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Old 07-10-2014, 05:13 PM   #1
"Formerly Diplomat Don"
 
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Dutch Star Front Hood Mod - Struts Added

I felt the old style rod used to hold open the front hood of my 2014 Dutch Star was a cheap method used by Newmar. I know there isn't much to service under there, so maybe that's why Newmar designed it with just the hood bar, but I have added storage under my hood and wanted it easier to open. I HATED having to hold the hood up with my shoulder while I messed with trying to move the rod into the hole.

I decided to add struts like those used on the engine cover. It's always difficult to figure the exact positioning of the brackets to make the hood open and close without binding or exerting too much pressure on the attachment points. I got lucky.



The top of the struts were easily added to the fiberglass reinforced area where the hinge is mounted.



I made the lower brackets by using a 4"x 4" x 1/8" thick plate with a piece of 3/4" x 3/4" x 9" angle welded to the side. This plate was bolted behind the front bumper where the center section meets the side section. They are sandwiched together at this point. I added the plate and used two bolts to sandwich everything together.










I used a 26" long strut (same as the engine cover struts) and made the length of the lower bracket the appropriate length. This went together pretty fast. I used the engine cover struts to test how strong of a strut I need.ed The rears are 26" x 30lbs. They worked, but were just a smidge to weak. They held the hood open, but not all the way (about 3" short of fully open). I couldn't find any strut suppliers locally, so I ordered two 26" x 40 lb struts on line.

Struts work best when they are fully extended and almost fully closed where there is no pressure on the joints. I lucked out and the mounting points were perfect.

You can lift the hood with one finger and it closes to the point where the struts reach their closing point and pull the hood closed. Again, I got lucky on the geometry.

This project REALLY came out better than I expected and works great! The only difficult part is making the lower brackets, but all of the mounting points are identified for anyone making their own.
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Old 07-10-2014, 06:12 PM   #2
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Nice Job !
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Old 07-10-2014, 07:21 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don View Post
. . . "I got lucky" . . . "I lucked out and the mounting points were perfect" . . . "Again, I got lucky"
You are selling yourself short Don, this is not "luck" but wisdom and understand mixed together with a good measure of experience that brings the pieces of your projects together like a well made Swiss watch.
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Old 07-10-2014, 07:45 PM   #4
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Nice job!! As they say necessity is the mother of invention.
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Old 07-10-2014, 11:04 PM   #5
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Very nice mod Don, very nice.
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Old 07-11-2014, 06:54 AM   #6
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Nice job on a useful mod. Thanks for sharing enough details and measurements that the rest of us can set our coaches up that way too.

Next question....what products and tools do you use to keep the generator bay so spotlessly clean?
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Old 07-11-2014, 12:10 PM   #7
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Mine is still pretty new, so it's clean. I have been known though to wax the Onan.
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Old 07-11-2014, 08:15 PM   #8
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Don, your always busy another add to QT's # 3.
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Old 07-11-2014, 09:18 PM   #9
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I was wondering - does your hood have a release latch inside? Is that still connected after this neat mod?
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Old 07-12-2014, 12:09 AM   #10
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Yes, nothing with the hood latch has changed. One of my concerns when using struts is there is a point where they'll actually pull the hood back in/down. I lucked out on the positioning and the hood closes perfectly. I did have to take the hood rod off because it's in the way and is no longer needed.

This is one of those mods that came out better than my mind's eye pictured it. That doesn't happen that often.
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Old 07-15-2014, 07:38 PM   #11
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Great job, Don! Didn't realize how little space they left under there. Does that generator still pull out?
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Old 07-16-2014, 06:30 PM   #12
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The Dutch Star's don't pull out. My Monaco did, but it didn't really help with servicing since everything was underneath.
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Old 07-16-2014, 10:53 PM   #13
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Interesting, our '13 has the genny on a slide.
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Old 07-17-2014, 12:58 AM   #14
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The 43ft does pull out, but not the 40ft.

Also I believe the gen size is different. We have the 10k and I think the 40's have the 7500 or 8k
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