Land Rover Ideas for Grenadiers

[jscherb]

Windshield Visor

I've seen more than a few Land Rovers in the magazines over the years that have a visor over the windshield.

Visors were available for Defenders too:

I've never seen a visor on a Grenadier.

A company named Lund made them for quite a few vehicles and I've seen them on pickups; they also made a version for Jeeps and I came across one a few years ago that was cheap so I couldn't resist experimenting with it. I never installed it but I did do a few posed photos.

I kind of like the look, but I didn't install it on any of the Jeeps because a) I doubt it would have much actual function and b) it probably generates wind noise at speed and c) most importantly because it would make it even harder for tall people like me to see when a stoplight above turns green.

But they're not uncommon on Series Land Rovers. Maybe not for Grenadiers?.

 

[jscherb]

Jerry Can Cover

From South Africa, I found this in one of the Land Rover magazines:

I did a little research and discovered that jerry can covers were apparently military issue:

When I saw this it started me thinking about the "Rotopax bulge", I posted this photo earlier in the thread:

Rotopax are very susceptible to bulging like that due to fuel expanding in the heat; their instructions say that the containers should be regularly vented manually and they won't warranty containers that fail if they have not been vented. Thinking about that problem, I designed an insulated cover for Rotopax containers:

After doing the design drawing it seemed like a good idea so I sewed one:

It has a PALS grid so MOLLE and Grab & Go stuff can be attached:

I also sewed a matching gear bag to attach to it:

That photo in a Land Rover magazine started this project.

 

[jscherb]

Bags that hang on the spare and spare tire covers with some functionality besides covering the spare are common both here and internationally and there are some different designs outside of the U.S.

The one above looks like this one from South Africa:

Here's one from Exmoor, which is a major Land Rover accessories company in the U.K.:

Another one from the uK:

The Exmoor spare bag looks the nicest and inspired me to create my own. I'm not a fan of the shapeless bags that are on the market here in the U.S. so I designed one with a more defined shape. I didn't add all the straps and things that the Exmoor bag has, my design is a bit simpler but I think looks much better - the style of mine was inspired by cars of the 1930's when they had real trunks on the back and leather straps to secure the lids of those trunks.





For trash use, I designed mine to fit a standard kitchen-sized trash bag:



And it's tough enough to be pressure washed after the trail:



I also regularly take the ones on my Jeeps through the automatic car wash (when the roof rack isn't installed because that can't go through the automatic wash.

The one I've got on my JKU Wrangler has been on the spare for over four years and it still looks good - unlike most of the spare bags on the market I made mine from UV-resistant/weather-resistant acrylic fabric.

I also made a matching cargo bag that hangs on the ladder:



I turned over the design of spare bag shown in these photos to Overland Outfitters about 4 years ago and they now produce it. The ladder bag shown is not in production, it's just one I sewed.

 

[jscherb]

Exploring Death Valley:















In November I plan to drive my Grenadier to Las Vegas for the SEMA Show and after the show I plan to explore Death Valley offroad and do some roof top tent camping there. And on the way back east I'll make a stop in Moab, Utah to do some trails there too.

 

[jscherb]

Been there, done that (before I owned the Grenadier)...

Death Valley

I've done trails and camped in Death Valley several times and it's always a fun adventure. I usually enter Death Valley the same way they did in the article - through Titus Canyon from Nevada. It's a good place to enter because the trail to Titus Canyon starts just west of the Beatty, Nevada, which is a good place to gas up, get provisions, eat and perhaps visit the military surplus place in town (I picked up a few ammo cans there on one trip).

Also just west of Beatty is the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. It's on the way to the Titus Canyon trail and well worth a look.

A photo of one of my Jeeps in Titus Canyon:

The Mesquite Dunes are a fun diversion, they're just east of Stovepipe Wells. You can't drive on them but if you've never climbed big dunes before it's worth a stop.

One one trip we camped in the wild in Cottonwood Canyon, miles from the nearest paved road.

There are a number of ghost towns in the area, on one trip we visited Skiddoo. There are some interesting ruins there.

Every trip to Death Valley has to include a stop at Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. What my GPS was showing there:

Another interesting place to visit is the Chloride City ghost town, also not far from Beatty. From there you can get a great view of the entire valley all the way down to Badwater Basin. I visited there on another trip in my LJ Wrangler:

On the way down from the overlook:

Their article in the previous post didn't really do justice to the sights of Death Valley, nor do the few photos of mine above. Well worth an expedition.

 

[jscherb]

Bags on the sides? Definitely never have seen this on a Grenadier or a Jeep. Would anyone do this?

 

[jscherb]

Canvas Box Covers

Ignore the guys trying to figure out what's wrong with the engine, I'm posting this photo to show the fabric box covers on the roof rack.

Plastic boxes known as "Wolf boxes" seem to be very commonly used overseas on Land Rover roof racks; I did some searching and found this from Camp Cover in South Africa, it's designed to cover 2, 3 or 6 Wolf boxes: https://www.campcover.co.za/product/ammo-cover-ripstop/

There are other similar box covers on the market in the UK.

A little searching a while back turned up a company that makes custom covers to order: https://www.coversandall.com/custom-covers.html I've got a plastic box I picked up years ago at Walmart that I occasionally use on the rack so I entered the size to see what a custom cover would cost. $25.99 seems pretty reasonable:

 

[jscherb]

What if you camp with a large ground tent but it takes up too much room in the Grenadier? How about a rack basket just for the tent?

I checked the web site for more info and not much can be found there but in any case it's not a product that is available in the U.S. Wouldn't be too hard to make one though.

 

[jscherb]

Fridge Power Outlet

I posted what follows below a few months ago in my JK thread, but the Land Rover magazine item above is what started me with it so I'll repeat the info here:

Seeing this item solved a problem for me. On rare occasions I've had a power connectivity problem with my fridge - the power plug stops making good contact with the socket. Since the fridge is a fairly high current device, a good connection is key to reliable operation.

The fridges I've got are Dometic 35's, and they come with a two-piece power plug. The "cigarette lighter" tip can be unscrewed, revealing a two-prong plug that resembles a 120v AC plug:

ARB fridges have the same plug, and they sell matching two-prong sockets: https://www.quadratec.com/products/96010_1012.htm. What's nice about these is that the prongs make better contact than the other style, and the plug can be secured in the socket by screwing the outer sleeve of the plug into the socket.

The sockets are an easy swap - once removed from the housing ARB puts them in they fit in the same holes and the connections are via spade lugs just like many cigarette lighter style outlets.

I installed one in the Trail Kitchen power panel (it's the bottom socket):

I also installed one above the rear power outlet in the Grenadier to power the Trail Kitchen. I added a separate unswitched circuit for it that's powered by the solar controller and I added guards around both outlets so shifting cargo can't damage the plugs.



If you've ever had a problem with your "cigarette lighter" style fridge plug not making good contact, this is a great solution.

 

[jscherb]

During the Covid pandemic one of the magazines offered these:

The reminded me that Land Rover Owner magazine often offers premiums along with subscriptions although most don't apply to subscribers on the U.S. due to the cost of shipping. One premium that was offered several times to subscribers over here are these gaiters - after seeing the item above in the most recent issue of Land Rover Magazine, I remembered getting these so I got them out for this selfie:

I probably shouldn't wear these while driving the Grenadier.

 

[jscherb]

A cutlery organizer, hanging from the roof drip rail in this photo from one of the magazines:

A few years ago I designed what I called the "Cutlery Keeper", it was specifically sized to fit with the Outback Adventures Trailgater tailgate tables for the Jeep. One is installed on this tailgate behind the Trailgater table, and it and the cutlery stay in place when the table is folded up:

Later I did one for the Goose Gear Jeep tables. I probably should do a Cutlery Keeper for Grenadier rear door tables and turn the design over to Overland Outfitters so they can produce it.

After seeing the Land Rover photo above, I tried it on the side window of the hardtop, hanging on suction cups. Worked great there.

And I later did a smaller version that rolls up; it;s got MOLLE straps on the back so it can hang on a MOLLE panel when rolled up, and it can hang on the drip rail, tree or where ever convenient. I did turn this design over to OO.

 

[jscherb]

Campfire Tent

I like how this tent has an awning that you can drive up to, making for access from the tent to the vehicle out of the weather. The Land Rover is pulled up sideways to the tent but you could also back up to it for rear access.

Look at how there's a flap at the outer edge of the awning that appears to connect to the Land Rover's roof rack. Nice touch to keep weather out of between the tent and the vehicle. Easy feature to add to a DIY version.

I was in Walmart a year or two ago and saw this, not sure if it's still available. The Walmart web site says "out of stock" but an 8-person version is available which seems to be two of these ‌in a package:

Cabela's lists something very similar: https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/oztent-caravan-connector-for-rv-series-tents-111221

The Walmart tent doesn't come with a canopy to bridge between the Grenadier and the tent, but it wouldn't take much work to make an awning for the tent that could bridge the distance and have the whole setup (tent and awning) be under $75 (the tent in the Land Rover magazine was 850 GBP, it's probably better quality than the Walmart one, but for less than 10% of the price maybe the Walmart one would be ok.

 

[jscherb]

An article about a Land Rover trip to the Grand Canyon.

 

[jscherb]

Been there, done that...

A few years ago I was driving from the East Coast to Las Vagas to attend the SEMA Show and I decided to do the trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon as described in the article in the previous post. (This was before I had the Grenadier) You need to stop in at the Hualapai office to get a permit to do the trail, it looks like this:



My LJ Wrangler next to the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon:



Four Wheeler magazine also had an article about the trail:



And it's in an Arizona Trail Guidebook:



A few years before that I had a magazine assignment to do a story on the Grand Canyon Railway so I did a lot of what they talk about in the article in the previous post.

For the magazine assignment I was driving a rented 2wd Cherokee out of Las Vegas and I did do quite a few miles on forest service roads to get photographs of the train in scenic wild settings.

My article as published:

 

[jscherb]

Land Rover Owner featured this piece of kit - a "force multiplier" puller block.

I'm a big believer in multiple line winch pulls, I'll gladly sacrifice pull speed for pull force and reduced current draw. Whenever possible when I winch I use a snatch block and set up for a multiple line pull - even in my own backyard when I was testing the sand ladder winch anchor point I designed and built earlier in this thread I set up a double-line pull:


It's not clear to me exactly how this "force multiplier" is actually used, I assume it's used like a snatch block but the winch line runs through it multiples times and back to the vehicle multiple times but I'll have to research it.