modman42

I am in the market for a new hood and a number of the sites I have checked say you must use hood pins with aftermarket hoods. I am not a fan of the look of hood pins. I have seen many forum members cars without hood pins so I am sure this is not the case. I like the clean look sans pins.

My question is are their certain manufacturers that make hoods that do not require hood pins? Is the hoodpin thing a liability statement and not really a function issue?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

2005Redfire6

From my understanding you shouldn't have any issues with just the hood without hood pins but I would get it from a reputable manufacturer. There are also other options besides hood pins, I don't have the link on hand but there are hood pins you can get that latch the hood from below so you can't even see them. Or something like twist locks.

Alec

I personally think it's more of a look/peace of mind type of thing. I have a 2.5in Cervini's fiberglass cowl, have had it past 90 a few times and haven't seen much flutter/lift. I've seen it recommended that you use hood pins, but have only seen 1 case of a hood flying up in all the thousands of aftermarket hoods out there so I'm going to make judgement that it's more of a liability/cover your azz move

There are flush hood pins out there that might be more up your alley

dunebuggydude11

I have the Trufiber RTF hood and it did "flutter" a bit before I installed the WMS hood pins. I personally don't like the look of hood pins which i why I bought the WMS ones that only go under the hood and so far they've been great.

http://www.wmsracing.com/wmsweb/WMS-...ns_billet.html

socalwrench

Honestly, I use hood pins on the stock hood for extra security, but also because I hate hood wobble when driving. Two pins and it's held down adequately.

Concerning composite hoods, I would definitely use hood pins; mainly because you'd be relying a steel latch molded into the composite without them.

Cavero

I bought the Shelby CS6 hood which fluttered at legal highway speeds. At "normal" highway speeds, it was so bad someone pulled along side me and tried to warn me like it was going to flip up. It held, and even though the hood latch bolts screw into aluminum blocks, the blocks themselves aren't all that big and its only a matter of time before the fiberglass was going to weaken.

So I got hood pins (Scott Drake ones) and now its rock solid. I have much more piece of mind now. I'm "OK" with the look of them, but I'd rather they weren't there. Problem is the WMS stealth hood pins require more clearance between the bottom of the hood and the frame, and I was off by 2mm. So the hood would have stuck up a little. So my suggestions are:
1) Buy a quality hood
2) see if it shakes at your "normal" driving speeds
3) do the research and get the right hood pin for you needs. If you have the clearance for WMS, go for it. If not, then you can go with the typical thru-pin or twist lock pins. Or you can go with these:



They're paintable too

09cs

To answer your question, no you do not need hood pins with aftermarket hoods. I have them for extra security and piece of mind like everyone else has said. I know many people without hood pins with aftermarket hoods. The reason that companies say that on their sites is because of legal reasons. If the site says that hood pins are required and you don't use them, and the hood flies up while driving, they are not liable because it says they are required.

modman42

Thanks for all of the info. It is about what I thought. I will look into the different options for pins that were brought up.

Thanks again!

MadStang40

I've also got a 2.5" Cervini's cowl fiberglass hood. Minimal fluttering at even 100+ and that's more due to the aerodynamic properties of the front of the car than the hood. Fiberglass weighs a lot more than your stock aluminum hood. If you're worried about your hood that you bought from a reputable company flying up in your face, don't be.

DRock

Mine started fluttering at 140.......at that point you need to slow down anyways lol