An example of good steering…

[Bruce B]

We have all heard people’s thoughts about Grenadier steering. Every review mentions it and there is plenty of discussion about it in the forums. Thus, steering was high on my list of concerns about the Grenadier as I began getting interested in owning one. How best to decide what is going on? Well, obviously a test drive is where you start. Of course even a 10 mile drive in a new vehicle won’t really tell you what it is like. There is simply too much happening during that first drive and your senses are overwhelmed. I went back to the dealer a second time and asked for a way to see a Grenadier hooked up to our trailer just to see how it carried the weight. They handed me a set of keys and said, go see! This is how I had the opportunity to put some 300 miles on one and it really showed me a lot.
On my first solo drive in that early production Trialmaster, I steered badly for a few miles before everything smoothed out. Once I stopped over correcting and simply slowed myself down, it was a nice experience. All new vehicles have dynamics that require time to learn, the Grenadier's is its steering.
Speaking of watching reviews, I have found two that demonstrate different steering styles on a Grenadier.
First, in the test done by Winding Road Magazine the driver’s steering style is one of over correction for much of the drive. In the second example done by DrivingCars, the driver clearly has a much better steering style. I’ll include links to both in case you haven’t seen them. The DrivingCars channel has three videos of driving a Grenadier by the way and all demonstrate a smooth driving style. He is tossing the vehicle with ease and clearly demonstrates its ability. Smooth is everything…

Winding Road

Driving Cars

 

[crashnburn]

The first couple of times I drove the Grenadier, I had to overcorrect a few times.
The more you drive it, the more you notice that steering returns better and smoother.

Turning radius is a different story though for the IG. I was at a moderate trail recently (not with the IG), and the Bronco Badlands ahead of me just turns effortlessly with its Turn Assist feature on hairpins.

 

[ECrider]

I think it would be helpful for owners of Grenadiers from both sides of the fence, a) mine drives perfect and b) mine seems very odd indeed. To perhaps drive each others and see whether it's the car (stock) or whether it's the driver. If that makes sense.

Steering good/bad is probably largely subjective, but in some circumstances it may well be differences in the truck.

As said above they would obviously need to be as similar to each other as poss - the truck not the driver.

 

[Bruce B]

I think it would be helpful for owners of Grenadiers from both sides of the fence, a) mine drives perfect and b) mine seems very odd indeed. To perhaps drive each others and see whether it's the car (stock) or whether it's the driver. If that makes sense.

Steering good/bad is probably largely subjective, but in some circumstances it may well be differences in the truck.

As said above they would obviously need to be as similar to each other as poss - the truck not the driver.

I have now driven 4 Grenadiers and while there were differences between these, I’d say mostly the difference in tires as two has all season tires and two had KO2’s. The steering on the 19,000 early production loaner was definitely a little looser feeling although I had no trouble driving it once I relaxed.
Of course there can be mechanical issues with any specific vehicle at any time. I’m guessing that less of that exists than you’d think though.

 

[DoubleDoom]

a) tyres. I have driven the K02s on an MY24 and Bridgestone on an MY23.5. The KO2s give a little more movement
b) tyre pressure. When I first got mine after a fairly long mostly dual carriageway run (i.e. 70mph for about 60 miles), the car seemed to lose some stability. The tyre pressure warning came on and got to 42PSI. It turned out my tyre pressures were set for heavy load and then they expanded under heat and on light load, the car lost some stability that led to over correction. I dropped the cold temp back to light load load levels and not had any issues since.
c) my daughter initially overcorrected but that was down to nerves. She was gripping the wheel. I told her to let go on a straight and she will see the vehicle doesn't move around. She did and after that she relaxed and the oversteering went away. If you are a relaxed steering wheel holder, it will be less of an issue. If you a firm gripper, I suspect you will feel it more.
d) read elsewhere that it was recognised that early shipped models had an issue which caused the caster to go out (something to do with how they were strapped down during shipping). These would drive needing more correction unless fixed.

The first time I drove the MY23.5, the first three notable turns (including leaving the dealership) I didn't get the cornering right (insufficient turn into the corner and not quick enough to correct out of it). After that, I was ok. The MY24 which was driven almost 6 months later gave me no such issues. Maybe I remembered how it drove and adapted automatically without realising. Maybe the 24 had improved over the 23.5. I cant say. I feel the MY24 re-centres the wheel a bit better than then MY23.5 did.

the MY24 didn't have the steering wheel offset though that the MY23.5 had.

 

[CRH]

Including my own, I've had 3 lowners, one of which was a Quartermaster. All steering was the same and of no issues. I didn't check tyre pressures but I think the may have all had the k02's on 17 & 18" wheels.
If these testers have them for 1hr, then yes, steering will seem to be a problem. Drive for 500 miles and you forgot what all the fuss was about

 

[Jeremy996]

I have over 28,000 miles on my Grenadier. The steering is much like my old '89 LR110CSW, so I did not have much of a learning curve. However, I did find myself arriving at the corners rather faster that intended as 245bhp is a lot more than 111bhp, although the Grenadier is about 700kg heavier.

 

[trobex]

The steering can be summarised as follows:
> It will feel stiff and hard to maintain 'zero correctness' when new but does become very natural after 5000kms as it drastically settles and holds a truer line. It will never be the same as newer electrically assisted steering centers - but can Honda CIVIC go up a sand dune...???
> It will remain heavy... drive it on softer sand for an hour and you can tell the mates you didn't miss 'arms day'! This you will also adapt too and rarely notice except in tight car parks doing your 5-point reverse park!!!
> It will still have a MASSIVE turning circle; you will know when you can or can't make 'that turn'.
> The tilt and reach will remain sub-par - minimal tilt and minimal reach. But you can make a small difference with seating position.
> I can hit a 4-inch pothole at 100kms (yesterday) and barely felt a ripple via wheel!

 

[Quartermaster]

All you Grenadier owners should not be unhappy with the turning circle, because it could be worse .... like with my Quartermaster
I have a station wagen as a loaner at the moment and it feels so tiny

 

[bigleonski]

I was talking to a mate with a 79 series ute about the turning circle a couple of weeks ago. After I told him the number he just chuckled and said it was cute.
There is always someone worse off.

 

[Krabby]

I was talking to a mate with a 79 series ute about the turning circle a couple of weeks ago. After I told him the number he just chuckled and said it was cute.
There is always someone worse off.

And our track is the same front and rear!

 

[Quartermaster]

BTW my loaner has an OME steering damper installed and legalized from the day of registration of the car on.

 

[Krabby]

BTW my loaner has an OME steering damper installed and legalized from the day of registration of the car on.

Do you mean original man eqp or Old Man Emu aftermarket?

 

[Quartermaster]

Old Man Emu

 

[Dokatd]

BTW my loaner has an OME steering damper installed and legalized from the day of registration of the car on.

How does it feel compared to the stock?