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Frunk Dent (Frustrating...)

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#121
When I tried pressing on the corners of the frunk hood by the headlights, it sometimes will not latch. There is so much resistance that the corners can be pressed down until they meet the frame (or whatever you want to call it) and the hood will still not click sometimes, I have to move my hands in closer to get it to latch. I'm guessing that's well beyond the resistance I should be experiencing...
 
#123
Per service, all of the creases they have seen were due to improper closing procedure caused by applying pressure to the very leading edge or directly above the latch mechanism. I generally close my frunk as described in the owner's manual and have had no issues. Yes, the frunk hood will flex a little as you close it. Service confirmed this is normal, and the flexing that is seen at the point of pressure - if hands are placed as indicated in the owner's manual - will not result in a crease.
 
#124
AmpedRealtor said:
Per service, all of the creases they have seen were due to improper closing procedure caused by applying pressure to the very leading edge or directly above the latch mechanism. I generally close my frunk as described in the owner's manual and have had no issues. Yes, the frunk hood will flex a little as you close it. Service confirmed this is normal, and the flexing that is seen at the point of pressure - if hands are placed as indicated in the owner's manual - will not result in a crease.
Click to expand...
Certainly that's quite a bit unfair on your SC's part, though. Say you create a user manual and orientation video to provide frunk closing instructions. Some subset of owners close their hoods using these instructions and damage them. Then at some later point you substantially change the closing instructions to specifically prohibit the prior procedure. Sure, Tesla could claim that improper closing procedures caused those owners' issues and arguably be correct, but that would conveniently leave out the part that Tesla was the one who instructed and trained owners in the flawed closing procedure in the first place.

It's not like everyone made this stuff up. Speaking for myself, I closed the hood as instructed in the orientation video and by the tech at delivery.
 
#126
I have read this and other threads on this issue and can confidently report that I now understand the problem, its cause and can provide a remedy!

(I haven't really the faintest idea but I'm going to bore you with my theory anyway)

From the images of the inside front edge of the MS' bonnet (hood) kindly provided by pgiralt, this is what I believe the internal construction of the hood lip looks like in cross-section:-

Tesla MS bonnet cros section.jpg


The mechanism of damage causation is simply that, when the bonnet is dropped from too high a point (allowed by the flawed specification of the hood gas struts), the very front lip 'A' strikes the cross member causing the top skin of aluminium to flex beyond its elastic limit at point 'B' thus causing a crease.

The solution is 2-fold:-
1/ Do as Tesla appears to have done and change the shape of the lower skin slightly (the bend in the lower skin is shallower at B) to allow the stresses in the upper skin to be more spread out and more even thus reducing the likelihood of non-elastic bending in the upper skin, and
2/ Change the gas struts so that at no point in the hood's travel is it possible to go into 'free-fall', i.e. there is gas pressure supporting the hood all the way down to within an inch or so of being closed.
3/ Provide consistent advice on how to latch-close the hood.

Lastly, the 'Slamstop.net' add-on would be a very nice addition tho I do not know if it is possible to install in this instance - I will research further and report back. MW
 
#127
I don't believe this is an issue about slamming the frunk hood. Plenty of owners here have reported creases who say they have never slammed the frunk and follow the instructions. According to local SC, crease is caused when owner applies pressure to the forward-most leading edge. That is contrary to the instructions which show that you need to stay away from the leading edge by placing your hands about six inches up from the edge. From my experience, the best leverage occurs when you position your hands to be about 6-8 inches on either side of the Tesla logo as it appears on the nose cone.
 
#131
AmpedRealtor said:
Which is the method I've been using for almost 18 months without issue. I close my frunk exactly as shown in the orientation video. Works like a charm.
Click to expand...
... until it doesn't. It only takes once. I'm glad it's worked for you so far, but the orientation video method is explicitly not recommended by Tesla anymore (and Tesla pulled the video from their site, replacing it with one that doesn't offer any frunk closing advice). He pushed in the new manual's red "do not push here" zones. According to Tesla, you're closing the frunk wrong. :frown:
 
#132
Gizmotoy said:
... until it doesn't. It only takes once. I'm glad it's worked for you so far, but the orientation video method is explicitly not recommended by Tesla anymore (and Tesla pulled the video from their site, replacing it with one that doesn't offer any frunk closing advice). He pushed in the new manual's red "do not push here" zones. According to Tesla, you're closing the frunk wrong. :frown:
Click to expand...

Okay maybe I'm not doing it the same way as the video. I thought the video and the owner's manual matched up, but I guess not. I'm following the instructions in the owners manual, which keeps my hands away from the leading edge. My hands are probably in line with the latch mechanism along the front, but spaced out farther from side to side.

Someone should set this to interpretive dance.
 
#133
AmpedRealtor said:
Okay maybe I'm not doing it the same way as the video. I thought the video and the owner's manual matched up, but I guess not. I'm following the instructions in the owners manual, which keeps my hands away from the leading edge. My hands are probably in line with the latch mechanism along the front, but spaced out farther from side to side.

Someone should set this to interpretive dance.
Click to expand...
Great! Ok, I see. That sounds like the new suggested method, yes. They officially changed the recommended method (changed the user manual and removed the old orientation video) around when 6.0 came out. You've had yours longer than me, so presumably someone with more experience told you to ignore the manual and video and do it what is now considered the correct way.

I think I got a new guy and was unfortunately not so lucky. Many of us were told only to push within the first few inches or so of the leading edge of the frunk on either side of the logo ("because that's where the reinforcement plate resides"), which to be fair is exactly what the old manual and video instructed. Unfortunately we now know using the old recommended closing method causes damage.

The SC was pretty upfront about it and told me even back in November 2013 I probably shouldn't have been instructed to close the frunk like that by the delivery specialist no matter what the manual and video showed, so they knew it was a problem even back then. I took factory delivery, though, so I probably got some random person who doesn't work on the cars rather than an actual tech more familiar with the vehicle.

Hopefully by now new owners are getting correct information in their orientation. I took the complaint pretty high up.
 
#135
#138
If you close the hood with your fingers pointing in the direction of the arrows and put most of the pressure with the heel of your hands, you'll automatically be pressing in the green area. I thought that was what the original instructions indicated--at least that's how I've always done it.
 
#139
jerry33 said:
If you close the hood with your fingers pointing in the direction of the arrows and put most of the pressure with the heel of your hands, you'll automatically be pressing in the green area. I thought that was what the original instructions indicated--at least that's how I've always done it.
Click to expand...

As it happens, that's what I've always done - and I deliberately try to spread the load out across my hand... but I'm also guilty of pressing in the middle red area. No crease to date but I'll change my habits.
 
#140
Still, I would really appreciate it if Tesla would beef up the hood area a bit so it could take being shut with one hand. It's a real pain to have to go back and shut it each time after unloading.

EVs are such a huge step forward, it's too bad that we have to step back here.

Forget range anxiety, I have frunk anxiety.
 
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