Well, Greg,
I wrapped my hoop on the hood, like you said. I noticed that my latch cut through the tape on one side of the hoop. I adjusted the latch so the hoop was centered. It worked better but I still have the squeak. I drove over my bumpy test course with the hood open, on the safety catch, and the squeak was still there. Just for the heck of it, I tried driving over bumps with my passenger door open, on the safety catch, and the squeak seemed to go away. I tried adjusting my striker a little tighter and the squeak seems almost gone. It's too soon to speculate, but I will try tweaking this some over the next few days.
Dave