jscherb
Expedition Leader
The different color roof (either white or black) is an option, it's about $1300.
Outfitting my Grenadier Trialmaster
- Thread starter jscherb
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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.
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:
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:
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.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
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.
Hopefully everything goes well, I've got a number of trips planned for it.
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.
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.
Next sewing project - I've done a design for the compartment in front of where the jack is stored. Stay tuned.
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.
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.
Next sewing project - I've done a design for the compartment in front of where the jack is stored. Stay tuned.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I'm not sure I understand what the Grenadier designers were thinking when they created the compartment in front of the jack compartment. It's hard to store anything in there because whatever is in there will be in the way when you need the jack, also things in there will rattle around because there's no provision for securing anything. And as another apparent design afterthought, they put the 120v receptacle for the inverter inside that compartment. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
There are a number of aftermarket bags for that space, some of which seem to just set in there and rely on the factory plastic cover to hold them in place, and some that are secured with self-stick Velcro. I suppose with the Velcro ones you wouldn't need to replace the factory plastic cover, although the end result doesn't look very good - all the various holes in the inner fender panel are visible, Here's an image from one Velcro example I found on eBay - if it's attached to the jack cover with Velcro, won't that make it difficult to remove the jack cover?
Anyway none of that seems optimal to me so I designed something that I like better. It's a bag that clips in place using existing holes in the inner fender panel (and removes in seconds), doesn't require Velcro or any additional hardware, replaces the factory plastic cover and hides all the unsightly clip holes in the inner fender panel. I sewed one yesterday, photos are attached. Haven't decided if I'll turn this design over to Overland Outfitters, if people think it would be useful maybe I will.
There are a number of aftermarket bags for that space, some of which seem to just set in there and rely on the factory plastic cover to hold them in place, and some that are secured with self-stick Velcro. I suppose with the Velcro ones you wouldn't need to replace the factory plastic cover, although the end result doesn't look very good - all the various holes in the inner fender panel are visible, Here's an image from one Velcro example I found on eBay - if it's attached to the jack cover with Velcro, won't that make it difficult to remove the jack cover?
Anyway none of that seems optimal to me so I designed something that I like better. It's a bag that clips in place using existing holes in the inner fender panel (and removes in seconds), doesn't require Velcro or any additional hardware, replaces the factory plastic cover and hides all the unsightly clip holes in the inner fender panel. I sewed one yesterday, photos are attached. Haven't decided if I'll turn this design over to Overland Outfitters, if people think it would be useful maybe I will.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
My previous post shows a pocket panel I designed and sewed for the narrow rear door. I sent the design to Overland Outfitters and they decided to put it in production and their craftsmen are sewing the first production run right now. They're making them in black and tan; since the one I made is tan I did a quick photo-edit on one of those photos to show what it will look like in black. I asked them if they would consider doing a discount for members of this group and they agreed to offer a 15% discount off regular retail for this first production run. They say they'll be shipping in about two weeks, and you should order now to get the discount price. Check it out at https://www.overland-outfitters.com/store/p90/Narrow-Rear-Door-Storage.html
For the record: I am not an employee of Overland Outfitters. As a hobby I do designs for them and a number of other Jeep accessory and offroad trailer companies but I am not an employee of any of the companies I do designs for.
For the record: I am not an employee of Overland Outfitters. As a hobby I do designs for them and a number of other Jeep accessory and offroad trailer companies but I am not an employee of any of the companies I do designs for.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Thank you for the kind words. Sewing things like this is actually much easier than, say, sewing a dress for my wife
.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Yesterday when I posted the door pocket for the inside of the small rear door, someone asked me the pocket panel could include pulls for closing the doors from the inside. I thought it might be a good idea, so I sewed a quick proof-of-concept and posted a photo. Today I made a few slightly refined proof of concept examples; as with the one I made yesterday they're separate from the door pocket panel and can be installed on the factory plastic panels or with the door pocket panels. I've got the factory plastic panels out of my Grenadier right now, but on the workbench I attached the handles to both the wide door panel and the narrow door panel in two orientations - vertical and horizontal. These are made from strong webbing with leather reinforcements at the brass grommets and leather where your hand would pull them and they're still proof of concept examples for testing; the stitching and details aren't perfect but they're fully functional. Personally I don't ever think I'll have the need to close my cargo doors from the inside, and I don't know if there are many people would need to pull them closed from the inside, so I'm posting these photos for your comments. If the consensus is that very few people would have a need for pulling the doors closed from the inside, I'll drop this idea and move on to other ideas.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
One of the benefits of using the same roof rack on all of your vehicles is that every accessory for that rack can be used on every vehicle. I posted one example a few weeks ago - the slide-out solar panel that lives under the front rack extension. Here's another one... a few years ago I made an awning to protect the cooking area when the kitchen is deployed. It mounts to the back of the rack and in the absence of heavy wind it's self-supporting. The awning bolts to the back of my Garvin rack basket.
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On the JKU Wrangler camping in Death Valley:
On the LJ during a lunch break at the top of Hurricane Pass in Colorado, where the optional ground lines are deployed because of wind at the top of the pass. In this case I don't have the Garvin rack basket installed so the awning is attached to the crossbar of the roof rack:
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On the JKU Wrangler camping in Death Valley:
On the LJ during a lunch break at the top of Hurricane Pass in Colorado, where the optional ground lines are deployed because of wind at the top of the pass. In this case I don't have the Garvin rack basket installed so the awning is attached to the crossbar of the roof rack:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Perhsps Alu-Cab should offer them as a product or feature of the conversion?