The other day my 1997 Ram 1500 needed some oil added (it burns some... she's gettin old...) and I added a quart then proceeded to put the hood down. The last few times Ive put my hood down, the latch wont work quite right and it takes a screwdriver to pull the spring down, then a hard slam to get it to shut and stay shut....
So, this particular day I think I have it shut, I even pull up on it to see if it secure... it seems to be.
I have an aftermarket fiberglass ram air GoodHood on my Ram, fyi....
I get on my road, hit about 35 mph, and BOOM, Hood flies up! Bends the Hood Hinge back, slams the fiberglass hood into the firewall/ almost into the windshield. Puts big gouges in the fiberglass hood and now is in need of a new pair of hinges.
SO, my question here is, Ive heard dodge ram 2nd generation owners say that the hood latch mechanism has a recall out... IS this true? Can I go to the dealership and have them install a new hood latch?
Any chance I can get them to replace my hood hinges on account of the catastrophic failure? Just thinking out loud here but any advice would be helpful.
Thanks, Pete in Northern MA.

 

Yes there is a recall on the hood latches on my 97 and it has been done been by dodge along time ago by the first owner. I dont think they well any more b/c it is so old but it never hurts to call you never know. But if you think dodge it going to pay for the damge it caused your cazy

 

fiberglass hoods and carbonfiber hoods are known to do things like that.... thats why your suppose to use hood pins

 

Don't have much of a case with an aftermarket hood, even if you were eligible, which I doubt.
You said "the last few times [the latch]didn't work quite right" - You find a problem like that, it ain't gonna fix itself, its up to you to make it right, or take it to someone who can.

I had an old Chevy truck that was chronic with hood fly ups, after the 2nd time at 40 mph I started chaining it down, as it was a beat up hunk of crap, and wasn't worth investing in a new hood.
I knew of the problem before it happened, I dragged my *** and did nothing about it, so I felt I had it coming.

 

Yeah, there is a recall on hood latches. Next time I need to go down to my Dodge dealer and have them do it while I'm getting some parts.

That would be illegal for them to do. It was a NTHSA recall.

 

ya there is a hood latch recall, i got mine done about 2 monthes ago when i went in for an oil change

 

Great, thanks! Gonna have to get on that!

 

Had my hood fly up on my truck about a year ago and found out only certain years and certain states were included in the recall of course Florida was not included in the recall but I got mine fixed, sounds like your lucky and no one got hurt

 

Point he was getting at is the fact that Chrysler might not have to honor the recall on an AM modified hood.

 

Exactly. Once you DIY something with a non-factory part or mod you let the manufacturer off the hook.