Frunk Dent Prevention Strategy

Runs Kwh · May 25, 2014

We'll be receiving our Tesla S85 in a few weeks (Jun 14th). Already I'm stressing on the frunk dent issue. And I'm wondering if there's something preventative that can be done to alleviate the dent issue.

Has anyone tried to shoot the insulation foam that expands to fill cavities? I don't know the construction of the hood, nor if there's an airspace beneath it, but it seems something like that might prevent it.

And on the otherhand..... if that's not possible.. how many times would someone get their frunk repaired.. it seems that it would be a pervasive issue.

Lloyd · May 25, 2014

It's just like a Porsche hood, only slightly more fragile IMO. You won't have any problems if you close it properly.

huntjo · May 25, 2014

Never had a problem in hundreds of closures over 18 months of ownership

FlasherZ · May 25, 2014

My car is the daily driver that shuttles all my kids around - the frunk carries the stroller, the T-ball equipment, the baseball equipment, the soccer equipment, the lawn chairs, the groceries, the other shopping, etc. Likewise, my frunk has seen hundreds of open/close cycles and there are no dents. My wife, kids, and I all operate the frunk. We use the one-hand-in-center method to close it. No issues in 18 months.

ToddRLockwood · May 25, 2014

The hood is plenty strong enough right at the front edge. One hand will do. Your palm should be facing away from you, fingers pointing downward, so the heel of your hand is making contact with the front edge of the hood. Just press down until it clicks. DO NOT press with your fingers.

Runs Kwh · May 25, 2014

ToddRLockwood said:
The hood is plenty strong enough right at the front edge. One hand will do. Your palm should be facing away from you, fingers pointing downward, so the heel of your hand is making contact with the front edge of the hood. Just press down until it clicks. DO NOT press with your fingers.

This is all great and good, BUT you/we shouldn't have to explain this to everyone that may put or take anything out of the frunk. What about a valet, or a neighbor, or a family member... late at night, early in the morning. If you have to explain to someone the "right" way to close a hood - trunk - or door, there's definitely a manufacturing defect in how it was constructed. This isn't a special piece of lab equipment or anything like that. It's a car.

It would be like if I said, well to close the right passenger door properly, you need to push it in, with the palm of your hand on the handle and only 3 fingers wrapped underneath it. Two fingers will dent it as will 4.

OR, to move the rearview mirror, you need to place both hands on either side of the mirror, and using a hand motion of no more than 23 degrees, you need to lightly shift it while playing The Carpenters on the stereo system..... etc. etc.

net-net: it seems that enough folks have had a frunk dent that Tesla should fix it. Every care I've ever owned, leased, borrowed or stole - all you needed to do the the front hood is to hold it about 6-12 inches and then let it drop. You'd usually finish it with a quick push down on the hood with one or two hands or a few fingers.. all depending on if you had one or two hands free or whatever was going on. Never ever had a hood get a dent it in - whether it was a cheap Subaru or a BMW or a Toyota or a MB or a Range Rover or...

kevincwelch · May 26, 2014

ToddRLockwood said:
DO NOT press with your fingers.

It disappoints me how my Delivery Specialist told me to do it this exact way.

Nevertheless, after reading this forum, I've converted to the "palms away, fingers down" approach. In 15 months of ownership, however, I've never had an issue with it either. One could theorize that everyone's hood is a little different, but I think these dents are primarily technique-related. (It still is pretty damn silly that there has to be a technique for closing the frunk.)

stevezzzz · May 26, 2014

On my early Sig, using the palm-forward-fingers-down method since day 1, my frunk hood has developed a subtle crease about an inch from the front edge in the area of the latch: the front edge has bent downward over time, just a smidge. It's not noticeable unless you look for it, but just like every rock chip and door ding, I can't avoid seeing it now.

Oh, well. It's "just a car"...

jandkw · May 26, 2014

Runs Kwh said:
We'll be receiving our Tesla S85 in a few weeks (Jun 14th). Already I'm stressing on the frunk dent issue. And I'm wondering if there's something preventative that can be done to alleviate the dent issue.

Has anyone tried to shoot the insulation foam that expands to fill cavities? I don't know the construction of the hood, nor if there's an airspace beneath it, but it seems something like that might prevent it.

And on the otherhand..... if that's not possible.. how many times would someone get their frunk repaired.. it seems that it would be a pervasive issue.

I am assuming you're talking about the flimsy hood here? I have the S since Feb./2013 which has the flimsy hood and I use it many times with no issue. Sure, I had to close it with care. They did an EC on the hood with stronger sheet metal (believed to be sometime in Fall of 2013) which I noticed that with two loaner cars. Your 6/14 delivery should have the stronger hood and I'm not sure the dent issue you described exists anymore.

Krugerrand · May 26, 2014

Runs Kwh said:
This is all great and good, BUT you/we shouldn't have to explain this to everyone that may put or take anything out of the frunk.

What we should or shouldn't have to do is a matter of opinion. Some things in life are different, and I understand the stress that can create for the control freak. Every car I've owned has had its quirks. Later in life, it makes for fun and interesting stories when you get together with family and friends to reminisce about the good ole days.

Since we're talking about a thing here, not a life threatening situation, I have simply found that life is much easier to live if I accept that not everything in my world is perfect. And for those things that I just simply can not accept - I get rid of them.

Tesla knows about this issue. They've already done one hood change to help reduce the risk. There may be another down the road, or not. As it stands, there is a way to close the hood that significantly reduces the chance of denting it and all owners are informed (some incorrectly in the past - what are you going to do; people sometimes get it wrong). Why not just do it the way explained and simply pass it on? What benefit is there in it for you to stress about it - other than you have something to stress about.

FlasherZ · May 26, 2014

It's nothing special. They're not saying you must observe a very complex procedure. And I don't think it requires training. There are plenty of people who overestimate the strength of large sheets of metal, no matter steel or aluminum. I have seen many hoods on many cars that have ended up with dents for various reasons.

Some Tesla hoods are creased because someone overfilled the frunk or decided it needed a "suitcase close" when something was too big for it. That typically doesn't happen on other cars because the engine is there and there's no other storage, but from experience I can tell you that you will damage the hood if you don't have everything in place and you give it a bit of extra "oomph".

Basically, be gentle and don't overfill the frunk and you'll be fine.

SarahsDad · May 28, 2014

If I'd read this from the manual earlier, I might've avoided a dent - caused by an overly enthusiastic single palm press over the center latch. No problems since employing the Tesla-recommended maneuver...

rjcbox · May 28, 2014

I love Tesla and they do so many things right. But this??!! Needs to be fixed. One should not have to use a special technique to prevent damage. That instruction page should not exist. I understand the all aluminum part, but the car is almost 5000 lbs. Would it hurt to add 10 lbs of reinforcement and make this edge nearly undentable w/ typical open/closing? How about heavy enough to close under its own weight? Or better yet, drop it into position and have an auto-close/lock, like the trunk.

Mario Kadastik · May 28, 2014

I think what many people forget is that unlike your standard hood of ICE car there is no need for the hood to be fully sealed weather tight. However in the Frunk you want to carry food and other stuff that you don't want to get soaked if there's a heavy rain and lots of water spray. Therefore the frunk has seals that need to be pressed in tight. If you just let the hood drop it won't do the trick and it can't do the trick so you have to nicely press it in. The fact that you've abused the prior cars by letting the hood drop so that it clicks shut is just bad practice by everyone, that dropping to close isn't helping the hood, the only benefit being that on an ICE you hopefully open the hood very infrequently (to possibly pour in washer fluid).

The only real alternative would be akin to the trunk i.e. automatic closing using a motor. But barring that it will always be hand closed with two hands to make sure the seal is proper.

Bill D · Jun 14, 2014

SarahsDad said:
If I'd read this from the manual earlier, I might've avoided a dent - caused by an overly enthusiastic single palm press over the center latch. No problems since employing the Tesla-recommended maneuver...

View attachment 50371

Do you really press on these green areas to close your hood? - I gently pressed[FONT=&amp] on those areas, but they feel very soft to me, so I'm worried about pressing there hard enough to close the hood.

[/FONT] When I saw these revised hood-closing instructions in the new 5.9 Owner's Manual (posted), I was surprised that they contradict Tesla's previous instructions in their walk-through video, which clearly indicate to press on the hood's leading edge. The[FONT=&amp] Manual has now been updated to specifically warn: "Do not apply pressure to the leading edge of the hood - this can crease the edge".[/FONT]

T[FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp]esla has never suggested pressing on the corners, but that's t[/FONT]he area that "feels" the strongest to me. However, I'm now worried about the corners because they are on the leading edge where the new Manual specifically says not to press (red areas).

[/FONT][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp]A solid [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp]fool-proof [/FONT][/FONT]hood design would be nice, but we don't have that - OK - Second best would a solid fool-proof crystal clear Tesla-recommended technique for avoiding a crease or dent.[/FONT][/FONT]

dsm363 · Jun 14, 2014

Bill D said:
Do you really press on these green areas to close your hood? - I gently pressed[FONT=&amp] on those areas, but they feel very soft to me, so I'm worried about pressing there hard enough to close the hood.

[/FONT] When I saw these revised hood-closing instructions in the new 5.9 Owner's Manual (posted), I was surprised that they contradict Tesla's previous instructions in their walk-through video, which clearly indicate to press on the hood's leading edge. The[FONT=&amp] Manual has now been updated to specifically warn: "Do not apply pressure to the leading edge of the hood - this can crease the edge".[/FONT]

T[FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp]esla has never suggested pressing on the corners, but that's t[/FONT]he area that "feels" the strongest to me. However, I'm now worried about the corners because they are on the leading edge where the new Manual specifically says not to press (red areas).

[/FONT][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp]A solid [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp][FONT=&amp]fool-proof [/FONT][/FONT]hood design would be nice, but we don't have that - OK - Second best would a solid fool-proof crystal clear Tesla-recommended technique for avoiding a crease or dent.[/FONT][/FONT]

I do. Never had an issue. I put my palms on either side of center with fingers facing out and gently push down. If you meet too much resistance then stop but you don't need to put much weight into it.

Bill D · Jun 14, 2014

dsm363 said:
I do. Never had an issue. I put my palms on either side of center with fingers facing out and gently push down. If you meet too much resistance then stop but you don't need to put much weight into it.

Are your hands in any of the red zones that Tesla now warns about in the updated Manual (above)?

SarahsDad · Jun 14, 2014

I drape my fingers over the leading edge "red" zone with heels of hands in the lower half of the "green" zone, then lean slowly on the heels of my hands until the latch "clicks".

jerry33 · Jun 14, 2014

SarahsDad said:
I drape my fingers over the leading edge "red" zone with heels of hands in the lower half of the "green" zone, then lean slowly on the heels of my hands until the latch "clicks".

That's what I do too and have never had a problem. I'm pretty sure the key word here is "slowly".

Elctrek · Jun 14, 2014

had the same issue with the earlier Dodge Viper Engine hoods... if you applied too much pressure on the nose of the hood it would crack the hood behind the nose. The latches were actually back about a foot.

Frunk Dent Prevention Strategy

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