They are most definitely not for hood buckling. If you look at them there is no crease or bend to make them want to buckle in any specific way. In fact I have seen multiple Wbody accidents where they buckled DOWN. The hood however has multiple design features that will cause it to bend upwards to avoid chopping at the drivers neck. They are for strength in the front end / handling purposes. Leave em alone unless you like a loose sloppy front end.