install frunk liner on 2020+ RT base/standard

[MONK]

I bought a 2021 RT base/standard a few months ago. One of the things the Limited has that I wanted was the frunk liner so I added that to my shopping list (at a discount) when I bought my bike. The dealership wanted 2-3 hours labor (@ $95/hr) to install it which I thought was a bit steep to I decided to install it on my own. Not sure this was such a good idea but hindsight is 20/20, eh?

Before I start, a big shoutout to sunnshine. I don't know who she is but had it not been for her assistance/boot-in-the-rear, I probably wouldn't have attempted it.

Anyway, on the the meat of the matter. This took me the better part of a day but there were some mitigating circumstances. I don't have a "real" garage, I didn't have ramps (which I now have....you'll need these), my collection of tools is minimal and I don't have a workbench (not necessary but damn handy). At a minimum, you'll need a 10mm socket AND extensions, 10mm combination wrench, either a push pin puller tool or a good sized flat head screwdriver, a T30 torx driver/bit and a few other misc torx drivers/bits (I can't remember the other sizes).

This will not be as comprehensive as I had planned as it just started taking too long and I kind of gave up taking pictures. With the traffic noise, video taping this was out of the question.

On to the show.

There are (3) main steps involved although each step has multiple parts. First, remove the (3) main side panels (i.e. tupperware). I've got a video of this although I forgot to shoot the step where you remove the front service cover just to the rear of the frunk.

service cover.jpg

Simple and you'll only need to remove (3) push pins and (3) T30 torx bolts on each side. Second, you'll need to remove the entire front clip. (This seems like a daunting task but it's easier than it was on the previous generation.) Third, you'll need to disassemble the front clip in order to remove the top ring that actually holds the frunk liner.

First things, first. Run the bike up on a set of ramps. Trust me, unless you can fit in 3" of clearance, you WANT to do this. Standard ramps are fine. You only need to get to a couple of bolts that sit to the rear of the plastic skid plate. Unfortunately, those bolts are in a recess and can't be seen from the front.

Before you remove any bolts for the front clip, you need to unplug a few wires. The shop manual says there are (5) of them. Some of them are dead ends. I had (2). One on the right side connected to the ambient air temp sensor...

20210116_114809.jpg

...and one on the left side going to the Auxiliary light. There's another capped plug tangled up with the Auxiliary plug that (I think) is for the Limiteds Signature lights. I'll test this to be sure once I add those later this year. (NOTE: if you start the bike once you've unplugged the ambient temp sensor, you'll get a couple fault codes.) Also NOTE, if you have anything hooked up to the battery that runs into the frunk, remove the cover/unwire it now. (I have an SAE cable for a batter tender and didn't think about this until I was holding the entire front of the bike in my hands and realized I had to temporarily remount it in order to take the battery cover off.) You'll also have to unplug the BUDS cable from its faux port and tuck it out of the way.

Next, you'll need to remove the the (2) bolts under the bike THEN the (4) bolts just under the headlights. These are all 10mm. I used a short extension on all of them. Now, you'll need to remove the frunk lock. Again, 10mm bolts and Nyloc nuts. (BuRP calls these elasticated somethingorother and says you should replace them. Don't listen to BuRP.) The bolt heads are easy to get to. The Nyloc nuts, not so much. If you drop them (now or when you're reassembling), they fall into odd places. I wrapped a piece of tape around an index finger and stuck the bottom of the nut to the tape. Worked well. Again, I didn't think about this until I was REassembling the part and kept dropping the nuts.) NOTE: the spring isn't going anywhere. It's captured by something on the underside. NOTE: once you've removed the bolts, DON'T lift up until you're ready to remove the front end. There are a couple of tabs the front hangs from. Handy. Would have been handier if I'd realized these were there BEFORE I was reassembling everything. Happy to be your guinea pig.) The 2nd pic shows where the (2) underside bolts are. One is just to the front of the drain line. The other is in the matching recess on the other side of the bike. You can see where there are (2) pieces of metal going from the cross bar of the frame to the plastic skid plate. That's what the bolts thread into.

shop manual 3.jpg

underside bolts x2.jpg

20210116_130504.jpg

NOW, you can lift off the entire front end! The easy part's done! What you should see is this.

separated.jpg

You'll want to put your newly detached front end on a nice, big, scratchproof workbench. I'm fortunate enough to have the latest Washerdryerlator work bench and the Towel2000 anti scratchproof cover. Now comes the fun part. There are a bunch of bolts and push pins you'll need to remove in order to get that stupid ring off the top of the frunk. The top of the liner goes under the ring but over the main section unlike the previous generation which just went under the gasket. The good news is that the Velcro is pre-mounted on the main section.

There are (3) basic sections you'll need to separate; the outer shell, the tub assembly and the color matched cover. If you don't lose parts behind/under your Washerdryerlator work bench, you should be fine. Start by removing (4) screws on the bottom of the skid plate. I highlighted them in red.

Inked4 screws_LI.jpg

After that, remove the (4) screws on the rear of the front assembly.

Inked20210116_132829_LI.jpg

On each side, inboard of each fin, facing the front, there is a T30 bolt that needs to be removed. Also remove the (4) push pins on top of the cover (you'll have to open the lid to see these). There is also a push pin on each side of the shell you need to remove. There are (2) screws you do NOT need to remove. (Push pin is in red/screws in blue)

Inkedfin bolts_LI.jpg

Inkedpushpin_LI.jpg

Now, you can remove the shell from the tub assembly. It'll slide out the back but it'll get caught up on everything.

Take a deep breath.

Put the shell aside. You're done with it. What you should have left is the tub and the color matched cover. There's a long bolt that goes through the hinge on the cover. 10mm. Remove that and set the cover aside. Now, remove all the push pins you can find on what's left of the tub. There are quite a few and some of them are well hidden. (way to go, BuRP!) Might be (6) or (8) of them, I can't remember. You'll know when you've gotten them all when you can remove the ring from the tub.

For reference: A=ring which sits on...B=top 1/2 of tub which is permanently attached to...C=bottom 1/2 of tub. D=shell

Inkedshop manual 1_LI.jpg

Remove the ring, insert the liner into the tub, pull the thin area over the top and secure the Velcro strips to the Velcro tabs. I didn't snap a pic but I left the ends of the Velcro strips at the ends of the Velcro dots. (I didn't leave any overhang.) Place the ring on top of the liner and reverse the ENTIRE process. Once you're done, have a nice frosty........um, glass of milk. You go from

THIS - BEFORE.jpg

to THIS - nekkid front.jpg

to THIS - AFTER.jpg

My final thoughts. Had I spent the add'l $4k, I would have had a trunk and a frunk liner and wouldn't have had to jack around with mounting either. Next time, I'm buying a Limited. Would I do this again? Honestly, probably not but if I had a decent garage and the proper tools, maybe. Would have been nice if BuRP had instructions for this but I was expecting a bit much from them.

Difficulty (scale of 1-12.584): Depends on your skillset and access to a garage and good tools. Given my circumstances, I'd give it an 11.82. If you're all set up and aren't mechanically challenged (and have more patience than I do), I'd say it's a solid 7+.

If you see any errors in my post, please don't let me know. I'm tired, I hurt from head to toe and I'm still bleeding. If you can use some of this info, super! Glad to help and happy to be the guinea pig.

ON TO THE NEXT PROJECT!

[Valkrocket]

While you had it apart, did you install the frunk light? It was my understanding that the RT did not come with an illuminated Frunk.
That was a lot of work, but looks factory installed now.

[MONK]

While you had it apart, did you install the frunk light? It was my understanding that the RT did not come with an illuminated Frunk.
That was a lot of work, but looks factory installed now.

Thanks. Which frunk light are you referring to? The inner LED, the Auxiliary (aka fog) light or the Limited trims Signature lights? I already have the Auxiliary light. That's plug and play w/o removing anything, I didn't know there was an inner LED light although now that I think about it, there IS a cut out in the liner that would accomodate one and had I known this would be so involved, I would have ordered and installed the Signature lights.

[Valkrocket]

Yes, there is an actual light inside the Frunk on my RTL. Front top right corner, installed in the liner.

[Peteoz]

Yes, there is an actual light inside the Frunk on my RTL. Front top right corner, installed in the liner.

Bugger.......now MONK will have to pull it all apart again to install the light, Valk.

Pete

[MONK]

Bugger.......now MONK will have to pull it all apart again to install the light, Valk.

Pete

Yes but.....1) I'll wait until I install the Signature lights and 2) it'll be MUCH easier next time since I know what I'm doing. I WILL try to get a 2nd person as that front end is a little unwieldy. My back still hurts. It's not heavy just awkward.

Anyone have a part number for that frunk light before I spend a while trying to research it?

[EdMat]

Yes but.....1) I'll wait until I install the Signature lights and 2) it'll be MUCH easier next time since I know what I'm doing. I WILL try to get a 2nd person as that front end is a little unwieldy. My back still hurts. It's not heavy just awkward.

Anyone have a part number for that frunk light before I spend a while trying to research it?

Not sure I would bother as its not bright enuff to do much good. Better off to buy some strip LED's and place them where you want them.

[MONK]

Not sure I would bother as its not bright enuff to do much good. Better off to buy some strip LED's and place them where you want them.

I know they're not extra bright but it's one more integrated light (well, 2 lights) that might help others to see me. They DO look cool but I see your point (See what I did there? I said I SEE your point. )

[EdMat]

I know they're not extra bright but it's one more integrated light (well, 2 lights) that might help others to see me. They DO look cool but I see your point (See what I did there? I said I SEE your point. )

Sorry Monk, I actually thought you were talking about the light inside the Frunk.

[Valkrocket]

Not sure I would bother as its not bright enuff to do much good. Better off to buy some strip LED's and place them where you want them.

Now ya got me thinkin' Ed. The Frunk light is pretty lame. Looks like a new electrical project coming up in the near future. LED strip light spliced into the OEM frunk wiring. Yahoo!

[MONK]

Sorry Monk, I actually thought you were talking about the light inside the Frunk.

LOL. I thought you were talking about the Signature (eyebrow) lights on the OUTSIDE of the front. If the inside frunk LED isn't very bright, I might find another LED that would fit in that cutout in the liner and use that. Now that I have the liner installed, I plan to use the frunk a bit.

[PatrickH]

Hello Monk,
At the beginning of your writeup when you mentioned the needed tools, you mentioned a "push pin puller tool." I just finished watching a good YouTube by John & Miriam's Vlog about doing a 28,000 mile maintenance and he used such a tool many times. I'd never seen one and while I was able to follow along, I spent a lot of time fussing w/a pair of screwdrivers worrying out push pins. Where can I buy such a tool and what exactly is it called (or who is the manufacturer) or how do I find it? I just tried to find one at an Advance Auto Parts locally w/o success.
Regards, Patrick H

[MONK]

https://www.lamonstergarage.com/show...der-lamonster/

That's what they are and that's where I got them.

[PatrickH]

Thank you Monk. I'm in your debt. Patrick H

[Quickdraw]

So in order to put the liner in, you had to take the entire front end off? Seems like the liner would be something easy to install and remove in case it needs to be replaced.

[MONK]

So in order to put the liner in, you had to take the entire front end off? Seems like the liner would be something easy to install and remove in case it needs to be replaced.

Unfortunately, you have to remove the entire front end on a 2020+ due to the way the liner is mounted. It's mounted under the top plastic ring not under the weatherstrip as on the previous models. It's actually easier than I led on. Remove (3) main panels on each side, disconnect 2 or 3 wire plugs then there's (2) bolts under the bike and (4) at the top. You'll also have to remove the lock/catch.

Once the front end is removed, you'll need to separate the inner bucket from the outer shell so you can install the liner correctly. It took me most of a day. If I had to it again, knowing what I know now, I think it could do it in a couple of hours. If you have a helper, you could probably do it in less time.

[Quickdraw]

Unfortunately, you have to remove the entire front end on a 2020+ due to the way the liner is mounted. It's mounted under the top plastic ring not under the weatherstrip as on the previous models. It's actually easier than I led on. Remove (3) main panels on each side, disconnect 2 or 3 wire plugs then there's (2) bolts under the bike and (4) at the top. You'll also have to remove the lock/catch.

Once the front end is removed, you'll need to separate the inner bucket from the outer shell so you can install the liner correctly. It took me most of a day. If I had to it again, knowing what I know now, I think it could do it in a couple of hours. If you have a helper, you could probably do it in less time.

I guess I'll go with my original thought and use velcro and outdoor carpet to line it.

[Quickdraw]

Well, I ended up buying the frunk liner anyhow. However, I wouldn't have but I also bought the signature lights which did not come installed on my base model. Took it all apart and put it all back together without being left with any pushpins or screws. You know how that goes. You get all done and find out you forgot a screw and can't remember where it went.

Thanks for the detailed write-up and pictures. It helped a lot. Plus I went to youtube and found this video for installing the lights that was in french but the visual also helped.

[KX5062]

Excellent write up! Thanks.