Problem with American Muscle hood struts!!!!

shadango · Dec 25, 2011

I purchased a set of the black hood gas struts for my wife's 2011 Mustang as a Christmas gift.

I went to install them today for her and was disappointed to find that the fender brackets do not fit. The bolt hole is waaaaay off and will not work.

The bracket appears to need to be about a half inch wider on the dimension that lays against the top of the fender, which would allow the bolt hole to be positioned properly.

I emailed them about this -- We are putting this vehicle into storage this week and need to have this installation figured out asap. Otherwise we will not be able to address until springtime, so hoping the company gets back to me quickly.

I was going to try and elongate the holes to see if that would work, but to me, the edge of the hole would be getting dangerously close to the edge of the bracket and would alter the strength of it IMHO. Not to mention, the powder coating would then be trashed. Not pleased.

mustangford289 · Dec 25, 2011

Strange....did u get the right ones?

Svtpilot · Dec 25, 2011

I think you have the brackets upside down.

Az Pete · Dec 25, 2011

WOW...I have installed about 6 sets of MRT's and never saw that issue. They are not perfect but they always fit.

Bad Boss 302 · Dec 25, 2011

Heck, I put on a set for may 2012 Boss and had no trouble at all. I did have to modify a rubber piece on each side but the directions were excellent and showed where to cut and place them. Did you get detailed instructions?

Noobz347 · Dec 25, 2011

Svtpilot said:
I think you have the brackets upside down.

I've never installed these before but I couldn't help notice:

Are there clearance problems if you flip the bracket over? It looks like it would move INBOARD the required amount if upside down. Otherwise... slot the bolt hole and call it a day.

Svtpilot · Dec 26, 2011

Like I said they are upside down. Just go to American Muscle's website and pull up the customer images .

mustangford289 · Dec 26, 2011

Svtpilot said:
Like I said they are upside down. Just go to American Muscle's website and pull up the customer images .

LMAO

Az Pete · Dec 26, 2011

Just for the heck of it, I looked thru the site too. On the customer pics, most are upside down from the OP's pics but one car was the way the OP has them. Also, pulling up the install instructions, it shows them the same way as the OP has them. All the MRT's that I have done went on like the OP has them positioned. Hmmm....appears to be a discrepancy in the instructions and how most mount them....

AMChrisRose · Dec 27, 2011

We actually have a redesigned bracket coming out for those in a month, because of this problem. Those bolts are for adjusting the fenders, so the tolerances vary. We typically install them upside down, though you can also install them the way you show (which our instructions call for and will stay the same with our new bracket). I believe most of the competing kits also install the bracket upside down from your picture and our instructions. This new bracket should fix all of that, but you can definitely flip them and install and it should work perfectly. We just are building the new bracket for a cleaner install.

We'll have the new bracket in about a month - anyone interested in swapping out for it can PM me in about 4 weeks and I can send them a set! Hope this helps!

If you have any questions in the mean time or if you just want us to refund the purchase, let me know and I'll take care of it. Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience. You'll love them once they're installed, though!

shadango · Jan 4, 2012

I cant seem to see the pictures folks here have posted. But "upside down" ? Can somone describe this? I tried matching up the brackets every way shape and form and the only way the hole would line up with anything is if the bracket sticks up ABOVE the level of the fender .......and then the hood will not close.

What am I missing?

I sent pictures to the the AM folks and the guy there said he saw the problem and that they would send out a new set of brackets right away since there was a change. They did, but the ones they sent are exactly like the old ones.

shadango · Jan 4, 2012

Ok, so I went back to their site and looked at some the closeup pictures. So the directions are wrong then? My directions, and the ones on the site, clearly show the inside of the angle facing the fender -- the owner pictures on the site show the brackets sitting like an "L" on the fender, and sticking up above the fender.

So I guess there is no interference issues?

Can someone from AM advise if the brackets I have are the "new" ones or the old ones?

Noobz347 · Jan 4, 2012

shadango said:
Ok, so I went back to their site and looked at some the closeup pictures. So the directions are wrong then? My directions, and the ones on the site, clearly show the inside of the angle facing the fender -- the owner pictures on the site show the brackets sitting like an "L" on the fender, and sticking up above the fender.

So I guess there is no interference issues?

Can someone from AM advise if the brackets I have are the "new" ones or the old ones?

If you have to flip them over to make them fit then they're old. See AM's post above.

shadango · Jan 6, 2012

Thanks everyone. I contacted AM via phone again per their email. I explained what Chris Rose said here and the person on the phone said they would contact their warehouse to see what the deal was and get back to me. That was a couple days ago. Havent heard back yet. But I got an email saying a new order was sent. So I dont know if they are sending me a third set of the wrong ones or if the new brackets are actually in stock now??

Bad Boss 302 · Jan 6, 2012

Hey man, if you have any more trouble, check out "Dallas Mustang.com". They had them in stock, I stopped by their place last summer and they had them right there and they fit. These guys only deal with Mustang parts.

Noobz347 · Jan 8, 2012

Carl98

Could you possibly break that up into sentences? I tried reading through it a couple of times but no joy.

Noobz347 · Jan 8, 2012

Carl98 said:
Sorry you had trouble reading my post!

Was only trying to help.

Next time I will try to do better, well probally not.

Sorry for no joy.

My first and last post.

Thats a few sentences, is that better?

That works. Still can't figure out your other one though. You have editing capability if you wanna go back to it.

Carl98 · Jan 8, 2012

You know your kind of a JERK.

Trying to help someone with the same problem I had, wont happen again, you probally dont even have the same struts in question. Jeezzz

Noobz347 · Jan 8, 2012

Carl98 said:
You know your kind of a JERK.

Trying to help someone with the same problem I had, wont happen again, you probally dont even have the same struts in question. Jeezzz

No reason to get indignant. Not even busting your balls. Just telling you that your post was illegible. I read through it several times and still couldn't make out what it was you were trying to say.

Carl98 · Jan 8, 2012

I must not have been able to make out what you were saying. Just seemed like you were being a jerk, my bad.

Problem with American Muscle hood struts!!!!

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