Moreton Island Shakedown

[LeftCoastOverland]

Just got back from 3 days on Moreton was a lovely adventure.

Everything with the truck worked flawlessly, and its ability to handle everything sand with ease was impressive.

My fuel consumption was atrocious though!
I fueled up right before the ferry for an accurate reading. I consumed 41L of diesel over the course of 3 days, and 175 Kilometers. 23.5L/100!

I did keep my tires aired down the entire time. 16 psi (285/70r17 KM3’s) and had it in 4x4 Locked center diff for the duration as well.

I didn’t go too heavy on the throttle, kept it pretty modest, some of the engine run time was at idle (first thing in the morning warmup before driving)

Hopefully it’s to do with engine break in, she’s still pretty fresh 600K’s on the dial.
Or am I just going to have to live with this being an overly thirsty truck? I was expecting 12L/100… at worst 15. But 23? Seems a bit excessive!

Great fun though! Love the truck!

 

[FrankieJ]

Did you use low range or not? I mostly stay in low range as the sand is very soft there. Never measured fuel consumption in my Patrol there

Lowest tire pressures I had to use were 12psi.

 

[bigleonski]

I got bogged at Moreton once. Pulled up in the soft stuff above the high tide mark with a van on the back and just ground down when I went to take off. Quick snatch and away I went. 18psi and high cdl.

That fuel consumption seems a tah high though mate, on a par with my cruiser loaded up with 4 blokes and gear and pulling a loaded box trailer. I’ll let you know how I go on Fraser in September.

Worst fuel consumption I’ve had in sand was driving from Inskip Point to Orchid Beach on Fraser Island at dead high tide at 8 to 10pm one night when I needed to get up to see some mates who were leaving the next morning. V8 petrol 100 Series. Spent most of the later part of the trip hugging the beach beside the dunes with salt water lapping my wheels. Hairs on the back of the neck were a bit raised. Filled up the next morning and had used 36L for the 110km trip.

 

[CBN]

Just got back from 3 days on Moreton was a lovely adventure.

Everything with the truck worked flawlessly, and its ability to handle everything sand with ease was impressive.

My fuel consumption was atrocious though!
I fueled up right before the ferry for an accurate reading. I consumed 41L of diesel over the course of 3 days, and 175 Kilometers. 23.5L/100!

I did keep my tires aired down the entire time. 16 psi (285/70r17 KM3’s) and had it in 4x4 Locked center diff for the duration as well.

I didn’t go too heavy on the throttle, kept it pretty modest, some of the engine run time was at idle (first thing in the morning warmup before driving)

Hopefully it’s to do with engine break in, she’s still pretty fresh 600K’s on the dial.
Or am I just going to have to live with this being an overly thirsty truck? I was expecting 12L/100… at worst 15. But 23? Seems a bit excessive!

Great fun though! Love the truck!

I did Moreton over the Xmas break and did a full tank over the 5 days and did about 20l/100km on the same size tyres but at 20psi.

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

Awesome, Boys.
That all makes me feel better.

Never bothered to rock Low range, the truck ate up everything in high, at 16psi. Was legendary.

The eyes I got around the place too.
Legendary….

 

[DenisM]

@LeftCoastOverland : I frankly wouldn't worry about fuel consumption until you've got at least 10,000km on the clock. These motors are quite tight. Also, there's no need to "warm up" in the morning. Just drive it and go gently for the first 1500 km or so gradually increasing the revs up to max power (3800-4200 rpm ).
Going for a long highway trip at reasonably light throttle for a thousand km or so at different revs is probably the optimal.
A locked CDL and low pressure tyres in sand is a heavy ask for a new motor and transmission. 20-25L/100km under those conditions doesn't surprise me in the least.
Glad you're making the most of your Grenadier

 

[Shaky]

I think mine which is a petrol, is slowly loosening up and the MPG is getting better. Not ground breaking by any means but I always keep my eye on it and I am regularly getting 21.5 - 22mpg on a journey. No motorways in that just A and B roads mainly.

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

Continuing on my Journey…
Feel free to get a cup of coffee or tea, this one will take a minute to read.

I’m currently in Gloucester awaiting my cabinet install at Drifta. So I figured I’d add more to the story.

After finishing up in Brisbane last week, I hit the road south. I’ve now got my roof rack loaded with a swag, Wolfpack box, and an awning plus all the stuff inside the truck. I’d say I’m now moderately heavy.

The weight is as best distributed as possible, with the swag being the heaviest thing on the rack(not really that heavy just a large profile) the rest is in the seats, and floor boards.

I did another beach run, this time on Illaroo (NSW coast just south of Yamba). Didn’t bother to lower tires from 36psi, sand wasn’t soft, just had the CDI locked. No probs. Truck was loaded to the gills still.

Left the coast heading inland for Gloucester. This is where it gets interesting…
Heading down the road at 100km’s with a long straight stretch I decided to use the cruise control. Worked fine for 1/2 hour to an hour and then suddenly it kicked it self off cruise, and I got an amber “ESC OFF” warning light, and “dimished break function” on the infotainment.

I drove to my next stop, and it cycled off with the ignition being switched off. Hasn’t reappeared, but I found it odd. Haven’t used the cruise again since. Will try again on another long stretch of highway.

Continuing on the back roads (thunderbolts way) south and west through the New England Region of NSW (Beautiful!) towards the pass at I think Baxter’s ridge I encountered the steepest descent I think I’ve ever dealt with. I would HATE to have driven in anything heavier, let alone tow down that grade…
Luckily the signage is clear “use low gear” “hot brakes fail”
I popped the truck into manual and consciously gave my brakes time to cool between pedal application, but man it was hard to keep up.

I think at one point I was in M3, doing at least 40K’s around 25K turns at probably 3500 rpm all while riding the shit out of the brakes, which I feel were starting to experience a bit of fade by this point.
For context the grade goes from 1300m to 100m over the course of less than 10Km.
Again, moderately heavily loaded truck.
Certainly the first time being concerned while driving the Grenadier. Both for sake of the brakes, and sake of over revving the engine and transmission.

Regardless I made it down the grade without incident, but I hopped out at the bottom for a walk and touch, could smell some burnt brake pads for sure. Not fully cooked, but warm.

A brake upgrade may be on the books for me.
Especially if I decide to tow. I thought the factory brakes would be sufficient, but coming from a 2019 Ram 1500, which is as heavy as the grenadier, and will tow more (11,000 Lbs) I feel they’re inadequate. However, Fine for most applications.

After reaching Bretti reserve I spent a night there under the stars. Not bad for a free camp. Wish the cows were less noisy.
I’ve since switched to a paid site with hot showers at Barrington Tops which is very nice. Highly recommend, especially for you Mountain Bikers in the group.
All in all a lovely trip so far. Been averaging
12-13L/100Km on the ups and downs twisty turneys. All good fun.

Oh also, I had Bob Jane do a wheel alignment when I got my KM3’s installed… they fully buggered it. My steering wheel is out of position big time. The band at the 12:00 position on the wheel rides now at the 1:00-2:00 position while going straight down the road. Hopefully I can get one of their shops down south to fix what they stuffed up in QLD.

More to come.
-R

 

[DenisM]

For very steep downhill...I vaguely remember driving the section road you mention but in a different vehicle.... don't forget in the Gren. you can always select low range which is good for up to 80kmh....

 

[TheDocAUS]

Left the coast heading inland for Gloucester. This is where it gets interesting…
Heading down the road at 100km’s with a long straight stretch I decided to use the cruise control. Worked fine for 1/2 hour to an hour and then suddenly it kicked it self off cruise, and I got an amber “ESC OFF” warning light, and “dimished break function” on the infotainment.

More to come.
-R

When the Grenadier is in Cruise Control and going uphill and turning slightly to the left, if often drops out of Cruise Control. It has happened repeatedly to me in that situation. I can feel the steering tighten slightly just before CC drops out, you cannot re-engage CC if you are still turning like that. Once you straighten up, all is good again.

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

For very steep downhill...I vaguely remember driving the section road you mention but in a different vehicle.... don't forget in the Gren. you can always select low range which is good for up to 80kmh....

I definitely considered it after I got through the gauntlet. Would have been a wise decision to drop it into L before the grade. But thanks for the 80K limitation. I wasn’t aware of that.

 

[DenisM]

I definitely considered it after I got through the gauntlet. Would have been a wise decision to drop it into L before the grade. But thanks for the 80K limitation. I wasn’t aware of that.

The 80kmh is top speed... given its 2.5:1 reduction, that's 200kmh in high range

 

[Snipewench]

I know that section of Thunderbolts Way, and driven it a few times when getting up to Armidale from Sydney. Since acquiring a caravan, I'd not been on that section of road. As I was driving down TBW from Uralla to Walcha, my mind wondered whether I'd ever do that bit with the caravan on the back, going down the escarpement there. Nope. No way. I did take the van down Waterfall Way from Dorrigo to Bellingen, which was a lot of fun!

 

[Braydo]

That is a steep section - I've driven it with a 2T trailer, and would do it again. There are steeper/longer descents that I've found to be more concerning, but granted probably few of those are on roads as major as Thunderbolts. Low gear, wind up the trailer breaks and alternate between the trailer and vehicle braking and you can keep the temps down. I might feel differently towing 3.5T behind a vehicle lighter than that though, but that's not the kind of set up you take everywhere!

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

And the Saga Continues!
(Get a coffee…)

Got my cabinet install done with Drifta! They’re top notch. Well worth the white knuckle drive down the grade (glad I’m not the only one who feels it to be steep!)

Sadly I haven’t got any pics of it at the moment. Been on the road. I’ll get some on here asap.

Left Barrington Steps CG This morning at sunup, and have been moving ever since. The first 1/3 of the drive was uneventful.

For 2 hours I was able to successfully use the cruise control, albeit with lots of adjusting for traffic between Newcastle and Sydney tunnel.

south of Sydney I stopped for a wee and shut the engine off, this was the 2nd or 3rd of the day.

Upon startup it threw an amber “ check engine light” on the caution warning panel. So that’s fun. It’s been there all day, with multiple starts and shutdowns. I’ve been religiously watching my state of charge, and when the check light initiated, I got a red box and no reading on state of charge for aprox 20 min. After that time it came back alive, and continued to show the charge for the day. However cruise control still fails to engage.

I achieved 96% charge after 8 hours of continuous driving. Seemed slow to top up. In previous long days I’d achieved 99% in only a few hours.

I have a feeling it has to do with the direct wiring of the fridge to the Aux battery. I had Drifta’s sparky wire it into the aux with an inline fuse.
Not sure if that tripped up the computer.
Otherwise I’d been running the fridge off the 12V ciggy plug under the center console with no dramas.

I’ll be passing by the Melbourne dealer tomorrow, temped to drop in and ask them to read the code for me.

Other than that a relatively boring 800Km day on the highway. Aside from my fun and games with testing the fuel range. (More on this in the “B57 fuel economy” thread) long story short I fully drained the tank. Pumped in 90.95L.

Should be home midday tomorrow.
Been quite the 2 week shakedown.

 

[CRH]

And the Saga Continues!
(Get a coffee…)

Got my cabinet install done with Drifta! They’re top notch. Well worth the white knuckle drive down the grade (glad I’m not the only one who feels it to be steep!)

Sadly I haven’t got any pics of it at the moment. Been on the road. I’ll get some on here asap.

Left Barrington Steps CG This morning at sunup, and have been moving ever since. The first 1/3 of the drive was uneventful.

For 2 hours I was able to successfully use the cruise control, albeit with lots of adjusting for traffic between Newcastle and Sydney tunnel.

south of Sydney I stopped for a wee and shut the engine off, this was the 2nd or 3rd of the day.

Upon startup it threw an amber “ check engine light” on the caution warning panel. So that’s fun. It’s been there all day, with multiple starts and shutdowns. I’ve been religiously watching my state of charge, and when the check light initiated, I got a red box and no reading on state of charge for aprox 20 min. After that time it came back alive, and continued to show the charge for the day. However cruise control still fails to engage.

I achieved 96% charge after 8 hours of continuous driving. Seemed slow to top up. In previous long days I’d achieved 99% in only a few hours.

I have a feeling it has to do with the direct wiring of the fridge to the Aux battery. I had Drifta’s sparky wire it into the aux with an inline fuse.
Not sure if that tripped up the computer.
Otherwise I’d been running the fridge off the 12V ciggy plug under the center console with no dramas.

I’ll be passing by the Melbourne dealer tomorrow, temped to drop in and ask them to read the code for me.

Other than that a relatively boring 800Km day on the highway. Aside from my fun and games with testing the fuel range. (More on this in the “B57 fuel economy” thread) long story short I fully drained the tank. Pumped in 90.95L.

Should be home midday tomorrow.
Been quite the 2 week shakedown.

My engine warning light is on and the cruise control doesn't work, I'm guessing it's disengaged when there's an issue 'for safety '

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

Good to know! Thanks for the update.

 

[Krabby]

My engine warning light is on and the cruise control doesn't work, I'm guessing it's disengaged when there's an issue 'for safety '

Mine did the same thing and it was effing annoying!!! I get why, but knowing it was a BS fuel CEL made a few drives very aggravating.

 

[bigleonski]

Just a thought. It didn’t happen after you filled up did it??
I filled up once and after the first click kept putting more in. Then when I went to start it got all the Christmas lights going on. It doesn’t like that.
Did a reset (hold the mute button on til the screen goes blank) and they all cleared and didn’t have any other issues.

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

Ok I’ll try that. It was after a fill, but not initially maybe an hour or so of driving. Cycled engine off, then it was on when I got going again.