Greetings... and HELP me? Hood flew up

[Jeepess]

Hello. I keep buying Jeeps, because, well I love them. I rolled over many times in one and at least, walked away. Jeeps rock!

But I am concerned about this: Today, I was driving on the highway (60mph) and the hood of my Jeep flew up and smashed the windshied. I managed to stop (without being able to see what was going on). After I calmed down, I forced the hood back to a 'normal' position and the local small-town body shop guy rigged it up so that it is safe to drive (for free). He pulled the hood release under the steering column and it (the hood release handle) pulled right off, in his hand. Cold? Maybe it froze? I don't know. What sorts of thing would make that happen? I almost feel like I should go out of my way to have him get the fix business...

Anyway... is this something that has happened with anyone else? And, should I worry about this being a problem with Jeeps, or a fluke?

Once I pay the 2K for repairs, is there something I can do to 'lock' the hood? That's mostly for my peace of mind, now. You only have to have this happen once to want to NEED to know how to prevent that. I hope someone who reads this will check that cable on their jeep.

I like my Jeep, but I am afraid to drive at all, right now.

[seapahn]

Might help to know what kind of jeep ... because wranglers don't really have any sort of in-cab hood release

Has the jeep been in any sort of accident (on or off road?) ... did anyone leave the hood unlatched maybe? Is it possible someone played a prank on you? In order for the hood to fly open like that, if you have an in-cab release, first that has to come loose, then the secondary latch has to fail (the one you pull to the side by hand to open it).

So all in all, this is quite strange ..

For the wranglers, it is very easy to buy a hood lock... I've got one and it secures the hood latch and locks with a key through the front grill. There's no way the hood can be opened without taking off the lock first.

[Jeepess]

I have a Cherokee. Yeah, wranglers are better (IMHO)

This one was never was in an accident, that I know of. There was really cold weather in Wisconsin a few days ago and I got a jump start, but that was at least 200 miles before this happened (that was the last time my hood was open.)

Right now, my 'hood latch' is the wire rig that the body shop guy did so that I could drive.

My Jeep has already been though more than any Jeep should have to deal with. I'd like to take a rubber mallet and some primer to the damage. But, where can I can I find a lock of some sort? That might make me feel better, at least.

Thanks.

[Jeepess]

I'm laughing... y'all are hard core

I am looking at pics of what y'all put our fellow jeeps through... MAN! And I thought I abused my car.... what do I know? [I used to not like the saying, y'all, but I think enough time in the South made it grow on me..

And I[COLOR="Red"][/COLOR] thought I loved Jeeps...
ha. Right on!

I'll be back for sure.

[LiftedPleasure]

sounds like a fluke to me, that happens on any random car. though i have heard it to be a common thing on cj's (and i use the word common loosely), though i've only seen it once. but low and behold it's a cherokee, so probably just something that happened. if you ask me the cj thing could be people dropping the hood when it's open on the windshield (they often put it there, which is not a good idea b/c it puts a line on your hood after a while, instead of using the hood rod). anyways, hope you find a lock, but if you get everything replaced i wouldn't worry about it. but then again if it happend again to you i bet you'd kick yourself! hehe

[LiftedPleasure]

oh yeah, what year? oh, and we all know wranglers are better, but you don't have to say it. be proud of your cherokee, be proud. hehe

[jmbrowning]

I have a Cherokee. Yeah, wranglers are better (IMHO)

The Missus would humbly disagree. Having ridden with her in AC comfort with the MP3 player when I would otherwise be sweating dust into my eyes, sometimes I have to agree.

Could something not be jury-rigged with a few washers and a hitch-pin like this?

[nagal]

I'll throw my $ .02 in. Some days its get super windy where I live. When I drive home from work, I am driving head on into the wind. The hood on my TJ sure looks like its going to fly off but it hasn't... yet.

I have thought of putting racing clips (just like the pic jmbrowning is showing) on my hood for extra protection but have been too lazy to do it. Plus I hate chrome

[LiftedPleasure]

sounds like one of those things. really if there were a problem with the latches everybody in the jeep world would know and wouldn't be happy. and ofcouse jeep would fix it. i imagine it could happen to anybody in any vehicle especially since yours is a cherokee and not a cj like i was talking about. i really wouldn't worry about the racing clips, i mean, are you racing? hehe just replace the latches, they were obviously worn or old or falling apart. it happens, just when you look over you jeep you must remember to look at everything and not just the major stuff b/c anything can go bad. people often forget to inspect mounts and the frame and stuff like that. i bet a lot of people out there have cracks in their frame and don't even know it!

[maddmike]

take the hood off.