Ridgeline Hood Latch Pull

This is a hood pull latch replacement for my 06 Honda Ridgeline. The original snapped off on a -40 C day and I have been using pliers ever since. The options to fix it included replacing the entire cable (expensive and PITA), replace the pull with a metal one setscrewed onto the cable (looks meh) or this. This almost looks stock.

Print instructions

Unassociated tags: car parts, hood pull

Category: Automotive Print Settings

Printer Brand: Prusa

Printer: i3 MK3

Rafts: No

Supports: Yes

Resolution: .1

Infill: 40%

Notes:

Filaments.ca black PLA at recommended temp settings. Sliced with Simplfiy3d to accelerate the print speed and put in the custom supports. Only needed supports under the car logo.

The PLA may be a bad idea once the truck heats up in the summer but I live in Canada. How hot can it get?

Note that the print in the picture is V1. The STL is V2. Only changed the loft method to give it a bit of polish. Working dimensions are exactly the same.

Post-Printing

Post Processing

Very little support material to remove. I filled the car outline with white acrylic craft paint. The piece friction fit onto the cable with a little twisting so no glue to remove if it breaks. Blue loctite might be a good choice for glue.

There are a couple of excellent youtube videos on how to prep the cable. Look for the one where the dude uses the pipe cutter to cut back slightly more than 20 mm of the original plastic. The blind depth on the latch pull is 20mm.

How I Designed This

Onshape

Still had the original broken piece so calipers and onshape and voila. If you want to use this design as a base to modify for your vehicle, open up an account at onshape.com and search for hood latch in the public designs.