K5 Blazer hood wiggle, flapping down the road.

[7387chevynut]

Hi Guys,

I've had my 90 K5 blazer for nearly 5 years now. My problem begins with this. In 2012 I bought a bug guard for it and installed it with some sheet metal screws. I was worried about clearance between the underside plastic and core support and slamming the hood and breaking the bug gaurd , so I put a couple washers under the hood latch assembly as shim to raise it just in case. It was then I noticed going down the road that the hood wiggles at each corner and along its backside at speeds above 55mph.

So 4 years later it really bugged me and I removed the washers, and adjusted the hood bumpers up as high as they can go. With the hood closed, it does feel tight across the front of it. But going down the expressway at 55/75mph it didn't change anything and the hood still wiggles at each corner and along the backside by the cowling. What the hell is causing this ? Do I have bad hood hinges/springs ? I have the hood bumpers all the way up, more than they should be and nothing stops this wiggling. My 95 chevy has a bug guard and has NO wiggle in the hood what so ever.

 

[dremu]

The hood hinges are famous for wearing out, yes. Best practice is to lube them at every oil change. This will also prevent them sticking, so that when you go to close the hood you kink it just forward of the hinges. The strengthening kit sold by e.g. LMC is sort of a band-aid for this, but you also need to lube the hinges on a continuous basis.

Anyway, replace the hinges, either with new repops or a known good tight set, readjust, and off you go.

-- A