JeCar Aluminum Hood Latches Locking Hood Catch Kit Exterior Accessories Compatible with Jeep Wrangler 2007-2023 JK JL Gladiator JT Truck, Star

These little guys are a fine substitute for the JEEP JK stock loose-rubber clamped hood latches.Gaining access through removal of front grill, there is small access to install.Directions were very clear, but would still caution, to register/adjust/lock/unlock several times before final tightening of the nuts.You may need to adjust the hood's height pins, near the radiator, to get the best snug fit, while remaining operational.

Took a bit to get the lower nuts (inside the fenders behind lights) off and new ones back on. Other than that it was an easy install. The following applies to JKs (ours is a 2016) but may apply to the JLs (I don't know because I don't have one). You have to remove the air box and the coolant overflow reservoir to get to the passenger side latch. There are some videos on YouTube that cover it. The one I saw was OK but the guy did the removal in high speed with no explanation. Most of it is obvious but getting the lower part of the air box out is a bit puzzling. It is just snapped in with three posts. If you wiggle it and pull up at the same time it will come out fairly easily. After that you have to be able to get to the nut to get it off. A universal joint for your ratchet or driver is helpful on the passenger side and almost essential on the driver side, unless you want to remove the computer and some other stuff. Getting the nut off is not that big of a problem because, if you drop it it's no great loss (it doesn't get reused). Putting the new one on is a bit trickier - I used the Fab Rats trick of putting a piece of paper towel over the socket and then shoving the nut into the socket to get it started (I'm sure this is an old trick but I first saw it on Fab Rats on YouTube). The upper latch is super easy.The latch works great once installed. You can adjust it by moving the upper latch up or down. Even adjusted to it's loosest setting it is still tight. The only thing I would like to see on this latch is some sort of grip extension for the lower latch. It is difficult to get a grip on it to open it but, since I don't pop the hood open very often, that's not that big of a deal. I like the barrel keys since they are a bit more robust than a flat key.

I bought these because I don't like the fact that anyone could open my hood if they wanted to. They also help with hood "flutter" while driving down the highway. They came with several keys for locking and unlocking the latches. They were a bit of a pain to install but that was more to do with trying to get my hand in to uninstall the old latches and not knowing what size socket to use, it would have been nice to have had on the instructions. I was able to install them with simple hand tools in less than an hour once I knew which sockets to use!

Great security option

Jeep should tell you to buy these once they sell you the car. This prevent battery theft - which happen! Why doesn’t Jeep actually have these automatically installed ?!?

Love these latches .

They were slightly tricky to install, but not hard. Fit well and kept people from messing with the hood of the jeep. Worth the money. The function like they should and havr been using for a few months would any issues.

Not sure yet if I like them. Have had them for a few months and they are such a pain in the rear to undo the old ones and replace, they are still in the box.