I installed a set in our 09 last month. It was a bit of a challenge when I dropped one of the self tapping screws down behind the fender plastic . Took longer to get that out than to do the job. I meant to send them a email and ask if they could add an extra screw and rivet in the kits, just for dummies like me.
I cheated with the weatherstripping clips, just hooked the rubber on one side and stretched it over the other end of the clip. It only took seconds to reinstall rubber.

 

oooh, where did you get them? How much were they? How difficult was the install?

 

OK, you peaked my interest now! Where you get them?

 

I purchased mine from redlinetuning.com and purchased the elite kit at $119.00

 

This afternoon I installed a set of QuickLIFT gas-spring struts on the hood of my '08 Limited. It was a little more challenging than I thought, but I ended up with only one Band-Aid! Here's the before picture with the old hood prop:

And the after picture with the new struts:

One of the hardest parts for me was removing these little yellow plastic clips that hold the weatherstripping in place:

I even made a short video to show how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR5_Ig0BLrM

What are thoses big ruber strips for the hood fluter?

 

Tha have them on ebay for $100

 

I installed a set in our 09 last month. It was a bit of a challenge when I dropped one of the self tapping screws down behind the fender plastic.

Did you find it hard to drill those back holes on the fender brackets? It felt like I was going through 3 tough layers of steel. The front holes were much easier.

 

oooh, where did you get them? How much were they? How difficult was the install?

Got them from here:

http://www.redlinetuning.com/

I got the basic kit for $69.95 and painted the brackets satin black. To install you need a tape measure, sharpie, utility knife, center punch, drill with #11 and 5/32" drill bits, Pop rivet gun, and a ratchet with a 5/16 socket. You have to measure and drill 10 holes, remove and trim the weatherstripping, install the hood brackets with 6 pop rivets and the fender brackets with 4 self-tapping bolts. Re-install the weatherstripping, then just snap the struts onto the brackets and remove the old hood prop. Keep an old towel or cloth on the fender while you're working, and put tape on the drill bits so they don't go too deep. If you take your time and be careful, you can knock it out in an hour or so.

 

To install you need a tape measure, sharpie, utility knife, center punch, drill with #11 and 5/32" drill bits, Pop rivet gun, and a ratchet with a 5/16 socket. You have to measure and drill 10 holes, remove and trim the weatherstripping, install the hood brackets with 6 pop rivets and the fender brackets with 4 self-tapping bolts. Re-install the weatherstripping, then just snap the struts onto the brackets and remove the old hood prop. Keep an old towel or cloth on the fender while you're working, and put tape on the drill bits so they don't go too deep. If you take your time and be careful, you can knock it out in an hour or so.

I was going to order these until I read this -_-

 

What are thoses big ruber strips for the hood fluter?

There is a piece of weatherstripping on each side of the hood where it meets the fenders. You have to remove these and trim them where the bracket ball sticks out. I have never had hood flutter--if you don't have this weatherstripping on yours, that could be the problem.

 

What are thoses big ruber strips for the hood fluter?

There is a piece of weatherstripping on each side of the hood where it meets the fenders. You have to remove these and trim them where the bracket ball sticks out. I have never had hood flutter--if you don't have this weatherstripping on yours, that could be the problem.

were did you get it?

 

I installed a set in our 09 last month. It was a bit of a challenge when I dropped one of the self tapping screws down behind the fender plastic.

Did you find it hard to drill those back holes on the fender brackets? It felt like I was going through 3 tough layers of steel. The front holes were much easier.

I think most were two layers of steel and the one hole in the back passenger side was almost like something was under the hole . In the end all went well, but wasn't as easy as I thought it would be . Trying to be careful to drill in the right spot, not to deep, not scratch anything and dropping parts between the fender and inner fender (stick rag in hole in fender before trying to install screws) just takes time.

 

Tha have them on ebay for $100

The elite ones are $129.95 on Ebay. I don't know if you need the Elite or not, but in my case I spent the extra and "maybe" got better shocks with the 4 year warranty instead of two.

 

What are thoses big ruber strips for the hood fluter?

There is a piece of weatherstripping on each side of the hood where it meets the fenders. You have to remove these and trim them where the bracket ball sticks out. I have never had hood flutter--if you don't have this weatherstripping on yours, that could be the problem.

were did you get it?

It came like that from the factory. Is this missing on your '07?

 

Looks great junebug1701! :thumbs_up:

 

I don't mind the single OEM prop rod but what you have done is exemplary! Nice work and thank you for sharing!

 

oooh, where did you get them? How much were they? How difficult was the install?

Got them from here:

http://www.redlinetuning.com/QL-TOY-RAV4-06+.html

I got the basic kit for $69.95 and painted the brackets satin black. To install you need a tape measure, sharpie, utility knife, center punch, drill with #11 and 5/32" drill bits, Pop rivet gun, and a ratchet with a 5/16 socket. You have to measure and drill 10 holes, remove and trim the weatherstripping, install the hood brackets with 6 pop rivets and the fender brackets with 4 self-tapping bolts. Re-install the weatherstripping, then just snap the struts onto the brackets and remove the old hood prop. Keep an old towel or cloth on the fender while you're working, and put tape on the drill bits so they don't go too deep. If you take your time and be careful, you can knock it out in an hour or so.

Thanks for listing the tools needed to complete the job. It's helpful to all of us, I'm sure.

 

I like the outcome. However, I'm ambivalent about drilling. Who knows though, I might rethink things down the line. Anyway, it looks great!

 

That's awesome. I'm old, so I think hood props are horribly cheesy. I'm always delighted when I stumble across a vehicle with a proper hood strut.

 

i had these struts installed over a year ago on rav and a couple of months ago had them put on my ford ranger. they are nice. i had my mechanic do it for me, $40 ea. it was worth it to me!!!

 

What's the difference between all 3 models besides warranty and color?

 

Wes, I got the base model which comes with black struts and zinc-plated brackets. The next model up is exactly the same, but the brackets are powder-coated black. I sprayed mine with satin black spray paint and they look great. The Elite model comes with stainless steel struts and only they have the 4 year warranty. The other models have a 2 year warranty. And since I got them in March of '09, I guess my warranty is up, but they still look and work great!

They are not that hard to install if you're a do-it-yourselfer like me. Just make sure you have all the right tools and take your time. Or if you're not comfortable drilling holes in your RAV4, have a pro install it.

I just noticed they now have the QuickLift struts available for the 4.2 RAV4 also!

 

Should be ADDED TO MOD LIST.

Great job Junebug. I really like that. Myself, I do not like the prop. This would be a future project for me. Thanks and maybe you should add this to the mod list. Good work and good video.
James Darrell

 

I did them myself on my Tacoma about 4-5 years ago, and they've been great. I got them in a group buy, so the price was great, I got the basic ones too. We should do a group buy here.

 

Cool struts! Very handy if you need to look often under bonnet. (Toyota, so not so often)
I must consider getting one set, but quite a mess for me to figure out those drill sizes you have. So far I calculated than I could use 4.8mm which is bigger than 3/16" but smaller than #11.

 

Struts work well where it does not get very cold. In the interior of Alaska such struts last one or two winters.

 

Thanks, that I was thinking too. :thumbs_up:
Do anyone here know if buying this set, are those struts some standard model?
Are those cups in the ends detachable?
So when and if they let gas out, could I get spare parts from normal shop without contacting the manufacturer?

But anyway, my parents had Saab that had struts that were never changed during the 21 year lifetime of the car. Maybe there was no need to open bonnet during most cold conditions. And when opened, engine heat helped them last long.

 

Definitely going to do this. Excellent job, JuneBug.

For those not feeling confident, here's Redline Tuning's installation manual:
http://www.redlinetuning.com/manuals/QL-Toyota_RAV4_06+-ALL.pdf

P.S. Center punch is a must.