How old are your gas struts? They do wear out over time.

 

 

If you replaced them you wouldn't have that problem in cold temps.

 

And if I had a prop to begin with, I would never have to replace them.

 

as much of a terrible low quality product as the crown vic is, from underneath at least on mine you could easily be fooled into thinking it was a somewhat serious performance machine from its actual legit dual exhaust going the entire length of the car... even on the LS 400 the exhaust briefly joins right after the cats but is then completely dual from behind the front of the b pillar

as far as i could tell though there was no purpose to it since the crown vic is remarkably sluggish and makes barely any power or torque lol, but it made quite a bit of noise so you still had fun

 

But you'd have to deal with an annoying and less safe prop rod every time you open the hood.

Again, something you don't care about so its not cost cutting. No surprise.

 

I do care about it. I have both set ups. One is cheaper than the other, of course its cost cutting. No sure how its less safe to have a prop. It just sucks that the struts on my 4Runner fail in cold weather.

 

 

Extreme cold will bring out the weakest point on a vehicle, especially an older vehicle. Your struts were already worn but still held up in more moderate temps. The minus temps your area is experiencing shows you that they need to be changed. This is an easy fix for a DIYer, about 20 minute job with new struts. I'm surprised they've held up this long but it is a Toyota so that shows their parts supplier met a standard.

A hood prop rod is a cost cutting measure certainly. But for shorter people, or someone who doesn't have enough upper body strength to hold a hood open with one hand while reaching for that prop rod, it's a problem.

 

 

At 6' 2", I don't have that problem, but try one of these:

 

Thanks....LOL

 

I probably could have rephrased that.....I didn't mean to make it sound like a snide comment. There have been some jobs (like replacing burned-out light bulbs in the ceiling) where I needed a small step-raise myself.

 

Nah, I did not think it was a snide comment at all.

Here is something I do not like in modern cars vs older. Both of our SUVs have fixed overhead grab handles, made of rubber, they feel very solid.. Our two cars have plastic pivot handles. I think all Toyota/Lexus model now uses this method. I would say this is a form of cost cutting I do not like.

 

Are you referring to these? These are what used to be referred to as "Oh, S*** bars". Passengers would grab them when an overly-aggressive driver would scare them or if they pulled a significant G-load going around a sharp corner.