I recently had both of my truck mounted front stabilizer brackets break! The truck is a 2005 Ford F350SD Diesel. Has anyone installed these brackets? What kind of trouble might I get into trying to aline my hood? I would prefer to install these myself.

The struts are mounted correctly. I just finished replacing the brackets. They were both nearly rusted through at the weld! I have been running with these sine 2001. The first four years on an 820 and most recently on my 1130. No problem with the 820. The new brackets appear to be constructed identical to the ones that failed. I'd recommend anyone who is approaching four years of service to take a look. There was no truck damage when these broke, but I think that was just good luck. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Artole, I agree with Bill completely, center mounting is most important. I was amazed at how much movement there is with the stabilizer shocks.

Dave Mc

Are you sure the struts aren't bottoming out? I've had the struts on two different Dodge trucks and two different Lance campers and never had a problem with the brackets breaking at the welds or the mounting screws ripping out. My struts were installed where they are in the center of their stroke when the camper is on the truck.

Bill

I had one also break on my 2002 F-350. It looked like a pretty wimpy welding job, so I rewelded and have had no problem since. You might want to examine the welds to see if the brackets can be reused. I recall they weren't cheap when I bought them.

Regarding the install, it's definitely a job that most folks can do, but it does involve removing the hood (or carefully lossening just one hinge at a time when fully open as I did), removing the plastic grill that the windshield wipers pass through and I had to make some minor mods to the grill. The grill part is all just a matter of philips head screws if I remember correctly. You'll learn the process when you take the broken brackets off.