So I was washing my car yesterday...

[-RUNNR]

...and took off the bra.

Low and behold, there are 3 CRACKS at the end of my hood!!! On top of that, there are 3 BUBBLES!!! One of the cracks is about 2 inches long, while the other 2 are about 1/2 inch. One of the bubbles is small, one about 1/2 inch, and the big one is about an inch long!!!

I have pictures at home, but they are hard to see. When I get there I will post.

Anyone work with Dodge on getting something like this taken care of? My Viper is only 1 year old.

disclaimer: I live on a dirt road, which is why I normally use the Mopar bra. I also normally wash/wax at night which is why this is such a suprise to me.

Help!!!

 

[SmokinV10]

The service manager at my dealership authorized repair of my front bumper. The clear coat was peeling all the way across the "ridge" that separates the top half from the bottom half of the front bumper. Apparently it is defective paint. So there is hope! Take it into service, just make sure it is a good dealership.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

I get bubbles under the paint all the time. They seem to come and go. There one day, gone the next. First time I ever saw it was after washing the car and leaving the hood raised up over night in the garage. Had about 6 bubbles formed about an inch above the leading edge of the hood front!

 

[King GTS]

Definitely post some pics. I wanna know what to look out for. A lot of guys seem to be having this same problem.

 

[Russ M]

Are we talking paint cracks? Or actual cracks in the fiberglass?

Lets start out with how you close the hood? Do you push on the edge?

 

[-RUNNR]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Russ M:
Are we talking paint cracks? Or actual cracks in the fiberglass?

Lets start out with how you close the hood? Do you push on the edge?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There is nothing cracked underneath, so I have to assume paint crack. But cracked all the way to the fiberglass.

I close my hood properly. I never even touch the leading edge.

 

[2tall]

I noticed a kind of "blister" in my NACA duct, along the inside edge a couple days back...

 

[Viper Specialty]

-RUNNR, I just had a thought... was it very sunny yesterday? I have a hunch that the bubbles may be a direct result of the bra, being it is black, if it is sunny, temps under it would be VERY high. in the case of fiberglass, there may be a little air trapped in it, which would result in bubbles under high temps. wait for the area to cool and see what happens... let us know. (still complain to DC though)

 

[TAPROOT]

Alot of guys seem to have these cracks in their hoods. Are the cracks caused from closing the hood from anywere but the sides of the vents directly over the hood brackets?? I just want to be aware of any issues with cracks from closing it the "right way" as recomended by DC. I hope I worded this correctly

 

[Russ M]

Most of hood cracking is caused by people closing the hood wrong. I have run across hundreds of viper owners in the past several years, if not thousands. And out of the lot maybe 10% know how to close their hoods properly, even though the topic is very common.

The problem is that most don't realize just how far the mounting brackets are to the hood. To really understand you need to look underneath and see for yourself. Bottom line is the pushing needs to be done right by the vents in the middle of the hood. Otherwise you are going to damage your hood.

And unfortunately every viper owner that was closing his hood wrong in the past in front of me, never wants any advice. We seem to be all now it alls, and wont talk to anyone else not in a viper at the time. As I always tell them "Oh well I guess its not my car, do with it as you like".