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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Bonnet extra security catches ?


herbiemercman
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Hi Guys, Just been on flee-bay looking at bonnet catches, they all require drilling holes in your bonnet,and some designs drilling your front fender as well, i am not happy doing this.

 

My question is, are the extra catches really necessary ? even at high speed? surely the OEM's, Toyota designed their bonnet catch and the safety hook to avoid any possibility of the bonnet flying up ?

 

I tried to force my bonnet up from below and no way, i also tried lifting it on the safety hook, again, no way.

 

So are the various catches on the market for cars, like rallye cars which do not have an OEM bonnet catch. ?

 

I had a bonnet fly up on me some years back and it was a shocking experience, i was approaching a bend going quite quick and luckily could just see in a slot at the bottom, it felt like i had run into the side of a furniture van, and such a massive bang, the car was my friends and his bonnet catch was worn and faulty, anyway i am not sure what to do, what do you think ? Herbie.

Edited by herbiemercman
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I remember a few years back a member on here had his bonnet catches fail, bonnet flipped up which done his windscreen and roof.

 

When I close mine I press the bonnet down on each corner to hear the "click" of the catches locking.

 

As said earlier, it's to do with the white box the sits by the stock expansion bottle. I had to replace with new on our UK Spec as it split with age.

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the only way i can tell if its shut is by the pull inside the car , the bonnet will look shut but the pull will be slack , then other times its tight , and the bonnet is shut , but as said if it blows over chances are it scraps the car , i think the aerocatches are a bit big but the small round ones should be ok if i get them painted you wont see them

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I think with the bonnet up and a screw driver you can check the latches each side, rapidly flick them and use degrease/regrease sprays to clean, release and lubricate them back to hopefully working slickly. If the stock latches do indeed latch then you've no worries. Also a 6" odd drop should give you a firm latching, and fingers in the rubber seal of bonnet to bumper and levering up should highlight any non latching.

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its not the catches mate its the cables , i did that they work fine , the cables not going back after pulling it , so kind of staying pulled if you see what i mean .

 

Yep the exact thing that I was experiencing, the bonnet lever had no tention behind it.

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Thank you guys some good points, i am much more confident now to stay with the stock catches, also no one mentioned the second safety hook that is very strong. My beast has been with me from new and only 46k on the clock so very little wear on all catches etc, if i had wear and cable and catches issues like some have mentioned, then yes the "quick release catches" would be fitted, they are £35 each on flee-bay, and various colours, just one hole in the bonnet. Herbie.

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if the catches and cables are in a good condition you should be fine. i fitted my carbon bonnet with flush Aero catches shortly after I had it fitted as it flexed and lifted so much more at speed than the stock one ever did. It really gave me a bit of peace of mind and was much sturdier afterwards. (especially after seeing what a failed catch can do to a friend's car) The Aero catches didn't look too bad either but obviously not a great option if you want the car to look stock.

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I had dodgy bonnet catches, sometimes they wouldn't lock down & sometimes when they did catch it was only one side but had my faith they'd hold & no issues.

 

if you're that concerned buy new catches or have your current ones checked over & cleaned out I guess

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  • 2 years later...

We've got the same problem with the off side catch not staying closed.

I have tried to lubricate the cables and the white plastic splitter, however there is no room to get any lube cans in there.

How can I get the splitter out without dismantling the entire front of the car?

There seems to be two plastic screws holding it in place from underneath.

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