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Has Anyone Already Designed a Model X Rear Bumper Tow-Hitch Cover Cut-Out?
- Thread starter tps5352
- Start date
davenlei
Member
Did anyone create a 3D printer file for this cover? I have a 3D printer (Ender 3) and wanted to try printing off a test sample.
I still don't know much about 3D printing. However, the cost of the "classic" Model X rear bumper receiver-hitch plastic cover was only about $11-$12 (USD) when I purchased one from a Tesla Service Center. (I assume "refreshed" 2021-2023 Model X covers will be a similar price.)
So is bothering with 3D printing worth the effort? At that price, most people can afford to get a couple spares in order to make (by hand) one with an opening (say after first creating mock-ups with cardboard.
On the other hand, if 3D printing a cover only costs 50 cents and is easy, then by all means... But the covers are a strange shape--mostly flat but subtly angled and warped in space, with little tabs and holes for plastic connectors. Wouldn't it be hard to accurately re-create one? (This is where my ignorance of 3D printing becomes apparent.*)
Now what would be attractive is is if someone can make really good covers (for the various Model X versions) with proper openings built in(for the receiver-hitch) included. Then to program those designs into a 3D printer and sharing the design files with others. (That's how it works, correct?) Or to sell the resulting covers with holes directly at a good price.
Dreaming further, what if a 3D printed version could have a little door with hinge that could open to expose the necessary opening (to slide in the receiver-adapter) and to close tight when the receiver-adapter were removed. Perfect, but probably impossible (at a reasonable price).
Better yet, one could just buy a Model Y wherein the whole issue is moot (because the rear bumper trailer-hitch receiver is built in under a simple plastic cover facing directly backwards on the bumper--no ungainly and expensive receiver-adapter is necessary; nice!).
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*My only experience: I purchased protective office-chair sliding plastic wheel covers (designed to prevent cats and dogs from being pinched by rolling chair wheels) on Reddit. There are plenty of pros and amateurs (e.g., on Reddit) with printers who will provide a service if you can provide the design file.
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davenlei
Member
Haha, no problem. The cost to print a cover on a 3D printer is in the pennies range (maybe $0.50 max) but buying an OEM and modifying it for $11 is pretty darn cheap if you can do the cuts cleanly. I was hoping that someone did a 3D scan of a cover (scanners are still expensive so I don't have one) and then pulled the scan into modeling software to create exactly what you are wishing for (a removable cover which can snap/hinge in/out of place with clean edges). The most 'expensive' part of that would be someone's time to create those changes into the scanned model which is not very hard for someone skilled in that.
I have a 3D printer that prints using the typical layering so it would take some fine tuning and acetone to smooth out the layers but it would be nice to get one of the resin 3D printers to make smooth print of things right off the bat.
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I finally happened across that video I remember seeing with a nice guy who happens to live in Norway with a Classic Model X 5-seater.
I hate to watch it, because I can imagine exactly what it must have felt like. (There are worse pains [right guys?] but the shins are pretty bad.) That massive cast receiver adapter sticks out in such a way so that it is (a) out of your line of sight when moving upright around the back of the car and (b) right in the way of the very tender shin area. Maybe one bad experience is all it takes to avoid future incidents (analogous to remembering when you mount bicycles to a roof rack on a [non-Model X] car), but that would be one experience too much for me.
I really want that clean look, but not good at working with plastic unfortunately. Anyway i could pay you to make me one. Would gladly pay for parts and shipping as well.
Thanks @Thefourphans, just the encouragement I needed to make a cut out myself, after I obtain a new one from Tesla for a backup!
