Video Review & Installation

Hey, what's up, guys? I'm Ryan from Extreme Terrain, and today I'm here with the Redrock 4x4 Locking Hood Catch Kit, fitting your 2007 to 2018 Wrangler JK. It's gonna be for the JK owner that is looking to either upgrade or replace those factory rubber catches, for a stronger lockable unit. It's perfect for the Jeep owner that's looking to reduce hood flutter and keep thieves out from under their hood. These are made from durable stainless steel and feature a black powder coating, which is perfect for those of you that are looking for a subtle look over that polished or chrome option. The pre-installed locking cylinders make it very easy to secure your hood, and these come as a complete kit ready to install as a direct bolt on. So, there's no modification required. These are one of your most affordable options on this site, at just around $80, when compared to other options. And they come with a great 3-year warranty. As far as install goes, I'm going to give this 1-out-of-3 wrenches, since you can install these in about an hour using basic hand tools. Now with that being said, let's hop into the install. We're going to begin this by opening our hood and removing our catches underneath here. We're using a 10-millimeter socket. And next, we're gonna need to remove our latch from our fender. There's gonna be a 13-millimeter nut on the inside that we need to remove, and you can actually get to that right through here. So, we're gonna use a ratchet with a deep socket on there, and I'm gonna get that off. We're gonna do the same thing for the other side. So, before we get these new latches installed, I want to go over some of the benefits and differences of an after-market steel latch such as this compared to your stock ones. Now, the stock ones are made of plastic and rubber. And, while they do the job of keeping your hood closed, there's always some room for improvement. These heavy-duty latches are made of a full-steel body, so they're not going to expand and contract like the stock rubber, and resulting in hood flutter. So like I said, these are made of steel and not only are they made of steel, they're made of stainless steel. So, they're already ahead of the game over your standard steel as far as corrosion resistance goes. On top of that, these are powder-coated black. This is gonna add a slick look and a very aggressive look to your Jeep. And not only that, but it's going to add more corrosion resistance. Another awesome feature of these is they're lockable. So they have built-in locks, which is going to allow you to lock your hood. So not only is it going to hold it in place but it's also gonna keep thieves out of there from stealing things such as your battery. These come as a complete kit and are a very easy bolt-on, so there's no drilling required and they come with all brand new hardware to install. So, with that being said, let's show you how to get these installed and what they look like on the Jeep. So we're gonna start with our catches that bolt to the hood. So you're gonna have this top catch part. We're gonna make sure that this lip face is outward. And, they give you a brand new rubber gasket that you're going to put in between this and the hood, that's so it doesn't scratch it. Next, we're going to use the bolts that they provide us with the small nuts. We're going to latch these on and tighten them down a little bit. So to tighten these up, we're going to use a quarter-inch Allen and a 10-millimeter socket again. Now, the new catches that you're installing are slotted, so we're gonna get them about in the middle. And then we may have to readjust them, depending on how hard it is to latch the hood. And we're gonna do the same thing for the other side. We're gonna get those bolts started in the catch, drop them through, and then install the nuts on the underside. So next we're gonna install our latches onto our fender. Once again, you're going to have another rubber-gasket. This is just to protect your pane surface. And you'll have a large 13-millimeter nut that we'll need to install on the backside. If you don't have a fender liner like us, it will be really easy to reach up through the bottom onto the backside and get this nut on. If you do have a fender liner, you can pull that out of the way and reach up through there. Or actually, you can fish down through here, which is a little more tricky. But, let's get these installed. Once again, we're gonna use a 13-mm socket to tighten that up. Same thing for the other side. Place that gasket on top, put our latch through, and get that nut tight. So with everything installed, we're gonna go ahead and close the hood, try to latch these, and then we'll make adjustments as needed. So the way you're gonna latch these is we're gonna take the key that comes with the kit, we're gonna press that all the way in and turn that clockwise a little bit. And that's gonna allow us to lift this section up, latch that on, and then we can press these down, and then lock them again. So that's gonna wrap up my review and install. For more videos like this, check us out at ExtremeTerrain.com.