Rod clip for safety latch release on the hood

Yeah, there was a time when those type of retainers were metal. Probably would have rusted off tho. Back in those days we did not have secondary latches and the clips were for door mechanisms inside the door.

 

I can add one more part # to those that have already been posted. A friend of mine who has the same year truck went to a Dodge dealer near where he lives, and after spending some time with the parts guy they found a part for the clip. They couldn't find anything for the 2003, but did find a part for a later year truck that was supposed to fit trucks in a 20 year range. That part number is 04658675. Searching Google with that number it does come up for our trucks. The downside is that my friend hasn't tried it on his truck to see if it fits. The part looks very similar to the part I purchased, The problem is that while the clip might fit the rod, the key here is that it fits the hole in the striker. And that is all dependent on the hole in the striker being the same size throughout the range of years for the truck. I think he said the clip was $4+ at the dealer.

 

I had trouble finding a clip that worked perfectly, so I added a zip tie for insurance. It works fine now.

 

I thought about using a zip tie because I frequently use them anyway, and have a large assortment. But the friend I drive the shrimp for uses them by the thousands in his operation, and they seem to degrade fairly quickly. Make sure you check it often, or maybe even back it up with a second one so if one fails the latch doesn't drop.

 

We used them extensively in the mining industry 3M black as they last a very long time. The cheap black and any whites were weeks to maybe months.

 

Get the UV resistant ones. You can open the hood with a long screw driver if you have to. That's what I was doing for a while after hitting a deer and before I got the new grill.