Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii!

I'm writing this post, my first since becoming a member, to ask for help with an issue that popped up last night.

My 97 4.0L Ford Ranger XLT's hood flipped open while driving 40 miles an hour. This happened minutes after I helped a friend jump his car.

I know that the primary cause of this problem is the corroded latch release, and I have found ample YouTube videos to address that issue. That's not why I'm writing now.

The main issue now is that the hood is now out of alignment with the latch by about half an inch! It seems that the force of the wind lifting the hood up has in some way affected the vertical hinges connecting the hood to the truck body at the back of the engine compartment!

So now not only does the hood not line up with the latch, but it is nearly impossible to lift the hood more than a third of the way up!

I have attached picture with the hinges circled.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue or have an idea of what I should do?

Thank you very much, I'm excited to be a part of this community!

HawaiiRangerXLT97

 

Hinges are probably tweaked. They aren't easy to put back in shape, and new ones are relatively inexpensive so I would either buy a new pair, or if you can find a 93-97 Ranger in a junkyard in HI, pick a set up from there.

 

+1 ^^^

Need new hinges, I doubt you can repair them

And the hood itself looks OK?

And Welcome to the forum