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power hood opener

Hopuser

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
73
Location
Juneau,Ak
Occupation
Surface Supervisor
Hi
Well we got new C 500 Kenworths the problems are that its hard to get the hood open from the ground, They have the tilt open hood and when you get a little mud on the fender its hard to open we had two guys lifting from both sides and it was hard because of the hood is do far off the ground. These trucks are running 1400 rubber and they are just big, you cant grab the hood pull and pull the hood open, Not counting the short guys they just can't open the hood.
So I was thinking about a electric over hydraulic opener like the one on a Volvo articulated truck. any thoughts where I can find one.
Thanks
Kris
 

mike in idaho

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
58
Location
north idaho
I remember a guy with a long nose Pete, who had an air cylinder assist to help lift the hood. It was a factory setup, there should parts(or info) around somewhere.
 

MitchSA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
130
Location
Western Australia
We have a quite a few C500's and C510's. The bonnets are a pain to open but not impossible. Do yours have the split bonnets where the guards are separate? If we lift the guards up first then the bonnet it makes it loads easier. A low tech solution is to tie a piece of rope to the grab handle in the middle of the bonnet and then on to the bull bar(if it has one), then when the bull bar is lowered the weight of it assists in tipping the bonnet.
 

caterpillarmech

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
Messages
533
Location
Florence Texas
Occupation
Field Service Supervisor
The Cat rollers and loaders have a 24volt electric actuator. Seem to work fine for lifting a fiberglass hood.
 

Hopuser

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
73
Location
Juneau,Ak
Occupation
Surface Supervisor
Well Hood express is out of business any other ideas? I have had guys struggle with these hoods and I do want them to be able to.
 

powerjoke

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Messages
1,125
Location
Missouri
Occupation
owner/operator/estimator/mechanic/grunt/ditchdigge
I've seen electric screw type actuators on dump beds on utv's ....... Any chance of adapting something ?

Pj
 

joispoi

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
1,284
Location
Connecticut
I think Mike in Idaho has the right idea. Pneumatic linear actuators are not that expensive (at least not on ebay) and they wouldn't be difficult to install. It's just a question of finding the stroke that you need and the cylinder diameter required to raise the hood.

Another option would be to find some rear door struts for a station wagon or hatch back application that can be used to spring load the hood so that it's closer to being balanced- get it to where the driver only has to apply about 5-10 lbs of lifting force to get the hood open and then the struts to the rest of the work.
 

Scrub Puller

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
3,481
Location
Gladstone Queensland Australia
Yair . . . Absolutely bloody amazing that a truck comes onto the market with this problem . . . has someone taken one back to Kenworth and asked them for a fix.

I would suggest that such a basic issue could come under the heading "not of merchantable quality" which as an ex manufacturer I know (in this country) to be a big deal . . . c'mon, I mean to say folks of all builds need to be able to flip the bonnet of a truck.

I remember way back lifting the cab of something with a built in long travel hydraulic jack . . . easy-peasy and now Kenworth puts out a model where it's hard to lift the bonnet . . . sounds like it was designed on a computer by someone who has never had to open a bonnet to see what the hells that smoke.

Cheers
 
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