Hood safety latch missing in action?

[jeepdan]

I have the latch bolt sticking up from the radiator support, but nothing inside of the hood to make it work.
I could not find the hood latch in the parts exploded view either, only the bolt, in the radiator support parts view.
Is it supposed to be there, or am I to rely on the side hood catches?

[Beast]

There is no center safety latch like on civi Jeeps, only the two outside latches on military versions. It is also the main reason why almost every M715 hood is cracked in the middle.

[jeepdan]

OK, so the latch bolt only serves as a locating pin to keep the hood somewhat in center, correct?
Ouch, where does the hood crack at? I haven't found any on mine, but I wasn't looking for any cracks.

[militarypotts]

There is no center safety latch like on civi Jeeps, only the two outside latches on military versions. It is also the main reason why almost every M715 hood is cracked in the middle.

Hey Dave, you just brought back an old memory. I was driving a 1/4 ton jeep up to Camp McCoy Wisconsin in 1970, on the interstate going about 50/55 when all of a sudden all I saw was OD green out the front window. Scared the heck out of me! Being only 19 years old, after I pulled over and stopped, my passenger and I had a good laugh. Oh to be young again!

[Kozmo]

OK, so the latch bolt only serves as a locating pin to keep the hood somewhat in center, correct?
Ouch, where does the hood crack at? I haven't found any on mine, but I wasn't looking for any cracks.

There is a photo of the hood crack and a couple of comments in one of my early threads Too many questions for one thread but...

The photo makes it look like something wonked the hood to cause the crack but the damage isn't as bad as it seems--clearly caused by fatigue as well as a missing hood support which enhanced the vibration. That and fire department guys sitting on it to put out brush fires.

I haven't addressed it yet as the hood has some butt-dents that need taking care of also and it might simply be better to replace the whole thing. The old plunger/suction-cup trick helped with the dents but didn't resolve them completely.

[wrecker]

The hood flops in the middle at highway speed causing a stress crack. Installing a civy hood latch is very easy and supports the middle of the hood.

[jeepdan]

The hood flops in the middle at highway speed causing a stress crack. Installing a civy hood latch is very easy and supports the middle of the hood.

Is it difficult to reach through the brush guard to release the latch?