I finished the install of the v3 frunk kit yesterday. I have done a lot of DIY stuff, including overhauling several car engines and much more. Yet this was more of an effort than I expected, glad I did it, but Whew! The instruction sheet from Hansshow was almost useless: poor English at critical points and photos that look like they were taken through a Coke bottle. It's official installation video is by the Frugal Tesla Guy (FTG) and was the cat's meow when it was done a year ago for version 1. Hansshow needs an updated video for Version 3 because of the differences. I missed the Electrified Garage video until almost finished and as did
towndrunk, I found its discussion of setting the latch to be highly helpful. However, the Electrified Garage video would have been improved considerably with better lighting. At times one could not see what was actually being done so you had to use your imagination.
The following are additional comments on some of the stages of the install.
Motor install: either video was adequate but FTG has a helpful close-up of the slot where the tab at the metal piece at the end of the cable goes...knowing this made it easy to to manage what was obviously tricky in the videos; it was nice to know I had done it right. Later, when the install was finished except for testing the raise and lower functions, the EG video included a close-up of the latch position that worked for them. As is apparently common, it was necessary for them to move the latch adjustment nut toward the right fender to get a proper soft close. For me the close-up was crucial because you can also make adjustments to the position of the whole latch mechanism; knowing what works for the nut position keeps you from going crazy trying to make two adjustments together. Also helpful was the warning not to go too far toward the right fender or the soft close would not work. I made every possible mistake before finding the latch position close-up.
Emergency wire-pull install: either video should be adequate.
Wiring harness install: kudos to FTG for explicit shots of what plugs went where. Yes, it should be pretty obvious but for a first install the confirmation was comforting. A difference between versions comes in here. Version 1 connects to the frunk light/button with plugs labelled "Front plug" whereas for v3 the label reads "Debugging." It's pretty obvious that these two plug pairs go the same place even though they have different labels, but what is not obvious - and of course not mentioned in FTG because there is no actual debugging feature - is that you are supposed to replace the debugging plug pair with the direct connect to the button after finishing the final setup for open/close speed, etc. The EG video discusses this, but this is another reason that Hansshow needs to replace the FTG video with one that works with v3.
Control console install: there is a small difference between versions here. V1 has no water-protective cover for the console, v3 does: a rubber shoe that encloses the console. (The German-made Tesla Offer frunk kit has gone full-Germanic by using a sealed waterproof console with waterproof connections, clearly preferable after you have struggled with the Hansshow rubber case while hoping you don't ruin the cable connections in the process.) It's pretty obvious how to use the case without instructions (v1) while EG (v3) gives a timely warning to avoid an area where the frunk tub will be screwed down later.
Wire tidying: this seems to be a case of everyone-on-their-own. It's not rocket science. Nonetheless, I watched both videos for ideas. The one place that really mattered was for the left strut cable where there was a warning in EG NOT to use a route where a wiper motor could twist the cable to Hell and back; a slightly different route avoids the motor mechanism. On the same topic as tidying the wiring, EG used a different bolt for grounding that minimized wire bunching for the positive battery connection wire and used a watertight connection to the fuse wire, all very neat and confidence-inspiring. This involves cutting the two wires to the needed length and using a bullet connector with heat-shrinking tubing (available at Lowes) that should be waterproof when finished,
Adjusting lid height, open/closing speed, and functional latch position
This is where all my careful work beforehand seemed to come apart. The written Hansshow instructions warned to make sure the latch would move when commanded but they were entirely too unclear for this readert. Finally, since no video seemed to worry about this, neither did I and proceeded to the height/speed decisions. After adjusting the nut to get a soft close, I replaced the debug plugs with the original wire to the button to check that out (without the tub yet). The cover was UP when I pressed the button. It did not lower but instead a loud CLANK came from the strut area, and I saw that the right strut had popped off of its ball joint! Nothing in the instructions on that behavior. I KNEW I had properly seated the strut when I installed it but proceeded to pop it back on while being triple sure it was seated and tried lowering the lid from the phone app instead of the button. Same result. Repeat re-affixing the strut and trying with the touchscreen; same result. This was the low point of the day, for sure.
Without having a good reason to do so, I put the debugger cable back in use, went through the height and speed adjustments again, tried lowering/raising again, and all worked as before. Replacing the debug wires with the original button wire, both closing and opening worked perfectly. After replacing the tub, the lid would not quite lock shut. By loosening the hold down bolts mentioned above and raising the entire latch unit, the lid would soft close properly except that the front of the lid was no longer flush with the adjacent hood., Ultimately what was needed was to move the latch unit back down and to move the cable adjustment nut slightly more toward the right fender,
Now, on to the foot sensor install. Should be a piece of cake, right? It remains a mystery why I had the strut-popping-out problem and why it was solved by repeating the setup process. It will likely be 2-3 months before I become confident that it's not going to fail again with a frunk full of ice cream.
