What do you guys use to prevent scratching the under hood paint on your trailer queen? Is there a rubber cap or cover that fits over the hood spring? I heard people use a 35mm film container lid, but who has those anymore?

35mm film lid never worked for me, but a rubber/vinyl cap that's deeper will stay on.
Or, you could try that rubber dip stuff.
Or, a bit of rubber adhered to the hood underside.
All depends on how OEM you want it to look.

I also wish I could quit whacking my forehead on the secondary latch hook !

While working on my GTS I keep a tennis ball on the hook. I also keep the tennis ball on the hook when the hood is up at car shows. Several years ago had a lady whack the back of her head while she was looking under the hood. Her husband came up and grabber her around the waste and she jumped and hit the back of her head. She was bleeding all over because she was taking blood thinners. Big mess under the hood. Turned our she went to the ER and they put in 4 stitches. After that the tennis ball went on.

On the spring try heat shrink

We just threaded an inch of vacuum hose onto the end of the spring.

Simple and it works fine.

Joe

i have whacked my head so many times on that under hood hook i am now bald on top.

Sounds good Joe. I think shrink wrap wouldn't last long and I want to be able to remove it so dipping is out.

a tip to install vacuum hose on that spring is to use cream hand cleaner or dish soap.
will be easy to slip on and clean up, and will stay in place once installed. unless, of course, your hose of choice is oversized for the spring diameter.

Is there anything I can put on the hook to prevent it from scratching the radiator support paint when closing?
(Besides a tennis ball)

I think its the small Ford vans (whatever they were called) that have a plastic cap on their spring that fit the Mopar springs perfectly. Available at local wrecking yards everywhere.

I have used a few layers of electrical tape, but it needs to be changed frequently.

Hey DocCharles, did you try holding the safety latch while SLOWLY lowering the hood
until it was almost closed, then releasing the latch while holding the hood from going back
up.

Then giving the hood a final push down to engage the lock.

I think if you're careful, that may work.


Joe

I use a thick rubber vac plug. slip it over the center most end of the spring. and it holds it above the paint for me. I can take a pic.

On my 02 Cummins . . . there is a plastic piece about 1/2" wide that came from factory, that mounts to the hole that the "hook" goes through . . . no paint hurt at all !!! . . . as for the "spring" . . .think was already said, but there is one on Ford van hood spring . . . hopefully both are easy to find in the wrecking yards . . .


https://parts.moparonlineparts.com/...-engine/body-cat/exterior-trim-hood-scat


It is called "Skid Plate" in diagram above it is #8 - part # 55075178 for the plastic piece that protects the paint from the safety catch hook . . . not sure if it is still available from Mopar anymore . . .

Check out the pipe caps over at McMaster Carr. These come in Vinyl or hard plastic. The tapered shape of the spring makes things a little strange for a cap. I think you can find something that will work and would be easily removable at a show.

https://www.mcmaster.com/pipe-caps/caps-3/round-caps-9/

Plum, If I can't find a vinyl cap to fit my spring from Mcmaster.com, then one does not exist. Thanks for the link.

1994 Ford Windstar. I bought the spring with cap new at the Ford dealer for 10.00. Part # E69Z-16C644-A. It's been some years ago, and the part may now be obsolete. The spring looked the same as my Challenger, so I used it. I have an inside hood release and sometimes the hood wouldn't pop up. I finally figured out that the coil diameter on the Ford spring was thinner, so not enough tension. I went back to my original Mopar spring with the Ford cap, and haven't had a problem since.

My solution was to use a larger body washer(big washer, small hole) and mount it to the hood, so now the spring hits this rather than a painted surface.
Clean no paint dings..

Just my $0.02...