Is my hood dented.... or is my front clip drooping?

[yungupgrade]

I had always thought that my hood was dented upwards but yesterday I took a closer look from the front and started to think that it may not be the hood at all and that the drivers side fender and respective side of the front clip are sagging downwards. When I bought the truck the PO said it had been in no accidents but the drivers side fender also has a small dent inwards which leaves me questioning that. Also the drivers side hood spring is slightly bent. Any thoughts on this and how I should proceed to fix this? I have no experience with body work.

[rokinn]

I believe the hood latches are adjustable.

[Pete M]

is the hood bouncy or firm if you push down on it?

[yungupgrade]

21 hours ago, Pete M said:

is the hood bouncy or firm if you push down on it?

I'll go outside today to test that

[yungupgrade]

On 5/24/2023 at 5:06 PM, Pete M said:

is the hood bouncy or firm if you push down on it?

So I went out today and when I pushed the "bent" side down it was definitely bouncy. I also noticed that there is some deformation on the drivers side part of the crossmember. I showed the passenger side as well which is fine.

[Pete M]

if it's bouncy, then it might not be latching on that side. 

[eaglescout526]

I may be wrong, but that lip should be more straight. 

[mark 39]

Looks like someone tried to open the hood with a big pry bar.

[gogmorgo]

I’ll second what they’re saying. Looks like someone tried to pry their way in. Shame, especially since you can pull the headlight and simply unbolt the catch to open it.

 

I’d double check that the latch is catching. If it did get forced open it might be damaged. You can push downwards on the corners to try and latch them individually instead of just slamming the hood down. Push the shaft of a screwdriver into the latch to see if it grabs it and let’s go when you pull the hood release.

[yungupgrade]

17 hours ago, gogmorgo said:

I’ll second what they’re saying. Looks like someone tried to pry their way in. Shame, especially since you can pull the headlight and simply unbolt the catch to open it.

 

I’d double check that the latch is catching. If it did get forced open it might be damaged. You can push downwards on the corners to try and latch them individually instead of just slamming the hood down. Push the shaft of a screwdriver into the latch to see if it grabs it and let’s go when you pull the hood release.

The latch in the middle catches, and so does the passenger side. It's just the drivers side that has this issue, so like what many have said I'm thinking its just that the latch on the hood is busted or out of alignment. Ill try and hammer it back to shape, but maybe its just worth finding a new hood and swaping the latches over.

[gogmorgo]

35 minutes ago, yungupgrade said:

The latch in the middle catches, and so does the passenger side. It's just the drivers side that has this issue, so like what many have said I'm thinking its just that the latch on the hood is busted or out of alignment. Ill try and hammer it back to shape, but maybe its just worth finding a new hood and swaping the latches over.

No point doing anything until you know the latch is working. Push a screwdriver shaft or anything with a similar shape into it.

If it does catch on its own then you can try adjusting things or massaging the hood. If not, I guess it’s up to you. If it was my truck I probably would only change out the latch unless I already had a good hood sitting around and the existing one wasn’t salvageable enough to be functional. Or maybe if I was doing a complete repaint I guess. Personally I’d rather a bit of character on the edge of the original hood than mismatched panels. But I’ll acknowledge my taste isn’t everyone else’s.