Build Thread j.ironfab Build and intro/discussion

[j.ironfab]

I picked up my Grenadier on Friday June 28th, I put my order in last year when they opened it to non reservation holders. I wasn't sure at the time if I really wanted it as the cost was hard to justify. I have been watching content on YouTube and reading on this forum for a year and I never really had my hesitations with this truck remedied. So I thought the best way to answer my own questions was just to buy it with the idea of a one year trial period where I will decide to keep it or just sell and buy a Jeep which makes way more financial sense.

The goal with this build thread is for the first year keep all the mods where I can reverse them and to not just beat the truck up on hard trails like I want to. I have some 35's from another build so those will go on this month. I do not see any suspension systems I really like so it will just be on stock springs for now. I also want to build sliders for it but these will be more of step/slider than just a slider as I do not want this to be a dedicated crawler. Plan is to remove the center section of the bumper and build a winch mount and maybe set it up for a bullbar style not sure yet.

So initial impressions of the Grenadier is the steering sucks in town. I mean I really do not get why people defend the steering not returning to center. Not returning to center is really just the worst thing about this truck right now. Before you say but it's a something something ball steering and its better off road, for more I thought it was exactly the same kickback offroad as every other powersteering saginaw based system I have used. On highway I did not mind it one bit. I thought the wander was totally fine but I drive a lot of sh!t boxes. Noise in the cabin even at interstate speed is totally acceptable. I could have a normal conversation at 85 mph.

More plastic than I expected used around the body like headlight surrounds, rear door surrounds and the back of the roof by the doors. Infotainment is the laggiest system I have ever used, I thought Alfa made a terrible infotainment system but yeah this is worse. ADAS is awful and turning it on and off is a pain hopefully they fix with the upcoming software update.

Overall I do really like the truck and I am excited to see how Ineos evolves it in the next few years and I am glad we have the option here in the US for another solid axle vehicle. This build thread will be a mix of what I think of the Grenadier, camping trips and building parts for it. I don't mind discussion on this thread I like having everything in one spot to help future owners.

Some pictures of pick up and then getting it dirty.

 

[parb]

You're a prime candidate for the agile off-road steering damper. Made a huge difference for me, got me a bit of return to center and eliminated the wandering on the highway. I also set my tire pressure to 36.

 

[j.ironfab]

You're a prime candidate for the agile off-road steering damper. Made a huge difference for me, got me a bit of return to center and eliminated the wandering on the highway. I also set my tire pressure to 36.

Yeah I really haven't decided what route I want to go with the steering yet. I really want to see what more caster does for it. If you look at the specs of most solid axle front truck and jeeps they run double the caster compared to the Gren.

Well first camping trip and long drive mountain drive for the Gren. Went from western Colorado over Independence Pass to meet up with some friends for camping over by Fairplay. Packing went easy with the height of the rear load area it was easy to get everything loaded in the back compared to the Xterra I normally take. I need to work out a fridge slide for the rear and a better way to carry water.

I can't decide if I want to go with a roof rack for carrying stuff up top or a RTT for more camp comfort. After a few more trips I am sure I will figure out what would suit me best. I keep thinking that a canopy setup on a Jeep Gladiator would solve a lot of issues compared to an enclosed SUV but I will make that decision next year.

Driving wise the steering took a lot of mental effort on the tight mountain roads and even reaching over for a water bottle did not inspire confidence. Power was great over the passes even at 12K feet I never thought it was underpowered but I was also not that heavy. Brakes need to be bigger though it's easy to run a lot of heat into the rotors going down the pass and the engine braking is subpar. Overall happy with the drive.