Do you use your frunk?

[SuperPigDots]

Frunk denting is a real thing and was a major issue with the Model S. That's when Tesla gave guidelines to reduce the chances of doing it (guidelines that continue to exist in the Model 3 manual, as another pointed out).
Frunk Dent (Frustrating...)

That said, the prevalence of this for the Model 3 seems to be much less, as it appears to be beefed up.

There are however cases for Model Y where the hood bumpers are not adjusted properly and when the latch is engaged, it pulls down too much and causes two very visible dents (although they pop back out when hood is open).
PSA - small dents on all brand new Model Y hoods

Well... this is the Model 3 section and a Model 3 post to be specific...

And again, the reason for the denting is what I am getting at most here. Do the dents come from us cautious people on this forum, thinking about and learning about their vehicle and its limitations? Or do they come from Joe Shmoe who didn't think twice, treated their Tesla like they've treated their last 5 used-and-abused traditional combustion vehicles, and slammed their hood down with the force of Thor's Hammer? Also, I suspect the same people would be inclined to hop on a forum like this one and fabricate sympathy for their own gain (hoping for a complimentary Tesla service repair, social validation, or whatever else) by claiming they don't know what happened; they were just closing it like the manual said to. They say that online feedback often attracts the loudest cases and not the 1,000s more of median cases.

I suspect that hood dents are a rare case that are mostly due to user complacency/error and, in even rarer cases, defective hood alignments. Like you said, Tesla has seemed to have learned about frunk hood fragility, and I theorize that us cautious frunk users have nothing to worry about.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Well... this is the Model 3 section and a Model 3 post to be specific...

And again, the reason for the denting is what I am getting at most here. Do the dents come from us cautious people on this forum, thinking about and learning about their vehicle and its limitations? Or do they come from Joe Shmoe who didn't think twice, treated their Tesla like they've treated their last 5 used-and-abused traditional combustion vehicles, and slammed their hood down with the force of Thor's Hammer? Also, I suspect the same people would be inclined to hop on a forum like this one and fabricate sympathy for their own gain (hoping for a complimentary Tesla service repair, social validation, or whatever else) by claiming they don't know what happened; they were just closing it like the manual said to. They say that online feedback often attracts the loudest cases and not the 1,000s more of median cases.

I suspect that hood dents are a rare case that are mostly due to user complacency/error and, in even rarer cases, defective hood alignments. Like you said, Tesla has seemed to have learned about frunk hood fragility, and I theorize that us cautious frunk users have nothing to worry about.

Well, given I was a Tesla fan since the Roadster days, I was aware how fragile the frunk may be, as well as it being aluminum. So I always followed the manual's guideline of only pushing down on either side of the logo to engage the latch.

However, I imagine given how widely sold the Model 3 is, many people would just slam down the hood or press at the logo (which the manual warns specifically not to do). The hood does not really tolerate this as well as it would have if it was steel.

 

[terranx]

Well, given I was a Tesla fan since the Roadster days, I was aware how fragile the frunk may be, as well as it being aluminum. So I always followed the manual's guideline of only pushing down on either side of the logo to engage the latch.

However, I imagine given how widely sold the Model 3 is, many people would just slam down the hood or press at the logo (which the manual warns specifically not to do). The hood does not really tolerate this as well as it would have if it was steel.

Aluminum hoods aren’t exactly novel. My 20 year old bmw has an aluminum hood. The bigger issue seems to be that the latch requires a pretty decent amount of force to actually stay shut.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Aluminum hoods aren’t exactly novel. My 20 year old bmw has an aluminum hood.

Well, in most ICE cars, people aren't expected to to open the hood except rarely. For BMWs, I imagine most owners never open the hood. I remember watching a video from a long time ago that BMW basically has a sea of plastic panels when you open the hood, so there's pretty much nothing to see there. They expect basically the service centers to be the ones to open the hood.

The bigger issue seems to be that the latch requires a pretty decent amount of force to actually stay shut.

You are right that the two stage latch is different from other designs, although it's necessary to provide the frunk functionality, while meeting regulatory requirements for preventing it from flying open during driving.

 

[terranx]

Well, in most ICE cars, people aren't expected to to open the hood except rarely. For BMWs, I imagine most owners never open the hood. I remember watching a video from a long time ago that BMW basically has a sea of plastic panels when you open the hood, so there's pretty much nothing to see there. They expect basically the service centers to be the ones to open the hood.

Eh, e46 m3 is one that has a far more DIYers than most and is actually very serviceable. Manages fine with an aluminum hood.

You are right that the two stage latch is different from other designs, although it's necessary to provide the frunk functionality, while meeting regulatory requirements for preventing it from flying open during driving.

Virtually every other company manages to make two stage latches that work better.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Eh, e46 m3 is one that has a far more DIYers than most and is actually very serviceable. Manages fine with an aluminum hood.

Virtually every other company manages to make two stage latches that work better.

Do they? Are you talking about latches from frunks? The Model 3/Y design seems to work fine to me and seemed fairly robust given not much prevalence of complaints of it flying open despite much more units sold. The only other designs I have looked at is the Corvette C8's and MachE's because of reading reports of them flying open during driving.

 

[terranx]

Do they? Are you talking about latches from frunks? The Model 3/Y design seems to work fine to me and seemed fairly robust given not much prevalence of complaints of it flying open despite much more units sold. The only other designs I have looked at is the Corvette C8's and MachE's because of reading reports of them flying open during driving.

Not flying open is the bare minimum. You should also be able to close them with reasonable effort instead of it taking 3+ tries. The latter is what Tesla's frunks all suck at

 

[stopcrazypp]

Not flying open is the bare minimum.

A bare minimum that apparently other designs don't always meet.

You should also be able to close them with reasonable effort instead of it taking 3+ tries. The latter is what Tesla's frunks all suck at

I close it with one try by pressing in the areas noted in the manual (I've gotten good enough I can do it with one hand only pushing one side instead of pushing both, although this is not recommended, especially if you don't have a feel for it yet):

The major difference for a frunk optimized latch is that opening is more convenient given you don't have to feel around for the latch release.

Given you say virtually every company has a better frunk design, can you point to some examples that have such a functionality and yet are much easier to close? The C8 and MachE I looked at and they are not any easier to close (plenty of threads talking about challenges of closing).

 

[terranx]

I press on those areas fine. But the frunk on every Tesla I've owned / driven takes usually 3 attempts to actually stay closed.

Given you say virtually every company has a better frunk design, can you point to some examples that have such a functionality and yet are much easier to close?

Have you opened the hood on literally any other car? All of them close easier.

 

[brkaus]

Other front trunks do not have weatherstripping to compress.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I press on those areas fine. But the frunk on every Tesla I've owned / driven takes usually 3 attempts to actually stay closed.


Have you opened the hood on literally any other car? All of them close easier.

Read my comments closely, I'm talking about frunks, not hoods. Hoods have the latch release you have to feel for and don't have a cargo area with weatherstripping as another pointed out. They trade off ease of closing for more difficulty opening.

So I take it you don't have any examples of frunks that are better designed.

 

[terranx]

Read my comments closely, I'm talking about frunks, not hoods. Hoods have the latch release you have to feel for and don't have a cargo area with weatherstripping as another pointed out. They trade off ease of closing for more difficulty opening.

So I take it you don't have any examples of frunks that are better designed.

Hoods have weather stripping too

I’m talking about any piece of sheet metal in the front that is closed with a latch. Electronic release vs cable release shouldn’t make a difference. They’re all still two stage latches.

911 frunk also close much easier than Teslas if you really want an actual frunk to compare.

 

[Sophias_dad]

I have two comments on this subject...

Don't ever try to close the frunk when the car is asleep. It will apparently NEVER engage the latch, and that means you'll just press harder and harder, waiting for a latch that will never come.

I wouldn't try it on my own car, but I wonder if filling the area on the hood under where your hands press down to close it would some good. Either seam sealer(if its a very small space) or expanding foam (if its a larger space) may do a fine job of transferring the load to the underlayer of the hood(with the hexagonal punchouts)

 

[stopcrazypp]

Hoods have weather stripping too

Not in the cars I have driven. Another thing I forgot to mention is most hoods don't have a strut to keep them open (rather uses a stick to prop it up), so you can just drop the hood and it'll close. Can't do that with a frunk with struts.

I’m talking about any piece of sheet metal in the front that is closed with a latch. Electronic release vs cable release shouldn’t make a difference. They’re all still two stage latches.

Except it does. The examples with electronic secondary releases all require special closure methods and you can't just slam it down like a hood.

911 frunk also close much easier than Teslas if you really want an actual frunk to compare.

The 911 frunk uses a manual secondary latch release, which you have to feel for like a hood. So there is that tradeoff again on opening difficulty vs closing difficulty. You also have to close it similar to a Model 3 (put it down first then push with your palms, which BTW I have my fingers facing the front of the car which allows more even pressure than if facing toward back of car).

Maybe the pressure required is less given the manual latch release, but a quick search found it seems it has very similar issues to the Model 3 in terms of closing (and also possibly denting it):
OK Really dumb question... closing the hood (trunk) - Rennlist - Porsche Discussion Forums

I still don't see any vastly superior designs, all of them have compromises in some way.

I suppose the best of both worlds are fully motorized frunks, but it seems a lot of the aftermarket ones have issues with water ingress or with the struts failing and doing major damage to the windshield.

 

[terranx]

Not in the cars I have driven. Another thing I forgot to mention is most hoods don't have a strut to keep them open (rather uses a stick to prop it up), so you can just drop the hood and it'll close. Can't do that with a frunk with struts.

You must have driven very low end cars before your Tesla then, probably explains our experience differences. Every car I’ve driven had gas struts for the hood and weather sealing.

The 911 frunk uses a manual secondary latch release, which you have to feel for like a hood. So there is that tradeoff again on opening difficulty vs closing difficulty. You also have to close it similar to a Model 3 (put it down first then push with your palms, which BTW I have my fingers facing the front of the car which allows more even pressure than if facing toward back of car).

Current model is electronic release afaik and closes much more easily still. (I would also argue that fumbling around for your phone while you’re holding bags in the rain is *not* easier than a manual release)

The closing motion is in theory similar, but the 911 closes on the first try every try in my experience, while I have never gotten a Tesla to completely latch on the first attempt.

 

[Zacster]

You must have driven very low end cars before your Tesla then, probably explains our experience differences. Every car I’ve driven had gas struts for the hood and weather sealing.



Current model is electronic release afaik and closes much more easily still. (I would also argue that fumbling around for your phone while you’re holding bags in the rain is *not* easier than a manual release)

The closing motion is in theory similar, but the 911 closes on the first try every try in my experience, while I have never gotten a Tesla to completely latch on the first attempt.

Maybe you need to turn that around. Most cars only have a rod to hold open the hood. Only very high end cars have gas struts.

I've replaced the latch mechanism on a couple of Toyotas because they were causing the alarm to go off. I forget exactly what the problem was but it was sure enough the answer. My daughter's Camry would have the alarm go off at least once after she parked it, usually at 3am parked outside our window. She also complained that the "hood open" indicator would come on even though it was securely latched. I looked it up and sure enough they were two symptoms of the same problem, a dirty/rusty latch. I don't remember any electrical connections but there may have been one. She then totaled the car (not her fault).

 

[terranx]

Maybe you need to turn that around. Most cars only have a rod to hold open the hood. Only very high end cars have gas struts.

If by very high end you mean cars over $30k… sure