Hood prop on my 2003 Chevrolet Ssr is poorly designed in an already bent configuration to hold up an exceedingly heavy hood. The 2005 model year will have gas-filled struts to hold up the hood. Their needs to be a retrofit kit to put the gas struts on the 2003 and 2004 models. According to the contributors to www.ssrfanatic.com as well as myself, there have been injuries and many near misses with the hood falling and bending the prop like a pretzel.

- Flagstaff, AZ, USA

2003 Chevy Ssr engine hood is extremely heavy (two or three times the weight of a normal hood) and Chevrolet has outfitted the 2003 and 2004 Chevy Ssr with a simple metal hood prop rod to support the hood when open. 1) the hood is so heavy many owners will not be able to or will struggle with the opening of the hood. This can lead to situations where the hood may be dropped on the person trying to open the hood with the possibility for severe injury. My wife cannot open the hood by herself due to the extreme weight of the hood. 2) the 2003/2004 hood prop is very minimal and bends under the weight of the hood. Chevrolet has done away with the hood prop for the 2005 Chevy Ssr and has installed gas struts to lift and support the hood. The hood itself has not changed for 2005, so Chevrolet has found there is a problem with the existing hood prop system. Existing 2003 and 2004 Chevy Ssr trucks on the road need to be updated with the same gas struts as the 2005 Chevy Ssr to avoid possible injury and/or death from the hood falling down on the person while trying to lift the hood or while it is in its fully open position.

- Cameron Park, CA, USA

While standing next to the hood the hood dropped down from the open position. This could have led to serious injury if I had been leaning into the engine compartment. The hood prop on 2003 Chevrolet Ssr is not sufficient to hold the weight of the hood. The 2005 Ssr's have a completely different design. GM refuses to acknowledge the problem. I have notified my dealer and he says there is no "fix" for the problem.

- Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

I was checking the oil on my 2003 Chevrolet Ssr. It was parked outside with the hood up and held by the hood prop rod. A small gust of wind hit the hood and shook it slightly. I jumped back just to see the prop rod flexing quite a bit. I have always felt that the rod was not strong enough and since it has a bend in it so it can fit inside the engine compartment it just looks weak. After this I am extra cautious when working under the hood. I feel that the prop rod was never strong enough. When I mentioned this to the dealer they had no answer. I just learned that the 2005 Ssr will have gas struts to hold the hood open. Evidently GM must have had enough complaints to make this change. I would like them to replace the prop rod in all 2003 & 2004 Ssr's before some body does get hurt. This hood is very heavy and could cause serious injury.

- Sayre, PA, USA

Hood prop on 2003 Chevrolet is not sufficient to hold the weight of the hood. Prop has bent and hood has fallen. The 2005 has a completely different design. GM refuses to acknowledge the problem.

- Manlius, NY, USA

Hood prop rod is too flimsy to hold the heavy hood up(in the open position). My pro rod collapsed(bent) while my hood was being held open. Fortunately I was not "under the hood" when it fell or I would have been seriously injured or worse. The hood is much too heavy to be supported by the flimsy rod. GM replaced my bent rod with a new rod of the same design. All 3,300 of the 2003 and 10,000 0F the 2004 Chevrolet Ssr's have this same prop rod system. GM media announced last week that all 2005 Ssr's will have a new, improved, gas-assisted, self-supporting, hood-struts rather than the prop rods to better hold the hood open. Several other Ssr owners have had the same problem that I have, and have complained to General Motors but GM has done nothing to solve the problem. It's only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed because of this safety defect!

- Buchanan, TN, USA

Hood prop for the 2003 Chevrolet Ssr is far too weak and poorly designed. The hood is much heavier than this prop (with its curved shape to fit under the hood) is able to take. This heavy hood should have pneumatic struts, not this flimsy, curved piece of steel. On the web site www.ssrfanatic.com, many of the owners describe the close calls that they have had with the prop bending and the hood falling, narrowly missing a serious accident. I personally am very careful, since I know the dangers involved, but it's just a matter a time until someone else gets hurt, and it won't be a minor injury. The fix to add struts is so easy, since it appears that GM had originally considered installing struts. (the location for the installation is clear. It is a simple bolt up modification.) an anonymous posting on www.ssrfanatic.com from a factory engineer indicated that GM was contemplating adding struts to next year's models, but was hesitant to do so because it implies that the present prop installation is defective. Thank you for listening!

- Corona, CA, USA