Hood Flutter- OffroadOnly- Hopstopper

pvanweelden

New member
Hood Flutter- what is it? If you don’t know, you don’t have a JK :)
How can you fix it? There are many ways- change out the factory latches for aftermarket ones, remove the hood spring, get a Hop Stopper from ORO, or a combination of some or all of the above.
I had previously done the cheapest route, and removed the hood spring. I saw the Hop Stopper and a month ago decided to give it a try. I liked the security it offers, since if you don’t know how to open it, it is hard to open- which is good against theft attempts.
www.offroadonly.com $59 for 2007-2014 JK, JKU

Tools needed- Drill, ¼” drill bit, Phillips screwdriver, 11mm wrench or 7/16”, small regular screwdriver

Layout the tools and check to make sure all the parts are included before you begin.
Pic1.jpg
Remove the grill- 6 screw in plastic retainers across the top. If they don’t unscrew out, you can pry the inside part up with a small regular screwdriver.
There are 6 push clips along the bottom, 4 across the bottom and 1 behind each turn signal indicator. Remove the turn signals by twisting them a quarter turn down.
i painted all the pieces before i installed them.
pic1a.jpg
Grill removed.
pic2.jpg
You might need to drill the template bracket holes bigger-
pic4.jpg
here's a pic of the two stock holes that the hop stopper will use to mount to.
pic3.jpg
slip the template bracket into the frame rail. drill from the top holes through the bracket to drill all the way through the bottom of the factory panel.
pic5.jpg
pic6.jpg
slide the 2 bolts through the frame rail
pic7.jpg
Assembly the hop stopper pieces like below
pic8.jpg
Attach the hop stopper pieces to the 2 bolts. add washers and nuts and tighten.
Hop stopper closed
pic9.jpg
Hop stopper open.
pic9a.jpg
Check the tension on your hood with the hop stopper closed, if it still is a little loose, you could add 2 washers in between the frame rail and the hop stopper pieces to create more tension.
Here is a trick that the awesome guys at Offroad Evolution posted showing how you can bend the lever to make it easier to access.
Evo tip.jpeg
i installed it and reinstalled the factory hood spring, had a little flutter, so i removed the hood spring again. No Flutter, but it made it hard to open the hop stopper. I added 2 washers to lower the hop stopper mechanism, and reinstalled the factory hood spring. Very happy with this setup.
 
Last edited:

sean.m.adams33

New member
Nice write up! I installed the poison spider hood louver. Problem solved. This is definitely a cheaper and less timely route though. 👍
 

rodgerdathug

New member
That seems like a cool idea on stopping hood flutter. I've taken the spring out and still gotten hood flutter not as much but mostly when semi come by


Living it one day at a time
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Bacon

Member
That seems like a lot of work. I put zip ties on ny latches. Hood flutter gone. Cost me all of $.02 too!
 

Bacon

Member
I won't do it because I'm cheap...but popin PFF the front grill and drilling two holes isn't much work at all.

Is that all it is? Well in that case that is the most complicated set of instructions I've ever seen! Ha!

Still more work and money than a couple zipties. That's right, I'm cheap AND lazy!
 

H8ROADS

Caught the Bug
Thanks for posting this! I was curious about the install and this and we're all my questions!


Sent from my iPhone - autocorrect be damned!
 
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