Lethal Performance ditches the prop rod on its S550 with Redline Tuning’s QuickLIFT Plus
By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Lethal Performance
If you haven’t been following the 2015 Mustang closely, you might not realize that this all-new Mustang is born with one really old-school feature. Sure it has independent rear suspension and a host of high-tech options. However, when you pop the hood, you still have to lift it up yourself and hold it in place using a prop rod.
Here are all the parts included in the QuickLIFT Plus (PN 21-11028-02; $99.95) system, including the black powdercoated gas springs, hood brackets, fender inserts, and a template for drilling the factory battery cover.
Now, if you are planning to be under the hood working on your S550 or you want to show it off at cruise nights or car shows, you might want a more modern setup. In the case of Lethal Performance’s 2015 Mustang GT, the hood is up quite often as the car is always receiving upgrades. To get that clunky prop rod out of the way, Team Lethal turned to Redline Tuning for one of its QuickLIFT Plus kits.
Redline Tuning made its name creating hood-lift kits for all makes of vehicles, but the company got its start with Fords. With that in mind it was no surprise that Redline Tuning was first to market with a bolt-on hood-lift kit for the S550.
Jake Long, of Power by the Hour starts out by removing the upper hood hinge bolt and installing the Redline tuning bracket on each side. You want to rotate the bracket until it is flush with the top of the hood hinge bracket.
“The 2015 Mustang presented many design challenges for our QuickLIFT design. The tighter packaging space under the hood limited the possible mounting locations. Another challenge was due to this being the first ‘global’ Mustang design, we had to ensure that our system would work on both left- and right-hand-drive vehicles,†Brian VanderHaagen, Redline Tuning co-owner, said. “Listening to our customers we found that they preferred a bolt-in design, but we did not want to sacrifice the functionality of the system. After exploring many options we were able to design a system that is easy to install and meets our list of design requirements.â€
Here’s what the properly installed Redline Tuning hood bracket looks like. If you didn’t know that Jake just bolted it on, you would assume that it was stock.
When Lethal opted to upgrade its latest project with the Redline Tuning system, we jumped at the chance to show how easily this system installs. With Power by the Hour’s Jake Long spinning the wrenches, the QuickLIFT Plus (PN 21-11028-02; $99.95) basically fell on the car. The only real trick is that you have to modify the factory battery cover to make clearance for the passenger-side fender mount.
So, keep reading and see just how easy it is to bring your S550 all the way into the modern era by leaving the prop rod behind.
While the actual hardware of the Redline Tuning QuickLIFT system is a pure bolt-on, it is necessary to modify one factory part—the plastic battery cover. However, the kit includes this handy template for you to mark the area in need of drilling. Just remove the factory push pin, then install the template with the push pin, and mark the area in need of drilling using the hole in the template to guide your hole punch.With the centering hole punched, you can remove the cover and use that hole as a guide to hole-saw or drill the spot needing clearance. Obviously you want to do this off the car. Jake did the deed with a small hole saw. You want to create a ¾-inch or 19mm hole for clearance, and Redline Tuning supplies a 3/4-inch stepped drill bit to get the job done.Next, Jake loosely assembled the fender insert and bracket. Then he angled the red insert into the designated factory hole in the fender. With the ball stud oriented toward the outside of the engine compartment, Jake tightened the brackets.While the Redline Tuning instructions only call for the aforementioned clearance hole, Jake knew that the Lethal machine was going to be at the track and on the dyno in need of an easy connection to a battery charger. As such, he slotted the hole in the battery cover so it can be removed without disengaging the gas spring. If you won’t be pulling the cover regularly, you can stick with the single hole.Now that the bracket installation is complete, Jake proceeded by snapping the larger end of the gas spring on the ball-stud bracket at the hood and snapping the smaller end on the ball-stud at the fender. People tend to want to install these upside down, so be sure the big end is pointing up toward the windshield.If you cut the single hole in the battery cover, you will want to reinstall the battery cover before you install the gas spring. With Lethal’s race-ready setup, Jake was able to just slide the cover in place and reinstall the push pins.Here is the finished product. Not only does the hood lift on its own now, but the engine compartment looks much cleaner without the prop rod. You also don’t have to worry about knocking the hood off the rod while you work on the car or having the wind lift the hood at a car show.
I can’t believe people spend money on these – is it really such an inconvenience to lift your hood and affix the prop rod? What happens when the gas spring fails ? Remember, KISS.
I can’t believe people spend money on these – is it really such an inconvenience to lift your hood and affix the prop rod? What happens when the gas spring fails ? Remember, KISS.
What happens when it’s windy and the hood comes off the prop rod and onto your head? BAM!
With all the technology into these car now, CAN BUS multiplex wiring, Drive By Wire, Push Button Start, Line Lock, LED Lighting, Advanced Traction Control, Electronic Assist Steering, Track Apps, Etc… something as simple as hood shocks should be included.
And using your theory we would still have a single wire alternator, carb and points. Just my $.02
What happens when it’s windy and the hood comes off the prop rod and onto your head? BAM!
With all the technology into these car now, CAN BUS multiplex wiring, Drive By Wire, Push Button Start, Line Lock, LED Lighting, Advanced Traction Control, Electronic Assist Steering, Track Apps, Etc… something as simple as hood shocks should be included.
And using your theory we would still have a single wire alternator, carb and points. Just my $.02
This…
and it seems simpler to push that latch and the hood comes up and stays up then to use the “pain in the ass hood prop” … my .02
I can’t believe people spend money on these – is it really such an inconvenience to lift your hood and affix the prop rod? What happens when the gas spring fails ? Remember, KISS.
I’ve had these on 6 different vehicles, and I’ve never had one fail. Though, on my 98 cobra before I had them installed I did have a gust of wind, as mentioned above, lift the hood off of the prop at a car show. They really should be standard, but I’ll wager that Redline is glad that they aren’t. 😉
I still can’t believe this isn’t standard yet!
I can’t believe people spend money on these – is it really such an inconvenience to lift your hood and affix the prop rod? What happens when the gas spring fails ? Remember, KISS.
What happens when it’s windy and the hood comes off the prop rod and onto your head? BAM!
With all the technology into these car now, CAN BUS multiplex wiring, Drive By Wire, Push Button Start, Line Lock, LED Lighting, Advanced Traction Control, Electronic Assist Steering, Track Apps, Etc… something as simple as hood shocks should be included.
And using your theory we would still have a single wire alternator, carb and points. Just my $.02
Nice write-up!
This…
and it seems simpler to push that latch and the hood comes up and stays up then to use the “pain in the ass hood prop” … my .02
I’ve had these on 6 different vehicles, and I’ve never had one fail. Though, on my 98 cobra before I had them installed I did have a gust of wind, as mentioned above, lift the hood off of the prop at a car show. They really should be standard, but I’ll wager that Redline is glad that they aren’t. 😉
-Jeff