Reviews for DV8 Offroad D-JP-190001-K Hood Hold Downs for 07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK

A little tricky to install, but works great

just got mine installed last week and like most I was not happy with the stock latches lifting during high winds or passing trucks. I have been out for a couple drives and these work great. Install was a little tight on the passenger side lower bracket but using a shallow 13mm socket on a 1/4" drive with a universal joint extension was the perfect length to get the old nut off and the new one on without needing to remove anything else. I would recommend these to anyone not happy with the movement of the stock latches

I ordered these fall 2015 because when the wind is howling on the highway or during a blizzard plowing snow, it's unnerving watching the hood bouncing around on the OEM rubber hood latches...just waiting for them to snap. These installed easily, and once adjusted stay put! The hood is solid. Normally I don't review items, but today I called Customer Service for a part that came loose and I lost it and Joe was awesome, said I wasn't alone and will send a couple out to me free, no questions, very polite, and made me feel appreciated! That's the kind of company I want to buy from!

east to install, now no hood "bumping" on highway with traffic winds.

Looks and works great, the only thing that I had to deal with was one of the lock nuts was striped out and ultimately damaged the screw, I had to re-thread the screw and use a different hut in its place. 5 stars otherwise!

The look great but be darn careful during installation. The instructions tell you to remove and set aside the two spacers when you take the turn buckle out to install the lower mounts, however it does not tell you where or how to reinstall them. They go on either side of the lower swivel ball. Note that you may have to file them down a bit to get them in as in my case, one side slipped right in, but the other side had to be filed down a bit. Clamp a pin in a vice that just fits inside the spacer, place the spacer over it with the pin sitting just a bit below the surface of the spacer and file them down until they just fit. The next item you need to be careful of is how much you tighten the lower swivel shoulder bolts as they thread into a barrel nut that is captured in the lower housing. Also an issue is there is a burr on the threads as stainless to stainless can lock right up on you. Drake does not suggest a torque, so snug is good. If you tighten it too much, you will not be able to get the shoulder bolt back out as the barrel nut will turn. If you are stuck in that situation, use a ball ended allen wrench to hold the mounting bolt, remove the nut and you can get the lower mount back off to work on it. This issue could be avoided if Drake had put an allen end on the barrel nut. I also found taking the front grill of made it much easier to access the nuts holder the lower mounts. Allow extra time, take your time, don't over tighten the hardware and things should go smoothly. While I really like these, Drake could make an improvement in the barrel nut, shorten the upper mount bolts a bit and improve the instructions by adding torques and how to reinstall the two spacers.

Fantastic look and the adjustment on these allows you to remove any hood flutter that you may have from stock hold downs. Taking a star away since the install is a pain with the access the bottom connection being extremely limited unless you start taking off the grill and brackets for the radiator. I managed to get the install done without removing anything more than the grill but it took a collection of rachet extensions and luck to get it done. This is a new set for my 2017 but my 2008 JK set looked almost good as new when traded in.

3 of the 4 stars I am giving this is for ONE feature. No more hood flutter. That was 99% of why I bought this. The fact that it looks damn cool is the other. The 1 missing star is due to the fact that it's so expensive for what it's made from. If the brackets were milled aluminum, or if it were possible to get it in all black, or any number of other options, they would have gotten a 5-star rating. The only issue I had putting it on my jeep was getting the lower bracket bolt out and then back in around the headlight bucket. A combination of extensions and u-joint got me there, but that's not Drake's issue.

Works perfectly. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of five is the fact that the base material is plastic vs aluminum. The nut that the allen screw goes into is just pressed into this plastic. It doesn't take much to overtighten it and then the nut just spins in the plastic base. Seems like, for the money, the base could have been made from billet aluminum as well. Otherwise, it's a good latch. Good flutter is all gone. And it's a nice looking setup.

Nowhere does it mention that the brackets are plastic. They look like cast metal-something in photos, but are fiberglass reinforced plastic. (I'm assuming - there's sparkling fibers in it). Minus a star for that considering they're a C-note plus in price.

I have to say that they are a PITA to install. It's not Drake's fault, it's the way Jeep decided to bury the bolts on the lower bracket. I was considering removing the grill and headlights, but my winch is in the way, so I suffered on and dealt with them. On the passenger side, I used the OEM factory nut.

In photos, the turnbuckle pieces like stamped metal, but they are actually machined billets and the grooves are machined in for looks. All hardware except for the cables look like stainless steel, and are high quality.

Once they're installed, it's not too hard to get them aligned and set. I set mine to the point that the locking bar drags a little bit, so a slight push on the top of the hood releases the tension making them easy to install/remove. Note: they do not allow even the SLIGHTEST raising of the hood, so you don't need much tension on the rods. Just enough to prevent rattle. The hood raising up alarmingly with passing semis and/or headwinds is OVER WITH.

Watch out for the little spacer rings on the lower brackets, don't lose them. They're needed to center the turn buckle. Also, test fit both buckles end-for-end to find the ends that slip into the upper brackets the easiest. Use the tightest Heim joint at the top so it doesn't flip-flop when you're closing the hood or they're hard to line up and slide into the upper brackets.