Today was a big day…❤️

[Bruce B]

I have been on the fast track to ownership of a Grenadier for just a few weeks now.
This all began a few weeks ago when friends of ours stopped by a dealer and purchased their own Grenadier.
I’d seen some online chatter about the vehicle and as always, I was interested but… not too interested.
Then I saw pictures of theirs. I listened to their description of the vehicle and thought to myself, “Ok, maybe they are on to something here…
This lead me to a pile of YouTube videos and online reviews. My appetite stimulated, I took an afternoon and drove to the nearest dealer, Ko Ineos Grenadier in Framingham MA to see what I could learn. The people there answered all of my questions, tolerated my crawling through vehicles, let me drive several fo under varying conditions and made me feel welcome! I quickly began to understood why our buddies had purchased theirs the day they first looked!
I am a bit of a car junkie and I love something about most cars. It is a problem sometimes, ask my wife . When it comes to choosing my personal vehicle I have one prerequisite and that is any vehicle I own must be capable of towing our 25’ Airstream. I have towed with 2500 series Diesels, Ford F-150’s and even an Audi Q7 although that car only pulled a smaller 16’ Airstream Bambi. After some 250,000 plus miles in pickup trucks and more than 100,000 miles of towing, I am tired of the pickup thing. I have been looking for something else for years… One thing that stood out anbout the Grenadier was the fact that it actually had better spec’s than my current F-150 when it came to towing. Not by much but better nonetheless.
This Grenadier thing so interested me that I decided to take another ride to Framingham to do a little more research. This time, I was looking at options and deciding on colors. While there, I mentioned that it would help if I could actually see something like our Airstream hooked up to a Grenadier with a proper weight distribution hitch just to see how it “looked”… I couldn’t have been more thrilled when the guys at Ko, handed me a set of keys to an older “pre production” workhorse and said “take it home and hook it up, send us pictures!”…
There is simply nothing like having the opportunity to drive a vehicle for some miles to get a feel for it.
I took those keys annd put on about 300 miles. I drove on highways, dirt roads and all around town. Just like I do regularly.
I showed my buddies, checked the fuel mileage, studied the vehicle and hooked it up to our Airstream.
I recorded the heights of the four corners of the vehicle before hitching and I recorded the heights after hooking up. I even towed the trailer a few miles (without trailer brakes or lights…) on back roads, just to get a sense of how it behaved.
Let me tell you, the combination of 25’ Airstream, ProPride pivot point projection, anti sway hitch and this Grenadier was wayyyy nice! I won’t bore you with the details but it passed with flying colors! It felt better in the brief tow I gave it than anything I have ever towed with. That includes the 3/4 ton 2500’s by the way.
Anyway, I was so impressed that I drove the loaner back to Ko Ineos and promptly ordered my own!
Today was a big day and I can’t articulate how excited I am! This is about as heavy a trailer as someone would tow with this vehicle and again… all I can say is wow! Can’t wait until next spring!!!

View attachment IMG_0060.jpeg3

 

[ScottnAZ]

Great story, and it seems like you have a great dealer to work with too!

Nice Airstream! We get a ton of looks, compliments, and questions every time we’re out with the Grenadier/Airstream combo.

Congrats on the order!

 

[ForceV4]

Couldn’t help but giggle to myself reading your story…! That was great. I had one ordered a week after I spotted one at our dealership in Colorado Springs. That was January. Just picked it up a few weeks ago ago. Best wishes and I hope you get it soon soon! - Mark

 

[Asnes]

This is awesome - congrats.

"I won’t bore you with the details but it passed with flying colors!"

I want the details! What floor plan do you have and what is your tongue weight on your 25'? I have towed about 25k miles with a 25' and 30'. Equalizer hitch and Pro-pride as well. Different vehicles (subs v 2500 pickup) similar to you. Now I am back looking another airstream after selling the 30' + GMC 2500 a year ago.....

I felt the 25' would be too much for the grenadier because of the tongue weight and overall GVWR > 7k lbs. Was looking at 23'... but now... I'm very intrigued! I know the Pro Pride makes a huge difference.

Where you able to level out the grenadier with WD?

 

[Bruce B]

This is awesome - congrats.

"I won’t bore you with the details but it passed with flying colors!"

I want the details! What floor plan do you have and what is your tongue weight on your 25'? I have towed about 25k miles with a 25' and 30'. Equalizer hitch and Pro-pride as well. Different vehicles (subs v 2500 pickup) similar to you. Now I am back looking another airstream after selling the 30' + GMC 2500 a year ago.....

I felt the 25' would be too much for the grenadier because of the tongue weight and overall GVWR > 7k lbs. Was looking at 23'... but now... I'm very intrigued! I know the Pro Pride makes a huge difference.

Where you able to level out the grenadier with WD?

Our Airstream is a 25 so tongue weight is high, then add the ProPride! Of course, the weight distribution works well with the short overhang the Grenadier has. I got the front axel of the Ineos back to non hitched height with ease and the rear springs of the Grenadier dropped about 1 1/2”. I only drove it a few miles as I didn’t have electric hookup but… it felt awesome! It was instantly obvious that the Grenadier handled the weight of our Airstream far better than our truck does. It felt solid with no flexing or strange movement. Even our last 2500, a 2020 GMC Denali was not as solid feeling as the Grenadier. I asked the Guru of all things towing, Andy Thomson about this and he said that it is because of the length of the pick up trucks frame between the cab and rear bumper. I’d always wondered what it was I was feeling when towing with a pickup! Anyway, the difference was startling and although I won’t get real towing time until my Grenadier gets here next spring, I have no concerns that it will do the job with ease.
By the way, I did not go more than about 50 mph but I did toss the Grenadier around a bit and it felt just rock solid, even without trailer brakes!
Our Airstream is a Globetrotter 25 with twin beds. I removed the original batteries and installed an all Victron LiFePO4 system with a 3000 watt MultiPlus inverter charger. That gear is back from the original battery location but it didn’t reduce the weight on the tongue. It was about an even swap…

 

[Asnes]

Our Airstream is a 25 so tongue weight is high, then add the ProPride! Of course, the weight distribution works well with the short overhang the Grenadier has. I got the front axel of the Ineos back to non hitched height with ease and the rear springs of the Grenadier dropped about 1 1/2”. I only drove it a few miles as I didn’t have electric hookup but… it felt awesome! It was instantly obvious that the Grenadier handled the weight of our Airstream far better than our truck does. It felt solid with no flexing or strange movement. Even our last 2500, a 2020 GMC Denali was not as solid feeling as the Grenadier. I asked the Guru of all things towing, Andy Thomson about this and he said that it is because of the length of the pick up trucks frame between the cab and rear bumper. I’d always wondered what it was I was feeling when towing with a pickup! Anyway, the difference was startling and although I won’t get real towing time until my Grenadier gets here next spring, I have no concerns that it will do the job with ease.
By the way, I did not go more than about 50 mph but I did toss the Grenadier around a bit and it felt just rock solid, even without trailer brakes!
Our Airstream is a Globetrotter 25 with twin beds. I removed the original batteries and installed an all Victron LiFePO4 system with a 3000 watt MultiPlus inverter charger. That gear is back from the original battery location but it didn’t reduce the weight on the tongue. It was about an even swap…

Got it - this is good intel.

"2020 GMC Denali was not as solid feeling as the Grenadier."

I find this very interesting! I too came from towing an AS with a similar year GMC 2500 with about 990lbs on the tongue. Globetrotter has a heavy tongue as well - about 900-950 lbs. So you are a little over the hitch rating but the grenadier is pretty much built like an HD truck.

Report back once you get your grenadier and put some good miles on the setup. Thanks for sharing your experience thus far - this is very encouraging.

 

[Bruce B]

Got it - this is good intel.

"2020 GMC Denali was not as solid feeling as the Grenadier."

I find this very interesting! I too came from towing an AS with a similar year GMC 2500 with about 990lbs on the tongue. Globetrotter has a heavy tongue as well - about 900-950 lbs. So you are a little over the hitch rating but the grenadier is pretty much built like an HD truck.

Report back once you get your grenadier and put some good miles on the setup. Thanks for sharing your experience thus far - this is very encouraging.

Remember, with the weight distribution, you will bring actual hitch weight down below the maximum spec. Looking at the Grenadier’s receiver, I can’t imagine doing any damage even at twice the Globetrotter’s hitch weight.

 

[DavidG]

I have been on the fast track to ownership of a Grenadier for just a few weeks now.
This all began a few weeks ago when friends of ours stopped by a dealer and purchased their own Grenadier.
I’d seen some online chatter about the vehicle and as always, I was interested but… not too interested.
Then I saw pictures of theirs. I listened to their description of the vehicle and thought to myself, “Ok, maybe they are on to something here…
This lead me to a pile of YouTube videos and online reviews. My appetite stimulated, I took an afternoon and drove to the nearest dealer, Ko Ineos Grenadier in Framingham MA to see what I could learn. The people there answered all of my questions, tolerated my crawling through vehicles, let me drive several fo under varying conditions and made me feel welcome! I quickly began to understood why our buddies had purchased theirs the day they first looked!
I am a bit of a car junkie and I love something about most cars. It is a problem sometimes, ask my wife . When it comes to choosing my personal vehicle I have one prerequisite and that is any vehicle I own must be capable of towing our 25’ Airstream. I have towed with 2500 series Diesels, Ford F-150’s and even an Audi Q7 although that car only pulled a smaller 16’ Airstream Bambi. After some 250,000 plus miles in pickup trucks and more than 100,000 miles of towing, I am tired of the pickup thing. I have been looking for something else for years… One thing that stood out anbout the Grenadier was the fact that it actually had better spec’s than my current F-150 when it came to towing. Not by much but better nonetheless.
This Grenadier thing so interested me that I decided to take another ride to Framingham to do a little more research. This time, I was looking at options and deciding on colors. While there, I mentioned that it would help if I could actually see something like our Airstream hooked up to a Grenadier with a proper weight distribution hitch just to see how it “looked”… I couldn’t have been more thrilled when the guys at Ko, handed me a set of keys to an older “pre production” workhorse and said “take it home and hook it up, send us pictures!”…
There is simply nothing like having the opportunity to drive a vehicle for some miles to get a feel for it.
I took those keys annd put on about 300 miles. I drove on highways, dirt roads and all around town. Just like I do regularly.
I showed my buddies, checked the fuel mileage, studied the vehicle and hooked it up to our Airstream.
I recorded the heights of the four corners of the vehicle before hitching and I recorded the heights after hooking up. I even towed the trailer a few miles (without trailer brakes or lights…) on back roads, just to get a sense of how it behaved.
Let me tell you, the combination of 25’ Airstream, ProPride pivot point projection, anti sway hitch and this Grenadier was wayyyy nice! I won’t bore you with the details but it passed with flying colors! It felt better in the brief tow I gave it than anything I have ever towed with. That includes the 3/4 ton 2500’s by the way.
Anyway, I was so impressed that I drove the loaner back to Ko Ineos and promptly ordered my own!
Today was a big day and I can’t articulate how excited I am! This is about as heavy a trailer as someone would tow with this vehicle and again… all I can say is wow! Can’t wait until next spring!!!

View attachment 78706203View attachment 7870621

Remember, with the weight distribution, you will bring actual hitch weight down below the maximum spec. Looking at the Grenadier’s receiver, I can’t imagine doing any damage even at twice the Globetrotter’s hitch weight.

Awesome! I had a great experience with the Framingham team also

 

[Asnes]

Remember, with the weight distribution, you will bring actual hitch weight down below the maximum spec. Looking at the Grenadier’s receiver, I can’t imagine doing any damage even at twice the Globetrotter’s hitch weight.

Understood, true. Well, the downward force without WD is really translated into downward + torque force, so the stress on the receiver component is still there, just in a couple different dimensions.... but I know exactly what you mean. And yeah, the receiver on the grenadier is no joke and I wouldn't be worried about it either.

 

[Bradysdad]

Curious what you are planning to do for trailer wiring harness. Hitch receivers are readily available but myself, as others out there, are waiting for an "approved" or even feasible aftermarket harness solution for 7 Pin brake controller enabled towing.

 

[Bruce B]

Curious what you are planning to do for trailer wiring harness. Hitch receivers are readily available but myself, as others out there, are waiting for an "approved" or even feasible aftermarket harness solution for 7 Pin brake controller enabled towing.

This Grenadier was simply a loaner from the people at Ko Ineos Grenadier. I wanted to see how the Grenadier handled the weight of the Airstream before I put my order in.
My understanding is that as of 2025, all Grenadiers will be wired with the towing harness. I ordered mine with the towing package anyway…

 

[LeeroyJ]

Congrats!

I tow a lot with mine (an Imperial Outdoors X22 trailer). Its currently at Owl Vans in Arizona getting a bunch of things installed, one item is airbags to help with the rear sag. I'll make a new thread once I'm able to test those airbags. https://grenx.com.au/products/ineos...-airbag-suspension-kit?variant=45602355347691