Build Thread MallCrl 3.0

[grenexplorer]

It's been a long time coming, something along the lines of a 5 month delay from when it was originally quoted to arrive, but yesterday I was finally able to pick up my Grenadier from the awesome folks at Regal Ineos in Georgia. Bo, Brian, John, Lane, the whole crew down there was absolutely wonderful, and I cannot recommend them enough. A painless purchase process, awesome communication, and possibly best of all, absolutely no dealer added fees! Our 950mi drive home was great and just as comfortable as I remember these vehicles being for double digit hours at a time.

The thread title.... With our 4Runner, the license plate was MALLCRL (Mall crawl, short for mall crawler), as it was anything but that. The Tundra was dubbed MallCrl 2.0, and now the Grenadier 3.0.

The starting spec: Base SW, Raised air intake, F/R diff locks, leather, compass, safari windows, interior gear rail, rear ladder, spare tire storage bin, tow package.

"Why didn't you get XYZ?" - The most common "why's" are no second battery, no high amperage switch panel, and no winch. The short answer is that I'm not a huge fan of the Ineos solutions for those aspects and would rather handle them myself.

Build plans: In no particular order (these always change, but it's nice to look back and see what the initial plans were)

• Full sound/thermal insulation - 80mil CLD on floors/doors/sides/roof, 3M Thinsulate in the doors, sides, and above the headliner, 3M Minicell under the flooring, 3M Low-E above the headliner, and possibly 3M TAI above the minicell for the floors
• Stereo replacement - Components up front, coax in the rear doors, DSP amp, and 8" or 10" sub; probably Hertz, Focal, or Morels for speakers; Kicker KEY for the amp
• DIY drawers/storage system - I built two for my 4Runner (one wood, one aluminum/composite), this will most likely be 1" Aluminum extrusion (often referred to as "80/20"). Still undecided on one wide (with a divider) or two separate drawers, and also still undecided if I want to keep it low to turn one side into a sleep platform for the fairly rare times I'm solo on a trip.
• Dometic CFX3-45 Fridge - Already here and waiting for a fridge slide and the drawers to be built
• Window Film - Llumar/FormulaOne Pinnacle and AirBlue80, 15% on the sides/rear, undecided between 15% or 30% on the safaris, and AirBlue80 on the windshield
• Method 702s with 255/80/17 Falken Wildpeak A/T4Ws - I'm a huge fan of the tall and skinny tire, and while a 34/35 can fit, I think the 33 is a nice middle ground for the vehicle
• Roof rack - Probably a 3/4 rack, but this could change, already "ordered" from a company who has yet to release products for the Grenadier
• Sliders - With a kickout, see above for manufacturer
• Skid plates - See above
• Winch mount/bumper - See above - I've used both Warn VR and ComeUp Seal Gen2 winches on previous builds and have had great success with both, winch TBD but probably 12k lbs
• Lights - One of my favorite aspects - Plans are to add Diode Dynamics SSC2s in the bumper side grilles for SAE fog, replace the lights in the grille, and then add some side/rear lighting once the rack is in place. Additionally some ground/rock lights, and additional lighting in the cargo area.
• Lighting control - Switch Pros SP-9100, I've used both the Switch Pros and the sPod (actually both are serving different functions in our Sprinter), and much prefer the Switch Pros. This will probably be mounted to the overhead panel
• Air compressor - ARB Dual, not sure where yet
• Communication - I've been super happy with the Garmin Tread XL in our Sprinter, so maybe just a second mount for that, or a regular sized Tread.... Or go back to the trusty iPad/Gaia combo for mapping and a separate inReach. For 2 way radio, I have a MARS modded Icom IC-2730A that never made it into the Sprinter, so I'll remote mount that and put the head probably on the overhead panel. Of course, it can't be "overland" without a WeBoost, so that'll be there somewhere.
• Communication holder - The jury is still out on this one, I want something that can solidly hold 2 phones, a tablet, and perhaps one-three additional devices (inReach, Gopro, and/or radar detector). Nothing really suits what I want on the market as of yet, perhaps Expedition Essentials will make a mount as I've used their stuff in previous vehicles with great results
• Enforcement Notification - I've been a diehard Valentine1 fan since I got my license almost 25 years ago and never not had one in my vehicle, a V1Gen2 is already in the Grenadier, just need an improved mounting option for due to how steep the windshield is
• Additional (electric) power - Dual battery with a self heated LiFePO4 aux battery, considering the Dakota 135Ah unit. All the rest of the components will be Victron (Orion XS DC-DC Charger, SmartShunt, Cerbo-S, SmartSolar MPPT, BlueSmart AC-DC Charger, and Phoenix 1200VA inverter). All fusing/distribution components will be Blue Sea. This is how I built the system in our Tundra (except with an AGM aux battery) and similar to our Sprinter (using 700Ah of Battle Born batteries)

Phew, ok so that was a lot.... Maybe a few pictures? You'll have to settle with one, because I completely forgot to take a photo when we picked it up, luckily my better half remembered, so here's her photo
View attachment 7853616

Replies will come as the handful of things already here or soon to arrive start making their way on!

What unreleased roof rack are you looking at? I’m pretty close to pulling the trigger on the Leitner rack but I’m still a bit curious what other companies are planning.

 

[anand]

What unreleased roof rack are you looking at? I’m pretty close to pulling the trigger on the Leitner rack but I’m still a bit curious what other companies are planning.

I'll let the company officially say something before I post about it, but it follows the design parameters of other racks they have recently released. Hopefully I'll have something in the next couple weeks as their Grenadier R&D continues

 

[anand]

I agree that the 255/80/17 is an excellent tire size. What made the Falken Wildpeak the winner? That is definitely on my list, along with others such as the Nitto Ridge Grappler AT. Highway comfort is important to me, and I’m thinking maybe the Falken gets the edge with that?

Sorry i missed your post earlier....

I've used the Wildpeaks (A/T3W) on all of my previous builds with no complaints (4Runner, 2 sets; Tundra, 1 set; GF's Tacoma, 2 sets; Sprinter, 1 set) and they've always done well. I had a set of KO2s on the Tundra and another set on the Sprinter as comparisons on the same vehicle (although the Tundra was a wider KO2 than Wildpeak), and they are very similar with the Wildpeaks being maybe just a bit quieter on the highway and working a bit better in packed snow than the KO2s.

One of my prerequisites is availability in 255/80/17, another is for the tire to have the 3PMSF rating. While many say it doesn't matter since it isn't a dedicated winter tire (and I can appreciate that), it's just a mental block for me.

 

[bbq4133]

I'll let the company officially say something before I post about it, but it follows the design parameters of other racks they have recently released. Hopefully I'll have something in the next couple weeks as their Grenadier R&D continues

Looks like I'm holding off on buying from Leitner to see what lurks within the mystery box...

 

[AZGrenadier]

Another member of the Sprinter/Grenadier club here. Unfortunately my sprinter is a road queen, although a comfy one. I have been taking things slow to see what shows yup. I'll be grabbing some A/T4s as well in the same size as soon as I get my other tundra down here to swap the KO2s onto. Plenty of pin striping on my truck so far, have mixed feelings about getting it wrapped.

 

[anand]

Next up, window film!

Llumar FormulaOne Stratos 15% on the sides and rear, Stratos 30% on the Safari Windows, and AirBlue 80 on the windshield.

I finally feel like I can ride in privacy again, I've lived for too many years with tint on all my vehicles to exist with an non-tinted "fish bowl".

Given the lack of factory tint, I was contemplating going down to 5% on the rear 70/30 windows, but decided to stick at 15%, just after the drive home, I'm rethinking that decision slightly as I can pretty easily see through the vehicle from the back (given the light coming in from the Safari windows). Speaking of the Safari windows, I had an internal struggle between adding 15% or 30% film to them, as I didn't want them to be "too dark" so I decided to do 30%. If I were doing it again (and I may), I'd go 15% as the sun is still quite piercing (although, not unbearable like it was without the film).

 

[carpetman]

It's been a long time coming, something along the lines of a 5 month delay from when it was originally quoted to arrive, but yesterday I was finally able to pick up my Grenadier from the awesome folks at Regal Ineos in Georgia. Bo, Brian, John, Lane, the whole crew down there was absolutely wonderful, and I cannot recommend them enough. A painless purchase process, awesome communication, and possibly best of all, absolutely no dealer added fees! Our 950mi drive home was great and just as comfortable as I remember these vehicles being for double digit hours at a time.

The thread title.... With our 4Runner, the license plate was MALLCRL (Mall crawl, short for mall crawler), as it was anything but that. The Tundra was dubbed MallCrl 2.0, and now the Grenadier 3.0.

The starting spec: Base SW, Raised air intake, F/R diff locks, leather, compass, safari windows, interior gear rail, rear ladder, spare tire storage bin, tow package.

"Why didn't you get XYZ?" - The most common "why's" are no second battery, no high amperage switch panel, and no winch. The short answer is that I'm not a huge fan of the Ineos solutions for those aspects and would rather handle them myself.

Build plans: In no particular order (these always change, but it's nice to look back and see what the initial plans were)

• Full sound/thermal insulation - 80mil CLD on floors/doors/sides/roof, 3M Thinsulate in the doors, sides, and above the headliner, 3M Minicell under the flooring, 3M Low-E above the headliner, and possibly 3M TAI above the minicell for the floors
• Stereo replacement - Components up front, coax in the rear doors, DSP amp, and 8" or 10" sub; probably Hertz, Focal, or Morels for speakers; Kicker KEY for the amp
• DIY drawers/storage system - I built two for my 4Runner (one wood, one aluminum/composite), this will most likely be 1" Aluminum extrusion (often referred to as "80/20"). Still undecided on one wide (with a divider) or two separate drawers, and also still undecided if I want to keep it low to turn one side into a sleep platform for the fairly rare times I'm solo on a trip.
• Dometic CFX3-45 Fridge - Already here and waiting for a fridge slide and the drawers to be built
• Window Film - Llumar/FormulaOne Pinnacle and AirBlue80, 15% on the sides/rear, undecided between 15% or 30% on the safaris, and AirBlue80 on the windshield
• Method 702s with 255/80/17 Falken Wildpeak A/T4Ws - I'm a huge fan of the tall and skinny tire, and while a 34/35 can fit, I think the 33 is a nice middle ground for the vehicle
• Roof rack - Probably a 3/4 rack, but this could change, already "ordered" from a company who has yet to release products for the Grenadier
• Sliders - With a kickout, see above for manufacturer
• Skid plates - See above
• Winch mount/bumper - See above - I've used both Warn VR and ComeUp Seal Gen2 winches on previous builds and have had great success with both, winch TBD but probably 12k lbs
• Lights - One of my favorite aspects - Plans are to add Diode Dynamics SSC2s in the bumper side grilles for SAE fog, replace the lights in the grille, and then add some side/rear lighting once the rack is in place. Additionally some ground/rock lights, and additional lighting in the cargo area.
• Lighting control - Switch Pros SP-9100, I've used both the Switch Pros and the sPod (actually both are serving different functions in our Sprinter), and much prefer the Switch Pros. This will probably be mounted to the overhead panel
• Air compressor - ARB Dual, not sure where yet
• Communication - I've been super happy with the Garmin Tread XL in our Sprinter, so maybe just a second mount for that, or a regular sized Tread.... Or go back to the trusty iPad/Gaia combo for mapping and a separate inReach. For 2 way radio, I have a MARS modded Icom IC-2730A that never made it into the Sprinter, so I'll remote mount that and put the head probably on the overhead panel. Of course, it can't be "overland" without a WeBoost, so that'll be there somewhere.
• Communication holder - The jury is still out on this one, I want something that can solidly hold 2 phones, a tablet, and perhaps one-three additional devices (inReach, Gopro, and/or radar detector). Nothing really suits what I want on the market as of yet, perhaps Expedition Essentials will make a mount as I've used their stuff in previous vehicles with great results
• Enforcement Notification - I've been a diehard Valentine1 fan since I got my license almost 25 years ago and never not had one in my vehicle, a V1Gen2 is already in the Grenadier, just need an improved mounting option for due to how steep the windshield is
• Additional (electric) power - Dual battery with a self heated LiFePO4 aux battery, considering the Dakota 135Ah unit. All the rest of the components will be Victron (Orion XS DC-DC Charger, SmartShunt, Cerbo-S, SmartSolar MPPT, BlueSmart AC-DC Charger, and Phoenix 1200VA inverter). All fusing/distribution components will be Blue Sea. This is how I built the system in our Tundra (except with an AGM aux battery) and similar to our Sprinter (using 700Ah of Battle Born batteries)

Phew, ok so that was a lot.... Maybe a few pictures? You'll have to settle with one, because I completely forgot to take a photo when we picked it up, luckily my better half remembered, so here's her photo
View attachment 7853616

Replies will come as the handful of things already here or soon to arrive start making their way on!

Hi Anand,
What brand of CLD do you plan on using?

 

[[ Adam ]]

At some point in the summer, I may make the decision to tint my safari's as well. I do recall on long trips they can get a bit warm.

 

[anand]

Hi Anand,
What brand of CLD do you plan on using?

I've used a few different ones (Siless, Noico, and Kilmat all come to mind immediately), and from what I found, they all work the same... I think I have a few boxes of Siless left over in the garage from the Sprinter, so I'll probably order one more to do the Grenadier

 

[CrAzY]

Gotta keep an eye on this build..

 

[carpetman]

I've used a few different ones (Siless, Noico, and Kilmat all come to mind immediately), and from what I found, they all work the same... I think I have a few boxes of Siless left over in the garage from the Sprinter, so I'll probably order one more to do the Grenadier

Thanks for the info. i need to sound deaden my grenadier. its giving me a head ache. When i had the two bar roof rack it was unbearable at highway speeds. Had to remove it the next day.

 

[anand]

A couple updates over the past few days.... I prematurely tore apart the interior, starting the back doors, before realizing that sound deadening/insulation still hadn't even shipped. Luckily I found another box of 80mil CLD and 15 linear feet of Thinsulate SM200L. This is half the thickness of what I ordered for the build, but actually worked really well.

I applied CLD panels to the cargo area, as well as the sides (luckily I realized the shipping bit before I took down the headliner!), I lined the insides of the plastic with Thinsulate as well as a few pieces covering large parts of bodywork for the outer body panels.

Next up was the rear doors and rear floor. Floor got CLD, but I'm not sure if it would make a huge difference to the doors, so I just lined the door card with Thinsulate. The floors will also get 3M Minicell, but again, that's in transit.

I also replaced the rear speakers with Focal Auditor Evo 4" coax's. Leaving the stock amp for now to see how it sounds. I've got a matching set of 6.5" Auditor Evo coax's for the front doors that I may get around to tomorrow.

I also moved the rear seat into the N1/Commercial position. Wow, what a difference that makes!! We rarely have people in the back seat, and the ability to gain an extra 3"+ for the drawers would be a welcomed change. I'll give it through the weekend to see if it's liveable. I do need to trim the flooring if I keep it in this position.

Oh! A great surprise when I removed the interior utility rail! Of the 6 bolts, 4 were finger tight, 1 wasn't even threaded, and 1 was cross threaded so badly I had to re-tap the threads in the body and replace the bolt.

Pictures!

Rear cargo panel in progress of fitting Thinsulate

First section of CLD completed

N1 Rear Seat photos

 

[carpetman]

Keep the pictures coming, I'm planning on doing the CLD and sound insulation over the next couple of weeks. Did you cover the wheel arches with CLD as well?

 

[anand]

Keep the pictures coming, I'm planning on doing the CLD and sound insulation over the next couple of weeks. Did you cover the wheel arches with CLD as well?

I did, probably 70% coverage on the wheel arches, the rear quarter panels (outer body), and the metal immediately under the cargo area plastics. Also 50-70% coverage of the rear passenger floor area and almost the entirety of the area under the seat that would be for the aux battery or subwoofer. Surprisingly the area under the rear seat vertical portion that is only exposed when the seats are moved to the N1 position probably had the most resonance, so that area was covered as well (you can see it as the factory cargo mat doesn't go that far forward with the seats moved up).

I didn't do the pillars as I figured I'll have to remove them to drop the headliner anyway, and will do them at the same time

 

[carpetman]

Any noticeable improvement in the cabin noise so far?

 

[anand]

Any noticeable improvement in the cabin noise so far?

I took before readings with a $30 meter from Amazon (65mph on the highway and 40mph on a surface street); but was waiting until I had it all done before any "after" readings

 

[AngusMacG]

Definitely interested in how it comes out. I’m good with the sound in the vehicle as is but if it comes out with a significant improvement I’ll probably do the same.

 

[anand]

Stereo is one step closer to being "done" (for now)...

Today I replaced the front door speakers with Focal Auditor Evo Slim 6.5" coax units. As with the rear door speakers, putting these in requires a few minutes with a Dremel and rotary sanding wheel to enlarge the opening in the OEM speaker mount. After that the speakers got a bit of 1/8" foam applied to the back of the mounting surface and a trimmed down Stinger FAST ring on the front (cut to depth for the door card).

As with the rear door, I don't think the door skin itself will have any massive improvement from adding CLD as it seems quite rigid, however, the door card was covered in SM200L Thinsulate. Below you can see the Focal speaker installed in the door.

The rear speakers didn't make any drastic difference over stock, minimally enough that I'm not sure I'd totally recommend replacing them (unless you are going deep into the weeds of chasing SQ or SPL). The front speakers, however, make a pretty drastic difference, especially with bass response. The lack of low end in the factory speakers was one of my biggest gripes (I felt like the highs were a bit muddy too, but the soundstage is low, so it'll never be "great"). If I wasn't chasing moderate bass (because I realize a single 8" will never be "big" bass), I don't know that I would go through the hassle of adding a subwoofer at this point.

My current EQ settings with the Focal's are 12,9,4,6,9, but, as with everything sound related, your personal preferences will vary. I have about 5 hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow up to RDS and back to have the brake line replaced, so I'll see how it is and see if those EQ settings need to be adjusted at all. I may bump the 63Hz down to 10 or 11 as it was a bit boomy with some deep bass hip-hop tracks. My JL Audio powered sub was missing the high-level input harness in the box, so that'll arrive tomorrow, and either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday I'll try to have that installed with another audio review.

Of course no photos as of yet, but I also took a few minutes to add 3M Safety-Walk (2" in black) on the rungs of the ladder, no fancy angled cuts or anything, just rectangles on the top side of the rungs. I also added some vinyl to the lambda on the rear 30% door, I'm not 100% happy with how the 3M Knifeless tape cut it, but it'll work for now. I used 3M Scotchlite 680 vinyl in black, which matches almost perfectly with Donny Grey during the daytime. I'll try to remember to grab a night photo with a flashlight tonight

 

[Tom109]

Can you fold the rear seats in the N1/Commercial position (clearing the front seatbacks)? It seems very tight in the normal location - I couldn't afford to move them.

 

[anand]

Can you fold the rear seats in the N1/Commercial position (clearing the front seatbacks)? It seems very tight in the normal location - I couldn't afford to move them.

You can, but, not in the normal position where I sit (by fold, I mean seat bottom up and then backrest down). Just dropping the backrest down is definitely possible, but then it isn't completely horizontal