***UPDATED April 11th, 2018 ***
It took a long time to find a set of hood dampers for my CR-X. I started looking in around 2014-ish, and at the time Password:JDM was the only company that made one without any modification needed, but they were perpetually out of stock and never seemed to have any. I checked the forums for an alternative, since I knew I'd seen plenty out there on CRXs, but there seemed to be a lot of contradictory information about which set(s) from other Honda/Acura models may work / was any modification needed -vs- just simply using an EF/ED-specific option.
Finally in 2015, I emailed them to see what was going on with their inventory and I was told they were working on making another run of them but they wouldn't be ready for a few months... I kept checking the website every 3-4 months for them but nothing...
Fast forward to late June, 2017: While checking out the pricing on some other parts, I noticed a banner on their site stating that the hood dampers were back in stock. I checked and they had some for the EF. The description says that they had redesigned the brackets, so I went ahead and ordered a pair anyways.
The brackets have indeed been redesigned from what I've seen in pictures on the Internet and let me say... they are less than intuitive, at least to me, on how they are to be mounted to the car. They aren't marked left or right or top or bottom, and the only thing that may help is that there is a curved indent on the one side, but again, not as clear as the instructions on the website would have you believe it is... In addition, because the bracket has been redesigned, it now is full-length, and has two mounting holes, which means instead of only having to remove one bolt, you need to remove two. Hence I am not comfortable mounting this by myself without someone to steady the hood for me. Maybe if this was my fourth or fifth and I have it down to a science, fine but trying to figure it out and balancing the hood and whatnot? Forget it.
When I mocked it up the way it looks like it goes, the brackets would be sandwiched between the hood and the hinge, and with the curve in the bracket following the contour of the hinge mounting bulge on the bonnet iteself, the ball is on the inside so the rods are at a pretty big angle. I'm hoping this is corrected once everything is torqued and placed properly.
Again, this is where the lack of instructions is really noticeable since all the pictures of the previous generation PWDJDM and other brands of dampers show the ball on the outside of the hood towards the fender. Nothing about this looks right. Intuitively, it should mount like the ones I've seen online -- on the outside of the hinge, with the ball towards the outside but with the curvature of the hinge itself, it just doesn't look right, let alone clean. On top of that, the bolt holes don't even line up that well.
I've decided to call Password: JDM to find out what's going on... Heck, I don't even know if they are supposed to be mounted with the body of the strut near the fender mount or the body of the strut up high at the hood end.
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| Photo online of the bracket mounted properly. |
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| Note the 'hump' and lack of 'curve' at the top of the hinge |
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| If the bracket were mounted on the outside of the hinge, it wouldn't fit flush because of the 'hump' on the hinge, and the bracket sticks up too high near the ball because of the lack of 'curve'' for the bracket to sit in. |
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| The bolt holes don't quite line up properly either. |
The overall quality of materials looks quite good, the brackets while thin, seem rugged enough, as do the dampers themselves. They also supply bolts and washers for a more completed look. But the lack of instructions with the change in brackets is frustrating.
I feel pretty dumb right now that I can't figure this out.
EDIT: July 12th, 2017 - I've contacted PW:JDM and they say no one else has complained about the brackets and fitment, but they admitted they could see by the photos I sent how I would have some trouble. They were going to speak to the guy who did the R&D to develop the new brackets and they'd message me back via Facebook. That was almost 2wks ago. I sent a second message and received a reply stating that the brackets they designed were from a Civic, which are going to be different than the CR-X, and they would get a new bracket designed and that that would take a few months. They said I could return the dampers, or modify the existing while I wait for the replacements. I told them I'd just simply wait for the replacements since I don't drive the car in the winter.
EDIT 2: November, 17th, 2017 - Still waiting
EDIT 3: April 11th, 2018: Contacted Adam at PW:JDM back on March 19th. He said he had the new brackets ready now, took my address and shipped them. A few days later, on March 26th, they arrived, but wouldn't you know it -- more snow and cold weather in Calgary also showed up which delayed my being able to test them. The brackets sure looked different... Finally the second week of April, the temps were up enough for me to test them out. The verdict: Fits like a glove. Fitment and design is intuitive, just like the previous version I'd seen online -- a single mounting hole. The indent in this bracket made for an easy determination between Left and Right, as well as the placement was obvious, on the outside of the hinge on the top bolt. Installation was also incredibly easy - even with only one person, and the operation is silky smooth. Worth the wait, IMO.
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| New brackets. Note the indent on the one on the left. |
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| This was before tightening. It actually aligns straight. |
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| Bolt in the fender |
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