Pesky Frunk Inner Trim Panel Fasteners, my solution

[gmarcucio]

I was tired of dealing with those large inner annoying Frunk trim two-piece panel clips. When trying to turn them a 1/4 turn to release them they would come apart and end up losing one of the pieces. The only way that you can replace them is to purchase an entire trim panel for $174. They come attached to the panel. The smaller one-piece outer fasteners near the fender are fine and actually work well. I replaced those 5 larger two-piece inner fasteners on both sides with a nylon insert, #8-32 thread piece, and a #8-32 nylon wing nut. It works great!

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[The Weatherman]

Looks like a nice alternative.

Any chance you might shoot another pic or two so we can see what the replacements look like before installation?

 

[Maquis]

Looks like a nice alternative.

Any chance you might shoot another pic or two so we can see what the replacements look like before installation?

And perhaps a source?

 

[RickLightning]

And perhaps a source?

Yeah, parts listing and source would be great.

It's astonishing that 2 years in this still requires a brand new trim panel.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I'm not even sure WHY there are ANY 'clips' of any sort for these 'trim panels', as all they do is lay over an area to 'cover it up'... when you don't really need anything to cover anything up in the first place... seems like a waste of time, money, and effort from the moment these are 'installed' at the factory. I could remove my panels permanently and nothing would change. It's really just for 'looks', I suppose.

 

[brewski]

I wish they would make the 12v battery cover harder to put back in place.

 

[RickLightning]

So how long will it take a forum member to buy these, then get them painted to match, with clear coat, and then say they need to be ceramic coated?

 

[kstype]

Yeah - I would agree this is a poorly designed fastener system - I believe they should have just used the simple pop-in/out wedge type fasteners that they use on other exterior/interior panels.

Looking forward to seeing the parts lists and some more pics from underneath the panel. Thanks for sharing!

 

[srspring551]

Do these have enough "friction" to not vibrate off? I suppose early adopters will report back...

 

[flypony53]

mine were lost after having to jump start my daughters car. Hate the fact you have to take 10 cheaply made clips off to get to the jump point. such a terrible design.

 

[gmarcucio]

Do these have enough "friction" to not vibrate off? I suppose early adopters will report back...

The nylon wing nuts go on with some resistance so I'm assuming they won't vibrate lose. But I haven't driven it yet to put it to the test. Today I'm going to put a little bit of putty on top of all the wing nuts and close the hood to see how close the hood comes to the wing nuts.

 

[gmarcucio]

Looks like a nice alternative.

Any chance you might shoot another pic or two so we can see what the replacements look like before installation?

I purchased the nylon wing nuts and press-in anchors at ACE Hardware. I installed the anchors into the slots where the original fasteners were and took #8-32 screws and cut the heads off of them and screwed the threaded rod into the anchors. Then installed the trim panels and secured with the wing nuts. I didn't replace the original fasteners in the front of the panel because they work ok. Must be they are inserted into a different size square hole. Black wing nuts would look better but I couldn't find any easily.

 

[RickLightning]

I purchased the nylon wing nuts and press-in anchors at ACE Hardware. I installed the anchors into the slots where the original fasteners were and took #8-32 screws and cut the heads off of them and screwed the threaded rod into the anchors. Then installed the trim panels and secured with the wing nuts. I didn't replace the original fasteners in the front of the panel because they work ok. Must be they are inserted into a different size square hole. Black wing nuts would look better but I couldn't find any easily.

The metal screws really clash with the white plastic. Definitely needs a custom paint job.

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