Hood flopping on the highway

[boulky12]

Hey guys. So I've had this really annoying issue on my truck for about 2 years now and I could really use some advice. Now that I got my truck all one color i would really like to take care of it.

I would like to mention, when I first got the truck, both of the fenders and the bumper were beat up so decided to change the fenders and bumper. From what I can remember, I've been having this issue since I did this.

So for some reason, the front driver side corner of my hood will not adjust downward no matter what I try. This is particularly annoying when I'm on the highway because it's very noticeably flopping in the wind.  I've tried elongating the adjustment holes in an attempt to push it down even further but it barely did anything.

The passenger side sticks up just barely but good enough to where i can live with it.

The hood latch is as far down as I can go to where I can still close the hood.

The rubber hood stop is not the reason it wont go down.

I'm thinking the hood hinges are bent ( not the ones with the springs, the other ones) but I would like to make sure before I waste money

Please take a look at the pics so you can really see what I'm talking about. If I can share anymore information or take more pictures that would help, please tell me.

My truck is an 86. Thank you

[Redz]

put a 2x4 piece of wood between the hood and core suport on passenger side. Make sure your hood bolts on the hinges are tight. Gently apply pressure on the drivers side of the hood and see if you can get it to lay flat with a good straight line between the molding and hood it may take multiple times doing this to get it right. Go slow with it you rather need to go a little more than have to work it back up. This is very common on all classic cars/trucks

[boulky12]

put a 2x4 piece of wood between the hood and core suport on passenger side. Make sure your hood bolts on the hinges are tight. Gently apply pressure on the drivers side of the hood and see if you can get it to lay flat with a good straight line between the molding and hood it may take multiple times doing this to get it right. Go slow with it you rather need to go a little more than have to work it back up. This is very common on all classic cars/trucks

I'll give this a shot. Thanks man

[boulky12]

So I just tried it. I ended stacking up to 3 2x4's between the hood and core support on the passenger side, while applying pressure on the driver's side. It didn't really do nothing at all. Which I think is crazy because this metal feels thin enough to where it should be malleable. I feel like if I went anymore I was going to start cracking some paint.

Anything else I could try?

Could it be the hood that is bent? Although it really dosen't look like it is.

[Henry]

Hi Boulky12:
You mentioned that you have replaced the fenders and hood. When you replace a fender, very often some shimming is required to get it to line up with the door gap line, cowling gap line, and hood gap line. Take a look at all the fender (and inner fender) attachment points and see if you can possibly loosen all the fender and inner fender attachments and move the fender upwards without screwing up the gap lines or fit. If this can be done, then the vertical attachments can be shimmed to allow it to tighten up in the desired position. These shims are little horseshoe shaped shims and are readily available at good car parts stores. I dont know if this will solve your hood looseness, but it should solve your hood/fender alignment. My old 76 has a different hinge/latching mechanisms than your newer truck which I am not familiar with.
Regards,
Henry 

[boulky12]

Hi Boulky12:
You mentioned that you have replaced the fenders and hood. When you replace a fender, very often some shimming is required to get it to line up with the door gap line, cowling gap line, and hood gap line. Take a look at all the fender (and inner fender) attachment points and see if you can possibly loosen all the fender and inner fender attachments and move the fender upwards without screwing up the gap lines or fit. If this can be done, then the vertical attachments can be shimmed to allow it to tighten up in the desired position. These shims are little horseshoe shaped shims and are readily available at good car parts stores. I dont know if this will solve your hood looseness, but it should solve your hood/fender alignment. My old 76 has a different hinge/latching mechanisms than your newer truck which I am not familiar with.
Regards,
Henry

I replaced the fenders but the hood is still the original. I am familiar with the shims. All my gaps are good enough to where I'm happy with them. I really just want to take care of the looseness cause it looks like junk going down the highway and it's right in front of my eyes.

[Redz]

Well I know that the 2x4 trick works but it would be shame to crack paint that looks that good. Shims like the other guy said can help but may cause bad gap where fender and door come together. I'm trying to think of another solution but don't know much more to do without hurting the paint but I'll keep this in mind and try to think of something

[boulky12]

Well I know that the 2x4 trick works but it would be shame to crack paint that looks that good. Shims like the other guy said can help but may cause bad gap where fender and door come together. I'm trying to think of another solution but don't know much more to do without hurting the paint but I'll keep this in mind and try to think of something

Thank you