Outfitting my Grenadier Trialmaster

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I've got Overland Outfitters door pockets in my Grenadier and they're very useful - I've had their Wrangler version in my JKU for years so of course I have them in my Grenadier as well. Recently Overland Outfitters gave me a new sample to check out - they've decided they'll be making door pockets in tan as well for people with tan seat covers. Here's a photo, I'm holding it in place above a black + leather that's installed in my Grenadier. OO offers many of their other products in either tan or black such as their Grab Bar Pockets, which I already have in tan but this is the first time they're offering door pockets in tan.

DoorPocketTanSample.jpg

They tell me they decided to offer them in tan because they've gotten requests for them in that color from people with tan seat covers.

For now I'll stick with the black door pockets but when my factory seat covers get shabby I plan to replace them with tan canvas seat covers, either from Melvill & Moon or Tougher. The factory seat covers are not very well designed, I had to modify them so that the bottoms wouldn't keep slipping off (https://tinyurl.com/4mdhku2k) and I'm using them for now but at some point I'll upgrade to something better in tan.

Grab Bar Pockets:

GrabBarPockets1.jpg
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
We moved to a new house/new state about a year ago and I'm still unpacking things. The other day I unpacked a box of samples I received from LED/electronics company Auxbeam. I've done quite a few product reviews and how-to documents as well as some documentation editing for them so there are a number of their products here. Shortly before I moved they sent me a couple of their then-new slim-line switch panels to test and review. At the time I did a comprehensive review, mostly focused on Jeep Wranglers (https://forum.expeditionportal.com/...lim-switch-panel-systems.246745/#post-3199292) and then because I was moving I packed them away to go to the new house. Unpacking the box they were in the other day I wondered where they might fit in the Grenadier; back when I reviewed them I didn't have the Grenadier. I don't need more circuits currently but for curiosity's sake I posed them in a few locations in the Grenadier. Looks like it would be very easy to mount one to the plastic trim strip just below the front center HVAC outlets. Also wouldn't be hard to make up something to mount them to the top of the center display. They could also be mounted on the ceiling console, but running/hiding the control wire would be a bit more involved. They're very useful and high quality units so if anyone needs more circuits they're worth considering. Just posting this FWIW.

AS400andAS600.jpg

AubeamSlimLocation1.jpgAubeamSlimLocation2.jpg
 

AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
I would think there would be more room in the top for a more flush fit and finish. With the extra aux switches in there, is it even needed though?
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I would think there would be more room in the top for a more flush fit and finish. With the extra aux switches in there, is it even needed though?
It definitely could be mounted up top; fishing the control cable from there to wherever the control box got mounted might be more trouble than if it were on the dash somewhere but certainly could be put up there.

It always surprises me how many switches some people "need". I don't need these extra switches and I won't be installing these panels in my Grenadier but I'll bet there are people who need more.
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I dropped the Grenadier at the dealer today for its first annual service. I've only owned it since November, but the Service notice on the dash says it's due - I guess the dealer didn't reset the interval before delivering it to me. In addition to the normal 1-year items, it's going in for the software update, replacement of a leaking rear pinion seal, an occasional P0326 check engine code (turbo related) and fairly regular "Power Steering Error" warnings at startup.

Hopefully everything goes well, I've got a number of trips planned for it.

LeakingRearPinionSeal.jpg
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
It's been two weeks since I dropped my Grenadier at the dealer - it was time for its first annual service, applying the software update, replacing a leaking rear pinion seal and diagnosing several error codes. The errors were due to a faulty plug in one of the wiring harnesses and it took a while to get that diagnosed and a new segment of the harness sourced and replaced. But I've got it back and all seems well now. And the speed limit click can be turned off permanently now.

While the Grenadier was out of my hands, I spent a little time sewing something new for it. I while back I designed a pocket panel for the small rear door for Overland Outfitters; it's in production and I've been using one in mine for a few months now - for me, the series of pockets are perfect for a range of small items I need to carry. John Brindell of Agile Offroad saw it and said that he would prefer one larger pocket rather than a series of smaller ones, so I sewed a prototype. This is how a lot of the Overland Outfitters gear gets started - someone make a suggestion to OO or to me, I design something based on that suggestion, and usually I sew a prototype for testing before turning it over to OO for them to accept or reject. Sometimes I turn over drawings instead of sewing a prototype myself, but in this case I decided to sew one to John's suggestion.

SmallDoorPanelLargePocket1.jpg

SmallDoorPanelLargePocket2.jpg

SmallDoorPanelLargePocke3.jpg

I usually do samples in tan because it often photographs better than black, although most OO products do get offered in either tan or black. Here are a few photos of both versions - the one with five pockets and the new prototype I sewed. Probably the large pocket version would have a small pocket in the upper right corner, but for this sample I put a small MOLLE grid there to see if that might be useful.

What do you think - single large pocket (either with one small pocket or a small MOLLE grid in the upper corner) or the 4-pocket version?

Just for reference... the small pocket version that's in production now.

SmallDoorPocketPanelInstalledS.jpg

Next sewing project - I've done a design for the compartment in front of where the jack is stored. Stay tuned.
 

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