Vented Hoods

Hood flutter was the primary issue. I have had many scary moments passing tractor trailers on the narrow 2 lane highways out here. Venting the hood really helped make travel more pleasant, even it it was psychological. Some will recommend stronger straps, but that is a band-aid fix that does not address the reason for the flutter.

This next concern may be too close to my professional life, but heat causes degradation of plastics and other materials. As do frequent wide temperature swings. Keeping the engine compartment cooler and more stable will prolong that life span of what is in there. This is a long term interest as I intend to have the Jeep for as long as I am able to. Next year won't make a difference, but 10 years from now?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: KCsTJ and derekmac
jjvw said:
Hood flutter was the primary issue. I have had many scary moments passing tractor trailers on the narrow 2 lane highways out here. Venting the hood really helped make travel more pleasant, even it it was psychological. Some will recommend stronger straps, but that is a band-aid fix that does not address the reason for the flutter.

This next concern may be too close to my professional life, but heat causes degradation of plastics and other materials. As do frequent wide temperature swings. Keeping the engine compartment cooler and more stable will prolong that life span of what is in there. This is a long term interest as I intend to have the Jeep for as long as I am able to. Next year won't make a difference, but 10 years from now?
Click to expand...
Thanks, that all made sense. I installed Daystar hood latches a few months ago (one of the rubber links snapped on the highway) to cure my hood flutter, they work well enough for me.

Talking about plastics, vinyls, etc. degrading, you should see some of the wiring in my 2004 BMW 330ci. When I replaced my front headlights recently, the insulation on the wiring inside both headlight enclosures had nearly completely disintegrated and fallen off. 90% of the insulation had literally fallen off leaving, no exageration, 90% of the wiring leading to the headlights being completely bare. I insulated them as best I could but I am now ready for my car to start blowing fuses or having electrical problems since no doubt much of its hidden wiring has that problem. :eek:
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjvw
jjvw said:
I get what you are saying, but I won't go so far as to say that they were a bad idea or a mistake. I never installed mine with the intention of addressing some kind of cooling issue, nor were they entirely for looks.
Click to expand...
So it wasn't for "cooling", it was for "cool"...:cool: :thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: KCsTJ
Jerry Bransford said:
Thanks, that all made sense. I installed Daystar hood latches a few months ago (one of the rubber links snapped on the highway) to cure my hood flutter, they work well enough for me.

Talking about plastics, vinyls, etc. degrading, you should see some of the wiring in my 2004 BMW 330ci. When I replaced my front headlights recently, the insulation on the wiring inside both headlight enclosures had nearly completely disintegrated and fallen off. 90% of the insulation had literally fallen off leaving, no exageration, 90% of the wiring leading to the headlights being completely bare. I insulated them as best I could but I am now ready for my car to start blowing fuses or having electrical problems since no doubt much of its hidden wiring has that problem. :eek:
Click to expand...
The unintended consequences of the over cooling are very interesting to me. It backs up everything you say about the capacity of the stock system. What I did was throw that system out of balance. After nearly two years, the 205 thermostat seems to be doing what I hoped it would do to improve that balance. Despite that, I still see temps in the high-190s, which is better than the 180s that were happening before, even on 110* days. An unintended consequence of the hotter thermostat is the the heater works far too well in the winter!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squatch
Jerry Bransford said:
Thanks, that all made sense. I installed Daystar hood latches a few months ago (one of the rubber links snapped on the highway) to cure my hood flutter, they work well enough for me.

Talking about plastics, vinyls, etc. degrading, you should see some of the wiring in my 2004 BMW 330ci. When I replaced my front headlights recently, the insulation on the wiring inside both headlight enclosures had nearly completely disintegrated and fallen off. 90% of the insulation had literally fallen off leaving, no exageration, 90% of the wiring leading to the headlights being completely bare. I insulated them as best I could but I am now ready for my car to start blowing fuses or having electrical problems since no doubt much of its hidden wiring has that problem. :eek:
Click to expand...
I have the daystar links in my hood latches. Ended up being so tight that they deformed the latch on the passenger side. They do work to prevent the flutter, but I'm going back to the factory rubber links and venting the hood. It helps that I like the look of the GC vents.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
...Talking about plastics, vinyls, etc. degrading, you should see some of the wiring in my 2004 BMW 330ci. When I replaced my front headlights recently, the insulation on the wiring inside both headlight enclosures had nearly completely disintegrated and fallen off. 90% of the insulation had literally fallen off leaving, no exageration, 90% of the wiring leading to the headlights being completely bare. I insulated them as best I could but I am now ready for my car to start blowing fuses or having electrical problems since no doubt much of its hidden wiring has that problem. :eek:
Click to expand...

I extended the breather tubes up the firewall in my LJ. I noticed the split loom covering the wire harness was incredibly brittle and spent. I ordered some heat insulation DEI wrap to cover the loom. Do you know of anything better?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E267JC/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
zebra12 said:
I extended the breather tubes up the firewall in my LJ. I noticed the split loom covering the wire harness was incredibly brittle and spent. I ordered some heat insulation DEI wrap to cover the loom. Do you know of anything better?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E267JC/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Click to expand...
Personally I would just install new split loom. You don't want to over-insulate wiring so heat can't get out.
 
Top Bottom
Back