How to close the hood properly

[number001]

Which is the correct way of closing a vehicle's hood, by

1) Lowering the hood slowly until the hook will latch on and press down to lock.

or

2) From a height of 300mm or less drop the hood. This would lock the hood already.

I use method#1 but when I use this method, I noticed the portion of the hood where I press down on to lock, has some small dents.

I'am thinking maybe if I can use method#2 to avoid the dents, but I dont know if I drop the hood like that, it might destroy the lock(hook)mechanism inside.

So, which method does the least or no damage at all? I dont want the dents neither do I want to inadvertently destroy the hood locking mechanism.

Pls help.

[Onestab]

the owners manual of my car suggests raising it about a foot then dropping it

[ssaloon]

me i drop it from a level of around 4-6 inches coz method 1 doesn't work for me

[wildthing]

i drop my hood (roughly between 5-12 inches)...the lock is sturdy, you can't break it. Dati I use number 1 method, I also see dents...so I changed style

[chris_d]

I drop my hood from about 6 inches, thats what my manual states.

[jasonub]

6-8 inches is my memo to all the service shops i managed

[Psylocke]

RTFM

with some cars the manual suggests dropping. with others pushing down with the palm is suggested.

probably depends on the design of the latches and reinforcements

[cutedoc]

what i do is leave at least around a foot tapos bibitawan kona and let it lock by itself

[niky]

Never press on it... futresang ineng... I have dents on my hood already because I'm not the only driver. (okay, I'll admit to causing just one of them :lol: )... automotive sheet metal is pretty soft in the area around the latch. I always drop it about 1 foot. Scary, but it works.

[gearspeed]

1) Lowering the hood slowly until the hook will latch on and press down to lock.

ito ang ginagawa ko kase may hood pins pa ako medyo hindi naka align yun hood ng fronte ko eh..