Hood Hand Grips

A Small Safety Upgrade

On our recent trip up into the far north we had to contend with the constant nuisance of extreme bug splat on our windshield. Due to the heavy buildup, the windshield washer spray and wipers were insufficient to clear them off, and this made taking photos out the front problematic.

So after climbing up onto the top of the front tire via the front bumper steps, to manually clean the glass (850 times), I decided it was time to add a hand hold on the side of the hood that would make doing so a little less awkward. Sure, I have the front mirror post to grab, but it’s movable and not really made for that. Besides, it would be better if I could use both arms to help lift up my decrepit carcass, and steady myself during the process. When the hood is closed, using the bumper steps is kind of like trying to climb a ladder without using your arms. There’s a tendency to fall backward.

A search was done at the local marine store for the perfect stainless steel handles, but they didn’t have the right size and configuration. So the old fallback scenario came into play… searching on Amazon. It only took a few minutes and I ordered the perfect shape and size for only $30 each. Of course, they’re made in China…argh.

The only conflict in the install was the location. We wanted them to line up with the air intake vent and chrome trim strip, and be as centred as possible front to back on the width of the available hood surface. Too far forward and we got into the chamber of the engine air intake corridor, too far back and the fasteners would hit the cab bodywork inside. Luckily we had about 50mm to play with, and got it pretty well centred.