Installed GasPods on liftgate

[mtb9153]

Wanted to share pictures I took of my new GasPods I ordered from a place in Santa Barbara, Ca. called AeroHance, Inc.  If they do help with aerodynamics and gas mileage as they advertise it will be sweet.  Haven't had a chance to really give them a work out yet, stay tuned.

 

I do want to warn anyone who might choose to buy these and install them.  Don't do what I did and damage their sheet metal in the roofline on the rear spoiler Ford incorporated into the liftgate.  I stuck the GasPods in place across the full width of the Lift gate as shown in the supplied literature.  But my placement was a bad choice because later last night I went to open the lift gate and it opened almost all the way open and suddenly it reversed to a point about 6 inches lower before stopping.  I tried to manhandle the liftgate which turned out to be a bad choice.  I placed the GasPods too close to the edge of the liftgate where it couldn't freely open because the GasPods were preventing free range of movement.  By manhandling the liftgate it caused 9 indentations into my sheetmetal underneath each GasPod.  I quickly removed each GasPod which are attached through using some real strong 3M foam tape strips supplied on the bottom of each pod by AeroHance.  But the damage was so very visible, 9 dimples bent into my sheet metal across the full width of the liftgate.  So learn from my error.

Edited June 22, 2013 by mtb9153

[salsaguy]

mtb ouch!!! sorry to hear this.i was hoping you'd get the magnetic ones instead. they show in the vids and literature to make sure there is clearance for the hatch so I'm surprised to hear this and that you didn't know to put them back enough. couldn't you just have placed them on without removing the glue strip and try it with hatch up before doing the final install?

hope they save you a lot of gas but don't it will compensate for that kind of damage.

good intentions bad results.

i would suggest getting the magnetic ones for anyone else considering getting them.

[mtb9153]

mtb ouch!!! sorry to hear this.i was hoping you'd get the magnetic ones instead. they show in the vids and literature to make sure there is clearance for the hatch so I'm surprised to hear this and that you didn't know to put them back enough. couldn't you just have placed them on without removing the glue strip and try it with hatch up before doing the final install?

hope they save you a lot of gas but don't it will compensate for that kind of damage.

good intentions bad results.

i would suggest getting the magnetic ones for anyone else considering getting them.

Yup didn't read the included instructions and never figured there would be clearance issues.  Oh well learned the hard way and will live with it as long as I own the car.  Was planning to reinstall them with clearance this time using  magnetic tape material.  After removing the super strong adhesive they put on the backside I was going to use magnetic tape and I bought some, but after putting it on one GasPod it is not strong enough to remain on the car while driving.  I don't know where I can by stronger magnetic tape with an adhesive on one side.  I have a sheet of mag tape I have left over from another project but it does not have an adhesive on one side.  If it did it would work great since I've used it on some door advertising decals I fabricated for my job.  They have never blown off

Edited June 22, 2013 by mtb9153

[salsaguy]

was wondering why you put them on the hatch instead of on the actual car further up as i saw others do? i thought that's where they work better.

are these original ones or after market off brand ones ?

i think the magnetic ones stay attached pretty well.

[mtb9153]

was wondering why you put them on the hatch instead of on the actual car further up as i saw others do? i thought that's where they work better.

are these original ones or after market off brand ones ?

i think the magnetic ones stay attached pretty well.

Well I've decided to try the magnetic tape option now that I removed them from the first installation position.  However I don't know where to find tape strong enough to stay on the car.  I found some small pre-cut thin magnetic tape with adhesive on one side for mounting business cards.  But they aren't strong enough to secure the GasPods.  The reason I opted to not mount them directly onto the roof behind the Liftgate is I thought it would be too close to the Nav antenna which might not allow for proper airflow to the GasPods.  I don't know just seemed to me to be better placing them on the liftgate metal.

[salsaguy]

the pix i saw on their website shows them installed on the roof and yes the center pod was right in front of the GPS/sat radio antenna.

see step 3.and i guess you didn't see step 5 when  doing yours eh? :rant:

http://www.gaspods.com/installation/

Edited June 22, 2013 by salsaguy

[mtb9153]

the pix i saw on their website shows them installed on the roof and yes the center pod was right in front of the GPS/sat radio antenna.

see step 3.and i guess you didn't see step 5 when  doing yours eh? :rant:

http://www.gaspods.com/installation/

Well now I'm just trying to do damage control as best as I can by covering the dents as much as possible even if it is not in the best position.  I have to live with my costly mistake now.

[Laurel]

Most of us have done similar things mtb9153--so don't beat yourself up over it.  Looks like a nifty idea to me.

[mtb9153]

Most of us have done similar things mtb9153--so don't beat yourself up over it.  Looks like a nifty idea to me.

Thanks Laurel your a sweet heart and a person with a good heart.  I do think SalsaGuy is right and I need to put them up on the roofline behind the Nav antenna.  I relocated one on an attempt to cover as much as possible of the dent left in the old location.  But since there is now a depression in the sheet metal from the damage I caused, there is no longer a flat mounting surface for the GasPod to have a good flat mounting surface so I'm afraid it might blow off while driving so I think I have to mount them on the roofline as suggested.  I don't like hurting my baby so I'm not handling this self inflicted damage too well especially since it's less than a year since buying her.

[Laurel]

Mtb9153 you might want to have the body shop at your dealership take a boo.  A few years ago, I had a big Chevy pickup and went and got a load of hay.  The young kid loading threw a bale down from way up high aiming for the bed and it hit the passenger door leaving a huge dent.  I didn't want the kid to get fired so just let it be, and got a quote at the dealership.  It was $1500!  I told them I couldn't afford that, and the service manager said he would try to do a cheaper repair.  He did and he charged me $50.  My husband says he has read about a method of fixing dents with a hair dryer apparatus that is supposedly economical.  Never hurts to ask.  My truck repair was totally unnoticeable after the $50 repair. 

 

PS Thank you for the lovely compliment. 

Edited June 22, 2013 by Laurel

[Riddley]

Mtb9153 you might want to have the body shop at your dealership take a boo.  A few years ago, I had a big Chevy pickup and went and got a load of hay.  The young kid loading threw a bale down from way up high aiming for the bed and it hit the passenger door leaving a huge dent.  I didn't want the kid to get fired so just let it be, and got a quote at the dealership.  It was $1500!  I told them I couldn't afford that, and the service manager said he would try to do a cheaper repair.  He did and he charged me $50.  My husband says he has read about a method of fixing dents with a hair dryer apparatus that is supposedly economical.  Never hurts to ask.  My truck repair was totally unnoticeable after the $50 repair. 

 

PS Thank you for the lovely compliment. 

 

I, too am very sorry to hear about this MTB!  Laurel's is a great suggestion. If you have a good relationship with your dealer, they might have a dent specialist on staff. Hopefully they do, and will agree to work out the dents/dimples at a lower cost.  

 

When I picked up my c-max I noticed that it had a dimple about the size of a golf ball above the driver's door handle. The dealer looked at it and agreed that it needed to be fixed.  He paged their on-staff specialist, who came out and looked at it. He said he could have it fixed in 20 minutes. I went to get a coffee and within 20 minutes, the car was done. No charge. It looked like nothing was ever amiss.

 

I hope you can find a simple fix like this. I think the specialists have special tools for work like this.

Edited June 22, 2013 by Riddley

[Bill-N]

You may want to try the fix-a-dent folks that use a suction cup to pull out dents.  Worked very well for me.

 

Good luck.

[mtb9153]

Mtb9153 you might want to have the body shop at your dealership take a boo.  A few years ago, I had a big Chevy pickup and went and got a load of hay.  The young kid loading threw a bale down from way up high aiming for the bed and it hit the passenger door leaving a huge dent.  I didn't want the kid to get fired so just let it be, and got a quote at the dealership.  It was $1500!  I told them I couldn't afford that, and the service manager said he would try to do a cheaper repair.  He did and he charged me $50.  My husband says he has read about a method of fixing dents with a hair dryer apparatus that is supposedly economical.  Never hurts to ask.  My truck repair was totally unnoticeable after the $50 repair. 

 

PS Thank you for the lovely compliment. 

Laurel there is such a thing as paint less dent removal, I guess I could check into it and see how expensive it would be?  Couldn't hurt.  Thanks for the suggestion.  Have a great day in our neighbors to the north.

[KAL Cmax]

I have made a few of my own enlightenment moments... I managed to install the rear bumper protector about 3/4" to far in... Oh well.

 

A good friend of mine does the paint less dent repair. Definitely cheaper, and if it is really bad they generally make it unnoticeable unless you are looking for it.

 

Depending on how bad it is, should be $50-$150 to get fixed this way.

 

I would not recommend anyone to try it themselves. Generally make it look worse then better. It takes about 6 months to be decent and several years to perfect.

Edited June 22, 2013 by KAL Cmax

[Jus-A-CMax]

Wow & ouch mtb....

 

I am very excited you got the Gas Pods and leading the pack to see if it will improve your MPG. We all know you struggle with the MPG so coming from you as to whether it works or not would be more beneficial than someone like myself or Matt who are looking to improve the game only. Go for it mate & keep the stats of your tanks and trips :)

[Recumpence]

I am all for trying anything new. Yes, I love the "Game" pf pushing for max MPG.   :)

 

Once I settle into finding the absolute max mileage for my area of driving I will be doing a host of aero mods. So, I am curious to see how these work for you.

 

The guys at Ecomodder are almost violently against them (well, many guys are). No-one there uses them. That being said, those guys hate buying stuff premade. They would rather make their own mods. So, that may be why they are against them.   :)

 

Matt

[Jus-A-CMax]

Violent is right...I don't think they have any mods there to mod that forum - brutal in their attack for the 2 posters who posted up a review. Really want to make others like me join, not.

 

PS I think they can be fabricated easily, just gotta figure out how (for me). Should be easy for someone like yourself Matt.

Edited June 22, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[fotomoto]

mtb,

 

One time while moving my home by myself and nearing the last pickup load on a very long day, I loaded a large piece of workout equipment in the bed.  I only made it about 1/2 way out of the garage before the equipment hit the top of the garage door opening nearly destroying both.  Cheer up, we've all been there once or twice.......... or more!   :)

 

HTH!

[salsaguy]

best of luck fixing it. i agree call around and see all your options to figure out what to do. go with a pro. perhaps someone in your are can recommend someone?

 

 

to ensure they stick with the magnet you need the rare earth neodymium (sp??) magnets. Will make it hard to remove them too. Will need a soft bottom so it won't scratch the paint. might make it hard to position since the mag will be quickly attracted to the metal and force your hands to where IT wants to go not where you want it positioned. needs to be a balance of staying power but still movable.

Edited July 23, 2013 by salsaguy

[SnitGTS]

I was looking for simple aero-mods online today and I came across the ecomodder website.  They have a 65+ vehicle mod page with various things you can do from simple to extreme to get better fuel economy, the gas pods weren't there so I'm wondering if they are debunked? (or just missing...)

 

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fuel-economy-mpg-modifications.php

[mtb9153]

Violent is right...I don't think they have any mods there to mod that forum - brutal in their attack for the 2 posters who posted up a review. Really want to make others like me join, not.

 

PS I think they can be fabricated easily, just gotta figure out how (for me). Should be easy for someone like yourself Matt.

Believe me I have toyed with the idea of fabricating my own even before I bought the Max.  I toyed with the idea back in the 90's when I was a gasoholic speed freak driving my Typhoon and Syclone.  But I never went for it because I was thinking in terms of making them from some kind of composite material and I really don't have the know how or resources to do mold making and laying glas or carbon fiber, plus big bucks to prototype them right.  So when I saw the GasPods for  reasonable price...I ran with it.  I think it was you Jus who posted the link to their website?  If so then much thanks for letting me know about them.  I will keep everyone updated on any great strides I see with having them in future tanks.

 

Speaking of mpg, today was frustrating for me because I was struggling to maintain 40mpg doing all the things which were giving me great numbers yesterday like 43-48 all with all city driving.  How can things change over night doing the same things and on the same tank of gas?  Nothing really different about today except maybe that it was warmer today for us here.  We got close to 90 and I think yesterday was more in the range of 78-85 at most.  Just bugs me that just when I think I have it figured out, things go south for me again.

[mtb9153]

Wanted to share pictures I took of my new GasPods I ordered from a place in Santa Barbara, Ca. called AeroHance, Inc.  If they do help with aerodynamics and gas mileage as they advertise it will be sweet.  Haven't had a chance to really give them a work out yet, stay tuned.

 

I do want to warn anyone who might choose to buy these and install them.  Don't do what I did and damage their sheet metal in the roofline on the rear spoiler Ford incorporated into the liftgate.  I stuck the GasPods in place across the full width of the Lift gate as shown in the supplied literature.  But my placement was a bad choice because later last night I went to open the lift gate and it opened almost all the way open and suddenly it reversed to a point about 6 inches lower before stopping.  I tried to manhandle the liftgate which turned out to be a bad choice.  I placed the GasPods too close to the edge of the liftgate where it couldn't freely open because the GasPods were preventing free range of movement.  By manhandling the liftgate it caused 9 indentations into my sheetmetal underneath each GasPod.  I quickly removed each GasPod which are attached through using some real strong 3M foam tape strips supplied on the bottom of each pod by AeroHance.  But the damage was so very visible, 9 dimples bent into my sheet metal across the full width of the liftgate.  So learn from my error.

 

Well got the GasPods removed from their first location which damaged the rear spoiler when I opened the liftgate.  Now they are installed on the roofline just behind the Nav antenna, which is how the manufacturer said to install them.  But I didn't check their installation instructions and pics on their website...go figure.

[ScubaDadMiami]

The gas pods actually look quite handsome, going nicely with the antennae and the pano glass.  I hope it works for you.  I'd go for that in a heartbeat.  Oh, if you do keep them, please let me know how they hold up when going through carwashes.

 

About the dents, this is a good time to form a relationship with a good body shop that is conveniently located.  When you get this repair done, see about working it out where you will come in once a year for touch ups and ding removal.  By letting them know that you are planning to come back, maybe this will reduce your cost a little for this time around, since everyone will be building good will for future business.  When you do come back for your touch ups, remind them that you are back, just as you promised. 

 

Long term, you will end up with a good deal that will keep your C-MAX looking like new throughout the time of your ownership.

[Jus-A-CMax]

Believe me I have toyed with the idea of fabricating my own even before I bought the Max.  I toyed with the idea back in the 90's when I was a gasoholic speed freak driving my Typhoon and Syclone.  But I never went for it because I was thinking in terms of making them from some kind of composite material and I really don't have the know how or resources to do mold making and laying glas or carbon fiber, plus big bucks to prototype them right.  So when I saw the GasPods for  reasonable price...I ran with it.  I think it was you Jus who posted the link to their website?  If so then much thanks for letting me know about them.  I will keep everyone updated on any great strides I see with having them in future tanks.

 

Speaking of mpg, today was frustrating for me because I was struggling to maintain 40mpg doing all the things which were giving me great numbers yesterday like 43-48 all with all city driving.  How can things change over night doing the same things and on the same tank of gas?  Nothing really different about today except maybe that it was warmer today for us here.  We got close to 90 and I think yesterday was more in the range of 78-85 at most.  Just bugs me that just when I think I have it figured out, things go south for me again.

mtb - same EXACT route? AC would have factored in?

[mtb9153]

mtb - same EXACT route? AC would have factored in?

Actually Jus, not the same exact route but much of the same type of roads and traffic patterns.  I'm hot by nature so I usually have the A/C on unless it is winter time obviously.