Hood Alignment

[gjallen3]

My 2025 Lariat is the same but only on the driver side.
I am planning on using a plastic pry bar to access the bolts through the faux vent.

Oh boy. Take it from me. You don't want to do that. I have restored a couple of classic cars and one of the hardest and frustrating things to do is getting panel alignment right. One door on a Mustang I restored took me two days to get right. It all seems simple enough. Just loosen a couple of hinge bolts (possibly taking some of the paint with it) move it a little this way, then a little that way until I get it just right. What could go wrong? If you've got the time and patience to do this, then by all means knock yourself out, but be prepared too. I hope it is easy and I'm over reacting, but I just got another flash back.

Sponsored

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Or you can have your dealer realign when you bring it in for an oil change etc. They probably have a beefy tech who knows how to bend it back into spec

(?) Hood shut with two well placed/sized sockets(?).

 

[gjallen3]

(?) Hood shut with two well placed/sized sockets(?).

I'm sure someone will try that!

 

[Meeka]

I just looked at mine. Both sides are even with the fender at the cowl. But the hood is slightly lower going forward then at about 20% of the way it levels off again. Never noticed before. I didn't expect perfect fit like a Genesis or other high end vehicle. Hood closes, doesn't hit the fender. I would never take a hood loose and try to align it if it isn't binding or rubbing. Like gjallen3 said old cars cured me of that.

I’m not going out to take a look, I’m not going out to take a look, I’m not going out to a look, I’m not…….

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I’m not going out to take a look, I’m not going out to take a look, I’m not going out to a look, I’m not…….

When I see my truck, I will not look, I will not look, I will n...........

 

[Waterick]

Already looked last night, pretty much like @MavStangVa 's for me.

 

[Blue316]

Oh boy. Take it from me. You don't want to do that. I have restored a couple of classic cars and one of the hardest and frustrating things to do is getting panel alignment right. One door on a Mustang I restored took me two days to get right. It all seems simple enough. Just loosen a couple of hinge bolts (possibly taking some of the paint with it) move it a little this way, then a little that way until I get it just right. What could go wrong? If you've got the time and patience to do this, then by all means knock yourself out, but be prepared too. I hope it is easy and I'm over reacting, but I just got another flash back.

This looks like a breeze to me. Particularly because it’s just one corner of the hood.
For real fun one needs to change the door and or hinges on a F series Ford truck. It involves removing and reinstalling the door multiple times to align all of the gaps correctly.

 

[Devildog-B25]

An update - the alignment is fixed. It turns out, the hood was aligned but the fender was not. The hood hinge fastens to the body with two 13mm bolts which are accessible with the door open. However, the fender well is also bolted to the hinge with a 10mm bolt which is underneath the rubber trim at the hood corner by the windshield. I discovered this when I loosened the hinge bolts to lift the hood and found that the fender moved up with it. Once I removed the rubber trim and discovered the 3rd bolt, I tightened down the 13mm bolts to the body again, loosened the 10mm bolt holding the fender to the hinge, and simply pushed the fender down and re-tightened the bolt. So, to make a long story short, simply remove the rubber trim to access the 10mm bolt fastening the fender to the hinge, push down on the fender, tighten the bolt and push the rubber trim back in place. Easy peasy.

 

[HeyBales]

Nice - I was literally going to jokingly post about moving the fenders instead - but I sure thought it would have more connections than 1 bolt back there from that prior pic.

Sponsored