How do you close the frunk? Have you creased it?

[AmpedRealtor]

It isn't just two hands on the sides there is a quick force downward that you do with it. I think people likely damage it by trying to go too slow and be careful that it messes it up.

I actually think it's the opposite, I wish Tesla would settle this issue.

A quick downward force would be more likely to cause a crease than a steady, slow application of force. A fast downward force will put more strain on the fulcrum, which appears to be located in very close proximity to the latch, and the force vector points primarily downward. A slower application of force will tend to spread the strain and less force is actually going straight down. Of course I could be completely wrong.

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I position my rear at the front edge, so I'm facing away from the car, and do a very quick squat. Just make sure you have no rivets on your back pockets!

This is my preferred method as well, the butt cheek method. I have much padding back there, so my frunk gets very gentle treatment. No jokes about having a Tesla between my legs, please.

 

[Duckjybe]

One feature I'd like to see added is an electric closer on the frunk. As it is, I use it only rarely, both because of a fear of damaging it and because it's a PITA to close, especially if you are holding whatever item you just took out of it.

^+1 Yes!

 

[Kalud]

What is sad is that you can take all the precautions in the world, it only take one bad close to have it creased... I have been super careful from day one, advised my wife also, then one day I saw that it was creased...

 

[chickensevil]

I actually think it's the opposite, I wish Tesla would settle this issue.

A quick downward force would be more likely to cause a crease than a steady, slow application of force. A fast downward force will put more strain on the fulcrum, which appears to be located in very close proximity to the latch, and the force vector points primarily downward. A slower application of force will tend to spread the strain and less force is actually going straight down. Of course I could be completely wrong.

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This is my preferred method as well, the butt cheek method. I have much padding back there, so my frunk gets very gentle treatment. No jokes about having a Tesla between my legs, please.

It might just be the way I was explaining it... I don't mean to sound like I am being overly harsh with it. I was just babying it when I first got it, which was actually making it almost impossible for me to close. It wasn't until I had someone show it to me a bit better that I figured out what I needed to do.

In either case, I use it as little as possible, just to avoid damage... and also handprints... since it leaves oil on the paint and such.

 

[strider]

I set the frunk lid down on the latch. Then I use the palm of one hand in the center and about 2 inches in from the front lip. I start light and keep applying more and more pressure until it latches and then relax. No issues in 1.5 years and we use it all the time.

 

[efusco]

I set the frunk lid down on the latch. Then I use the palm of one hand in the center and about 2 inches in from the front lip. I start light and keep applying more and more pressure until it latches and then relax. No issues in 1.5 years and we use it all the time.

That's pretty much what I do, maybe a bit more firmly pressing from the start since learning how much pressure it takes.

 

[loganss]

What is sad is that you can take all the precautions in the world, it only take one bad close to have it creased... I have been super careful from day one, advised my wife also, then one day I saw that it was creased...

After seeing the crease thread, I checked my hood and I had a crease. I was so annoyed. I suspect it was the collision center that put it there since I was always careful on how I closed the frunk. I was so bummed but I didn't know exactly when it happened so no chance for getting it fixed.

Because of this I don't have a proper response to the poll.

 

[Plug Me In]

Wow, I never realized there was a complex procedure involved. I've always realized the hood was more fragile than a typical steel hood, so I've just been careful with it. I usually set the hood down until it contacts the lip, then a firm steady pressure at the edge in the center until it clicks. My kids have closed it, I've just told them to be careful and not push down on the bendy parts. No creases.

 

[chickensevil]

What does a "crease" look like, anyone have any good pictures?

 

[tezco]

"Another method, please explain": Two hands on either side of the latch, about 6 inches apart and about an inch or two up from the front edge. No damage so far.

 

[Knobby]

I have a dent there too. I first noticed it a month or more ago. Don't know how it happened, I use the method described in the current manual (the 5.9 version)
and I don't use the frunk much. I don't think I did anything wrong to damage it. It is upsetting for sure and I'd like some resolution.

 

[William13]

I now see damage from a vigorous wax job.

 

[ElSupreme]

I set the frunk lid down on the latch. Then I use the palm of one hand in the center and about 2 inches in from the front lip. I start light and keep applying more and more pressure until it latches and then relax. No issues in 1.5 years and we use it all the time.

Use this exact method. No creases at all. I open my frunk 10-15 times a month.

My wife has used the alternate method of lift hood and slam down a few times.

EDIT: I do not recommend that you us my wife's method. Not only is it likely to cause damage, it is quite difficult to get the hood to latch as well.

 

[chickensevil]

Use this exact method. No creases at all. I open my frunk 10-15 times a month.

My wife has used the alternate method of lift hood and slam down a few times.

I would have thought slamming it down would be a bad idea? They specifically say not to do this.

Course they also specifically say not to push dead center, and that seems to be the route you all are taking... So who knows?

 

[Lump]

To strengthen the area some type of epoxy has been tried but that has led to orange foam oozing out of hoods, I was at Hawthorne SpC & a Tesla employee was there test charging a car & that car had orange foam oozing & he didn't even notice until I pointed it out.

I don't have the crease, when demoing the car I don't even open the frunk, its obviously a design flaw & owner frustration is mounting so does this become a recall once enough complaints reach Jerome?

 

[ElSupreme]

I would have thought slamming it down would be a bad idea? They specifically say not to do this.

Course they also specifically say not to push dead center, and that seems to be the route you all are taking... So who knows?

Oh in no way was I suggesting you use my wifes method. It actually is very hard to latch the hood that way and is quite violent.

 

[jpwe10]

Got mine as an inventory car and the frunk was already creased

 

[Gizmotoy]

Course they also specifically say not to push dead center, and that seems to be the route you all are taking... So who knows?

It might be because the poll is not terribly clear. The initial recommendation was to use the base of your palms just to either side of the Tesla T. So in the poll, is that "one or two hands together over latch" or "two hands between latch and side edges"? Technically it's the latter, but then what option do people use for the wide method where you close using the corners? Or the new recommendation from the June manual that's in between these two?

So the poll options are open to interpretation, which makes it less useful.

 

[Pilot_51]

It might be because the poll is not terribly clear. The initial recommendation was to use the base of your palms just to either side of the Tesla T. So in the poll, is that "one or two hands together over latch" or "two hands between latch and side edges"? Technically it's the latter, but then what option do people use for the wide method where you close using the corners? Or the new recommendation from the June manual that's in between these two?

So the poll options are open to interpretation, which makes it less useful.

Yeah, I admit, I didn't do much research into the various methods of closing it, in particular the old method, before creating the poll. Unfortunately I can't edit it. Something more like a survey with a heat map of the hood would certainly be better.

I was under the assumption that the old recommendation was just what [some?] Tesla personnel taught before there was official documentation that only clarified it rather than changed it. "Either side of the Tesla T" is essentially the same as the new recommendation, yet more broad in interpretation. What I've noticed over the years just appeared to be variances in how different people follow the instructions. For example, this video from 2012 shows a new owner, clearly having been trained, closing it at his factory pickup and it looks like he's applying pressure to the green areas, maybe just on the edge of the red box with the left hand. The official walkthrough is obviously worse, with pressure along the front edge (red line) and about where the green and red areas meet. Judging by the rest of the walkthrough, it didn't seem to have much in the way of QA, so I'm not sure he was doing it "correctly" even at the time.

 

[J-Philipp]

What is sad is that you can take all the precautions in the world, it only take one bad close to have it creased... I have been super careful from day one, advised my wife also, then one day I saw that it was creased...

Sadly I saw the same thing on my car today after being extra careful from day one.