scoopman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2021
- Threads
- 60
- Messages
- 2,769
- Reaction score
- 5,800
- Location
- Bay Area
- Vehicles
- 2023 KIA EV6 GT, 2021 VW ID.4 Pro S
- Occupation
- former electric pony jockey
- Thread starter
- #1
It was a nice morning, and so the kids and I decided to implement Project Tow Hook, my solution to the problem caused by the various holes and lack of tow hook screw on the US-spec Mach-E. You've seen the rare horror stories of unfortunate owners who have called Ford for a tow, and have been left with a ruined battery pack and a $28,000 bill that various parties will argue over covering.
Now I know you folks could be saying that I'm over-thinking and over-worrying, or "who ever needs a tow?" That's cool, you don't need to do this to your Mach-E if you believe that. However, I would be kicking myself if I was left with a $28,000 bill and a dead car for months while on the middle of a road trip and I hadn't tried some simple things to prevent something I knew could happen.
I think I've mitigated this risk (even if I'm not around to ensure the tow truck operator makes the right connection) by the following super-high-tech simple mods.
Materials Needed:
I feel these simple changes, which took us 15 minutes including talking about tow trucks with my kids (always a crowd pleaser!) will make it really obvious to anyone where they should winch.
I hope this will never have to be tested with Mach N Cheese!
Now I know you folks could be saying that I'm over-thinking and over-worrying, or "who ever needs a tow?" That's cool, you don't need to do this to your Mach-E if you believe that. However, I would be kicking myself if I was left with a $28,000 bill and a dead car for months while on the middle of a road trip and I hadn't tried some simple things to prevent something I knew could happen.
I think I've mitigated this risk (even if I'm not around to ensure the tow truck operator makes the right connection) by the following super-high-tech simple mods.
Materials Needed:
- 2 x PVC Laminated Sticker Red Tow Arrow B 72 stickers $10.99
- Gorilla All Weather Outdoor Waterproof Duct Tape $6.07
- One 7-year old interested in cars (not for sale)
- If you send your 7-year old poking under the car on the sides (or you can stick your head under yourself....) you'll notice 7 holes in "rails" on the sides of the battery pack. These rails and the holes in them are there to provide a deformable crash structure that will weaken and absorb energy instead of crash forces transferring to the battery pack. These are the holes that are not made to hold the force needed to winch your car. We cut pieces of the Gorilla tape and covered each hole up. This tape is really sticky and I'm pretty confident it should hold up well enough to prevent the holes from being seen as a tempting tow point.
2. We took the awesome TOW stickers and put them under the front of the car just forward of the 2 winch points that Ford intends tow operators to use, and which might be less apparent if you're looking under the car. They are a bit "recessed" up from the plastic undertray in the front of the car.
I feel these simple changes, which took us 15 minutes including talking about tow trucks with my kids (always a crowd pleaser!) will make it really obvious to anyone where they should winch.
I hope this will never have to be tested with Mach N Cheese!