Front inner wheel well issues

[DannyJ7]

Did you ever hear from Ford about this?

Nope. They don't GAF.

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[REV745DH24]

I reached out to @Ford Motor Company thru this forum. When they found out I don't even have my car yet, they blew me off.

You might want to round up some Mustangs fans/friends and drive there all at the same time to be at the dealership to complain of the problem!

 

[DCS]

You might want to round up some Mustangs fans/friends and drive there all at the same time to be at the dealership to complain of the problem!

I plan to speak to the local service manager first and show him @TUnica video.

 

[dollybud]

I have been holding off on my order because of this issue in particular. Not about to drop $70K (Canadian) on a car and have to use duct tape to cover up an obvious design flaw.

Pestering is a good thing, they will pass it along.

have you seen the video I posted on what I did to fix it?

Is it on this forum? I believe you started this back in October. I remembered it so I brought it up. I am now on page 6. Its now in book form 1……6……18 Next. My GT put away first of November. Friday now raining Trenton, Canada

If you look on the front part of the wheel arch of an S550 you will see a small slot that is fed with air from the front of the car. This provides a high speed feed of air to the outside of the front wheel. Quite a few cars have this now as well as the small flap in front of the wheel on the floor which is all to do with airflow management in the wheel well.

I would think if it is a usable feature Ford would come up with a reasonable explanation. If air is needed inside the hole it would require a sceen or a proper cap.

 

[DCS]

Is it on this forum? I believe you started this back in October. I remembered it so I brought it up. I am now on page 6. Its now in book form 1……6……18 Next. My GT put away first of November. Friday now raining Trenton, Canada

I would think if it is a usable feature Ford would come up with a reasonable explanation. If air is needed inside the hole it would require a sceen or a proper cap.

 

[TUnica]

Is it on this forum? I believe you started this back in October. I remembered it so I brought it up. I am now on page 6. Its now in book form 1……6……18 Next. My GT put away first of November. Friday now raining Trenton, Canada

I would think if it is a usable feature Ford would come up with a reasonable explanation. If air is needed inside the hole it would require a sceen or a proper cap.

That’s the problem, Ford will not communicate, eventually this post will die but as more people buy these cars without doing any research before hand, I suspect it will continue with the same question being asked.
Honestly I wish now that I had waited to purchase, there are other issues I see but those are for other threads. As much as I wanted this car, my Frustration with Ford has cast a Dark cloud for us on this purchase. No one to blame but myself.

 

[heinvs]

If you have been following this thread then you know that I have been working on 3D printed parts to cover the hole. I am using Ford 3D OEM CAD data as the basis for my design work. The production parts are not always exactly the same as the CAD models. Especially when it comes to vacuum formed parts like the fender liners. I ran some parts on our Markforged 3D printer. The parts were very strong and the fit was good but not as good as I like. So I made some design tweaks and currently running another set on our printer for another test fit. I will continue to dial these in until I am happy that they will fit well.

I had released files for the preliminary design to an RP service bureau Shapeways.com. I have since removed those files. We will produce the parts in house and sell them at our online store DIYvan.com

All the best,
Hein
DIYvan

latest design:

 

[DCS]

If you have been following this thread then you know that I have been working on 3D printed parts to cover the hole. I am using Ford 3D OEM CAD data as the basis for my design work. The production parts are not always exactly the same as the CAD models. Especially when it comes to vacuum formed parts like the fender liners. I ran some parts on our Markforged 3D printer. The parts were very strong and the fit was good but not as good as I like. So I made some design tweaks and currently running another set on our printer for another test fit. I will continue to dial these in until I am happy that they will fit well.

I had released files for the preliminary design to an RP service bureau Shapeways.com. I have since removed those files. We will produce the parts in house and sell them at our online store DIYvan.com

All the best,
Hein
DIYvan

latest design:

Great news! Nice website.
Thanks for all the work. Please keep us updates. @TUnica

 

[Skye]

Could you send a picture?

Reference: 2022 Mach 1, HP, Driver's Side wheel well.

Picture 1: Looking down at the wheel well, which is one, seamless piece. The bulge in the well I believe is where the channel begins on the S650s. The plastic rocker aero panel is at the base. Hold your right hand flat in the air, hotizontal. Make an "L" shape with your left hand, your thumb vertical, the index finger horizontal. Your left hand is the flat rocker panel. Place the joint of your left thumb against your right hand. You are left with a "C" shape, the open end facing towards the underside of the car, towards the engine and trans. The "C" is open, so anything in it will ultimately fall or drain out.

Picture 2: Looking straight ahead. The edge of the wheel well is to the right. The rocker panel towards the bottom right. The unibody, dead ahead. While bits could get trapped, the overall shape and design will allow pieces to naturally fall out or drain.

Picture 3: Underneath. The flat rocker panel aero piece to the left. The bottom of the wheel well, behind the tire, is showing. Notice the gaps, allowing for drainage.

Picture 4: The rocker panel piece is dominant in this photo. Wheel well is showing at the bottom right. Notice how nothing is enclosed. I'm getting good coverage, without trapping anything.

 

[TUnica]

Reference: 2022 Mach 1, HP, Driver's Side wheel well.

Picture 1: Looking down at the wheel well, which is one, seamless piece. The bulge in the well I believe is where the channel begins on the S650s. The plastic rocker aero panel is at the base. Hold your right hand flat in the air, hotizontal. Make an "L" shape with your left hand, your thumb vertical, the index finger horizontal. Your left hand is the flat rocker panel. Place the joint of your left thumb against your right hand. You are left with a "C" shape, the open end facing towards the underside of the car, towards the engine and trans. The "C" is open, so anything in it will ultimately fall or drain out.

Picture 2: Looking straight ahead. The edge of the wheel well is to the right. The rocker panel towards the bottom right. The unibody, dead ahead. While bits could get trapped, the overall shape and design will allow pieces to naturally fall out or drain.

Picture 3: Underneath. The flat rocker panel aero piece to the left. The bottom of the wheel well, behind the tire, is showing. Notice the gaps, allowing for drainage.

Picture 4: The rocker panel piece is dominant in this photo. Wheel well is showing at the bottom right. Notice how nothing is enclosed. I'm getting good coverage, without trapping anything.

This clearly shows that the brace didn’t exist on the 550 or the bottom protection, the opening looks very similar. It looks to me like the addition of the brace and the bottom protection is what making this opening much more of a problem

 

[Skye]

This clearly shows that the brace didn’t exist on the 550 or the bottom protection

IMO, 1:33 in your video shows the void best. I'll take another photo, not as close up, of any support I have in that area.

Correct: I do not have any aero or covers enclosing my rocker area.

Anything aero in front stops with my belly pan; nothing encloses it on its back side.

I do have a diffuser in the rear; it will capture rocks, but the angles and the holes, any liquids drain out. Some with Cup2-like tires will remove the rear diffuser once a year to rid themselves of any debris. I have a handful of rocks back there now.

 

[dollybud]

Regarding the comments on aero, I'm thinking...I've got a gurney flap I can take on and off. If the rocker hole is aiding in track-speed grip, can Ford (or aftermarket) incorporate a removable cover

Its a possibility. The 2 cars they got ready to race in Daytona would the inspection notice them?

 

[infinitemberstang]

If you have been following this thread then you know that I have been working on 3D printed parts to cover the hole. I am using Ford 3D OEM CAD data as the basis for my design work. The production parts are not always exactly the same as the CAD models. Especially when it comes to vacuum formed parts like the fender liners. I ran some parts on our Markforged 3D printer. The parts were very strong and the fit was good but not as good as I like. So I made some design tweaks and currently running another set on our printer for another test fit. I will continue to dial these in until I am happy that they will fit well.

I had released files for the preliminary design to an RP service bureau Shapeways.com. I have since removed those files. We will produce the parts in house and sell them at our online store DIYvan.com

All the best,
Hein
DIYvan

latest design:

Great stuff! Looking forward to purchasing it from your website! Fully support the ingenuity!

 

[Skye]

I attempted to take some photos of my K-member and how it meets the unibody. Couldn't get a good shot. But that review, and seeing the video yet again, confirmed the areas of interest on the S550 are exposed. On the S650, they're covered by the underbody panel.

Going back to the hole and the purpose of it...

IMO, the hole itself, aero it is not. Whatever air that would be captured by the void is not being put to work. If anything, it's being trapped, like holding the open end of a cup facing forward, outside while driving. The panel itself I can understand: Ford is attempting to keep the underbody as smooth as possible, to aid in airflow/aero. Air attaches to a surface like a very fine silk sheet. A minor disturbance (blemish) along a surface will cause that smooth-flowing air to fall away or develop turbulence.

I briefly considered it as some type of forward-facing drain hole, and almost immediately threw that idea in the bin.

After manufacturing, the S550s are left with a series of bolts in the unibody. As the car goes down the assembly line, it spends some of that time mated to a rotisserie carrier. The bolts attach the car to the carrier. Once the car is built, the bolts stay on the car, their job complete. Ford leaves them in the unibody and won't re-use them (safety and material fatigue).

Saying that, I wonder if these cut-outs are there to aid in the cars' assembly in some way. Some new process. Or an old process that's now impeded by the aero panels along the rockers, the hole acting as an access port during assembly. I think someone else mentioned this idea very early on; it's the most plausible explanation I can think of right now.

 

[mabcim]

I reached out to @Ford Motor Company thru this forum. When they found out I don't even have my car yet, they blew me off.

Based on what I’ve seen on a couple forum, that account is more of a social media account. They say they will look into issues for people, but all they do is call the dealer you give them and tell that dealer to call you. Maybe they put data into a database, but who knows.

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