I'm still amazed that I can upload a 5gb file in 30seconds and YouTube and encode multiple versions of it in minutes. Video overview and general install walkthrough even though the kit was already installed.
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Why you should skip the powered frunk and grab a Satonic soft close frunk
- Thread starter ngng
- Start date
Price must have gone up. I'm sure there will be sales. Even for $100, I think it's worth it.
Just the hood...if you're lucky. I saw an aftermarket hood unlatch at the track and it took out the guys windshield and part of the roof!
amoney805
Member
Any issues with the compatibility of the soft close and Frunk LED rope lights? I saw that the lights dont work with the Hanshow frunk opener.
Midnightsun
Active Member
Rope lights work fine with all auto frunks. The issue is the ground wire must go to chassis, not the ground wire of the frunk light. These kits come in a plug and play format which grounds them to the frunk light/emergency opener which works fine without a power frunk. If you have a plug and play leds rope light and power frunk kit, just cut the ground wire in the supplied harness and ground it to any chassis bolt.
Thanks for the video. Very helpful in understanding on how the mechanism works on it. If the latch were to get stuck in the down positioning while sucking the hood down, do you think you could still open the hood? That is my biggest concern about what happens if the unit fails?
I looked at the other version on AE (also sold at Tlyard, etc). Its design doesn't use its own latching mechanism to pull the hood down. Instead you attach a cable to the existing latch (pic attached with highlighted connection point) which then the motor will pull down the hood to close it fully. To me it appears that if the motor unit were to fail, the OE latch should operate as normal.
Does anyone have any thoughts between the two designs?
i was debating between the satonic version and futhope version. i ended up getting the futhope version because it auto locks after 90 seconds if you don't lift up the frunk hood. so if you accidentally open your frunk it locks itself. it's also a more simpler design. the weight of the hood near close will push down on the latch trigger to tell the unit to pull to close. i did ask the vendor that sold the satonic version and they did not have the auto lock feature. i see now on satonic's website that there's a V2 version that has a 60 second automatic close and emergency release cable. i'm not sure what it releases. maybe the mechanism that pulls down closed and may get stuck. so it looks like there's 3 versions selling right now. satonic v1, satonic v2 and futhope
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I saw some of the auto locking options but decided against it. Kinda wanted to avoid auto anything after all my power frunk issues. Not too worried about forgetting to close the hood since the car will scream at me if it's open and I try to drive away.
Interesting. The v2 version looks like it uses a different latch design than v1. Actually the v2 latching piece looks to be a similar design as the Futhrope except the v2 motor is mounted separately on its own bracket. And I’m pretty sure the v2 is the same one that Hansshow is selling but looks like they took down the pic of the actual part from their site.
KevinT3141
Member
For what it's worth, the Hansshow power frunk we installed on our Model Y back in August also uses the OEM latch, and just hooks a cable to its spring to provide soft close. The only sketchy thing about it was mounting the controller and suck-it-down motor with zip ties. It also came with large double-sided tape squares, which was a mystery to me as there's not enough flat surfaces on the kit or car to use it to solidly mount anything. In hindsight though, I should have still used the tape under the controller and motor to deal with vibrational shear forces that will no doubt wear out the zip ties over time. With the foam tape taking those loads, then ideally the zip ties only have to provide compression and should last longer. I may go back in and redo that next summer when its warm again.
My wife's a visiting nurse, fetching her kit and supplies from the frunk ten to twenty times a day as she makes her rounds, and so far (knock on wood) its been working flawlessly. The components and wiring harness didn't match the instructions; Hansshow's clearly been upping their game over time as the lessons got learned. The minimal (and out-of-date) instructions were disappointing, yes, but watching a few different YouTube how-to's first gave me everything I needed to know to handle the specific configuration of both our kit and the car.
I didn't think of Hansshow suction close kit is probably using the same latching mechanism from their power frunk kit just without the struts and control module, etc. That would make a lot of sense. Looking at the Satonic v2, the latching mechanism does look a lot like the Hansshow power frunk kit which uses a cable hooked onto the OE spring/latch which is also similar to the Futhrope.
So in summary based on what I can tell:
- it appears the Satonic v2, Hansshow and Futhrope are all very similar design in the way they operate using a cable hook onto the OE spring/latch
- Satonic v1 attaches another latching mechanism to suck the hood down but v1 seems to be discontinued on their website but looks still available on AE
I have the Hansshow Power Frunk in my 2023 MYP, which Ive never had an issue with. Ive had it installed for over a year now. That being said, I did have a garage that specializes in installing Tesla mods install it. They do tons of them in the CT area. I know a lot of people state that if the frunk fails, you cant get in. I dont find this to be true.
I lost power to my vehicle just a week ago, where the low voltage battery drained out due to my own negligence fiddling around with another mod. I popped the little front bumper spot off releasing the two power and ground wires which when connected to something as small as a battery, pops the frunk 100% open, including the "powered frunk". I then was able to use a jump pack to recharge the battery and Im fine ever since. By no way was the powered frunk the issue with my power loss. It was a separate mod which I tossed from doing immediately.
With all that above, I do feel this soft close is the answer. Id opp for it now if I hadnt already gotten the powered frunk.
I lost power to my vehicle just a week ago, where the low voltage battery drained out due to my own negligence fiddling around with another mod. I popped the little front bumper spot off releasing the two power and ground wires which when connected to something as small as a battery, pops the frunk 100% open, including the "powered frunk". I then was able to use a jump pack to recharge the battery and Im fine ever since. By no way was the powered frunk the issue with my power loss. It was a separate mod which I tossed from doing immediately.
With all that above, I do feel this soft close is the answer. Id opp for it now if I hadnt already gotten the powered frunk.
I loved the powered frunk on my X...when it worked. Hopefully your install is problem free! Tesla really should have made this standard from the factory. Now that the CT is out, maybe we'll see it trickle down in the future.
It doesn't seem to be discontinued to me. They make you pick which version you want: Model 3 & Y Frunk Soft Closing Motor
V1 is $119.99 while V2 is $179.99
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