u need to use a half pressured damper...can any1 confirm this?
I was looking at other reviews from different websites. Some G35 owner reported he had these over 2 years and they hold up well. Some other dude from Canada says it doesn't work well in cold weather.
Glad to see someone tried out the Sokie version. Supposedly these don't lose their pressure over time of opening and closing the hood - so for the price (and for someone that has no intentions of getting a cf hood) it's a great deal.
The ones that you need to "break in" for cf hoods are expensive as hell...
As far as the hood clearance issue, i've heard that reversing the shock allows them to fit better - not sure if that will work or not... I should have tested this morning when mine was off...
I've considered flipping them but I'm not sure what they're longevity would be upside-down. Sokie Tech's directions say to mount them a certain way for a reason I think.
I purchased a set that is supposedly for cf hoods - i'm in the "break in" period to wear down the shock. (takes afew months) I wont know for sure until i get a new hood.
Mine doesn't -_- you're supposed to "notch" part of the hood for them to sit flush. Otherwise it has a very slight bow - not very noticeable unless you're looking for it.
The issue i fearis the amount of strain and pressure you're putting on one side. The lbs of pressure these have are a bit much for a cf hood without causing issues long term (potential cracking). I'll find out how bad it really is on a cf hood soon though.... so don't take my word for it until i actually try lol. I know some guys do use them - poweredbyhondabob has a set on his cf hood i believe. Also you'd have one side of your hood bowing if you had one installed lol
So far I realized I was ripped off and the ones i bought are not loosing their pressure at all. Seems that every set of these are exactly the same - doesn't matter if they're sokie tech or not, there is no specific branding on them since they're just generic shocks with the plates to bolt up to our cars. Cheapest set goes for $49.99 shipped.
Awesome Nimsky!!! Remind me to examine them up close the next meet that we're both at if you don't mind. I need a solution like this for my propless 3rd gen.
There must have been something off with your fender or how you mounted them. I followed the instructions to a T and mine don't rub at all. Maybe get your money back?
Just installed mine and they're are awesome. Read over your thread a few times before doing it, install was just as easy as you stated. I was a little worried about the dampers rubbing, however I have no issues whatsoever. No noise and nothing rubs at all, plenty of clearance all around. The hardest part of the whole process was actually trying to remove the hood prop without smashing it into other engine parts hahaha
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