Outfitting my Grenadier Trialmaster

jscherb

Expedition Leader
Based on a recommendation from John Brindell of Agile Offroad, I installed one of their low range shift cable brackets. From the factory the cable is secured with a thin plastic support and a zip tie. Neither looks very strong, and John says these can break and if they do, the cable hits the bolt heads on the driveshaft CV joint and makes a big racket and could damage the cable, or at least the cable jacket:

FactoryCableTies.jpg

I slid under my Grenadier in the garage and looked at the factory plastic attachments and decided they probably weren't strong enough to guarantee the cable never came loose. I especially don't like the zip-tie wrapped around the plastic fitting (a later model "improvement" apparently when it was found that the single tie to the left could fail), there's a good amount of force on the shift cable and I worry that zip tie could also damage that fitting, so I ordered one of the Agile brackets.

Agile has a video showing the installation steps:


I'll add two comments to John's installation instructions based on my installation...

The bracket is a quick and easy install and not hard to do with the Grenadier on the ground. But a few comments... first, if you're not in the dry Southwest like John is, it's very likely the threads in the hole the bracket mounts to will be rusty and you'll need to clean them with a 10mm x 1.5 tap in order for the bolt to go in:

ChasingThreads.jpg

Many people probably won't have the necessary tap on hand, but they can be found at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...Plug-Tap-and-R-Drill-Bit-49-57-5554/326247251

Second, John mentions in his install video that later models (like mine) have a shield on the cable, that's the silver foil covering you see on the cable in the first photo. Because this increases the thickness of the cable, the bracket pushes the cable very tightly into the underside of the body. I thought this might cause trouble in the future, possibly crushing the jacket and causing resistance in the operation of the shifter, so I bent the bracket towards the back of the vehicle so the cable is clamped to the bracket about an inch behind the lowest part of the body.

Installation done:

BracketInstalled.jpg

The bracket was only $30 and I had a free shipping coupon code so I consider this cheap insurance against a potential failure point. Bracket is here: https://agileoffroad.com/product/lo...ket-kit-for-ineos-grenadier-by-agile-offroad/
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I'm making a few more Overhead MOLLE panel prototypes for testing. It's a 19" long x 5" high MOLLE panel with a section of L-Track along the bottom and secured in place to factory threaded holes. The panels have a MOLLE/PALS grid as well as a grid of holes intended for use with things like QuickFist clamps for holding tools and other gear. I made a small design change to improve the weight capacity of the panel; the new panel is pictured and is on the driver side. I'll be giving these a good test on my expedition in Death Valley and the Utah desert around Moab in two weeks.

OverheadMOLLEProto2a.jpg

OverheadMOLLEProto2b.jpg

OverheadMOLLEProtos.jpg
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I'm outfitting the Grenadier for a trip out west starting next week; I'll be attending the SEMA Show (no outfitting needed for that) and after the show I'll be exploring/camping in Death Valley and also doing some trails around Moab, Utah. Yesterday I installed the roof top tent and I thought maybe some would be interested in seeing how I make the installation a one-man job.

I've had this tent since 2012 and while it's bulkier and heavier than the clamshell tents of today, I like it a lot. It's the size of a queen bed inside and has plenty of headroom all around. Being 6'6", I'm cramped in most clamshell tents but there's lots of space in this one.

I use two 10' 2x6 boards to form a ramp; I'd added cleats on the end of the boards to hook over the roof rack so they don't move. I place the tent at the bottom of the ramp and it's fairly easy to slide it up and onto the rack by myself. I use vise-grip clamps to keep it in position partway up the ramp in case I want to pause for a moment. I apologize for the poor photo quality, at the time I was doing this the scene was backlit by a very strong sun and my phone camera couldn't handle it...

2x6's in place.

RTTInstall1.jpg

Set the tent at the bottom.

RTTInstall2.jpg

Pausing half way up. Notice the clamp in the left side 2x6 keeping the tent from sliding down.

RTTInstall3.jpg

Up and over onto the rack:

RTTInstall4.jpg

I've used this method to install this RTT on my Jeeps for years and it's worked great, this is the first time I've installed it on the Grenadier.

I'll post photos from the SEMA Show and photos from the expedition as they happen, stay tuned.
 
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jscherb

Expedition Leader
I just remembered I did a video showing the installation on my Wrangler a few years ago...

.

It went the same on the Grenadier except that the Grenadier is a little taller so there was more reach involved...
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I installed the roof top tent yesterday and the kitchen the day before; today I opened everything up to make sure it's all good to go.

RTTInstalled.jpg

Kitchen. Fridge, sink with running water, small butane stove for this trip. Awning over the back doors (not deployed in this photo) covers the cooking area.

RTTInstalled1.jpg

Solar deployed. It slides out from under the rack when I need full sun on it.

SolarDeployed2a.jpg

When not needed the solar panel slides under the rack. When there's nothing in the rack above it it works at about 80% efficiency which in many cases is all that's needed to keep up with the campsite load.

SolarStowed.jpg

Everything checks out, just need to load the fridge and a few other key bits of gear (recovery items, for example) and I head out next week. Speaking of recovery items, I'm carrying 4 aluminum sand ladders on the floor of the rack. Because the RTT mounts to the rails of the rack, there's space under the RTT for these. They slide out through the side of the rack.

SandLadders2.jpg

SandLadders.jpg

I also have a changing room that can enclose the area underneath the RTT overhang but I won't be taking that on this next trip.

All set.

ReadyToGo1.jpg
 

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