What did you do with your Grenadier today?

[slomo]

AOAA?

Yes, now I got good place to put the shovel, recovery boards or highlift

 

[Tazzieman]

Also shows how soft those gutters are for mounting roof racks on.

I've had my Front Runner rack fully loaded on many occasions and driven over plenty of rough roads and plenty of km; the rails are still straight and true with no paint cracks.

 

[anand]

Can we have a thread with an abbreviations dictionary, to help the old folk

@Jiman01 was right, AOAA is a local (ish) off road park

 

[vtgrenadier]

Very pleased to find the tolerances are *just* right for the DropRacks XL - without the need for adding the Leitner cross-bars themselves. This keeps the height down enough to clear my lean-to... believe it or not, there's about 1/32" inch between the bottom of the rack and the top of the plastic 'ribs' on the roof (borrowing Land Rover-speak for an early 90/110 roof).

Unfortunately, I have to wait to order 36" connecting bars - rather than make use of the 33.5" ones that come stock. This is the result of a "fixed point" as opposed to, say, Thule bases that can be moved along the roofline. I'm a little peeved that at the price, they don't offer long bars with holes drilled on one side - and then a template to cut down the length for universal mounting. Instead, they offer a bunch of different lengths at $100.00 per order (PLUS $100.00 USD shipping! I'm going to call tomorrow to make sure that's right, as it's a tad absurdly expensive for what is being sent).

I'll post some completed images in a few weeks once the connecting bar issue is resolved.

And for those unfamiliar with an earlier thread, yes... the rack is expensive. But, with my shoulders, I cannot lift my kayak, canoe, or paddleboards above my head anymore, so for the last couple of years I've been unable to enjoy time on the water by myself. This opens back up the door to solo adventures, so "I'll buy once and cry once." Hopefully, I'll make very good use of it.

 

[vtgrenadier]

Separate posting, but was relieved to see that there was actually some EFFORT by the factory to paint the roof a contrast color... it was $1,000.00 in 2024 and now $1,780.00 USD... figured some would want to see for themselves.

 

[anand]

Separate posting, but was relieved to see that there was actually some EFFORT by the factory to paint the roof a contrast color... it was $1,000.00 in 2024 and now $1,780.00 USD... figured some would want to see for themselves.View attachment 7890059

I've talked about it in another post, having seen what these things go through for the contrast roof color at the factory, the cost is a bargain. The vehicle is grabbed off the line and brought into a single cell where the entire roof is hand sanded by 2 gents (after it is painted the body color), then taped off, then rejoins the paint line and goes through the paint booth again (robots go through all the motions to keep the timing the same but only spray when around the roof), then pulled back into the cell for the masking to be removed, and then it rejoins the regular line.

As a neat easter egg of sorts, if you look behind the headlight covers/grille area, you'll see where the masking plastic doesn't quite come together and there are two areas of the roof color sprayed on the core support area.

 

[Dopplemax]

Finished the GP Factor Bull bar install. Moved some things around on the molle panels and relocated the factory fire extinguisher from in front of the passenger seat where my wife complains about it cramping the footwell.

 

[vtgrenadier]

I've talked about it in another post, having seen what these things go through for the contrast roof color at the factory, the cost is a bargain. The vehicle is grabbed off the line and brought into a single cell where the entire roof is hand sanded by 2 gents (after it is painted the body color), then taped off, then rejoins the paint line and goes through the paint booth again (robots go through all the motions to keep the timing the same but only spray when around the roof), then pulled back into the cell for the masking to be removed, and then it rejoins the regular line.

As a neat easter egg of sorts, if you look behind the headlight covers/grille area, you'll see where the masking plastic doesn't quite come together and there are two areas of the roof color sprayed on the core support area.

I missed your earlier post, but very much appreciate this description! A factory tour is on the bucket list.

 

[MrMike]

Finished the GP Factor Bull bar install. Moved some things around on the molle panels and relocated the factory fire extinguisher from in front of the passenger seat where my wife complains about it cramping the footwell. View attachment 7890072View attachment 7890073View attachment 7890074View attachment 7890075View attachment 7890076

Just a word of caution regarding the extinguisher mounted under the shelf, that has a potential to become a missile in a frontal collision. I have seen this type of thing on 2 occasions cause serious injury.

 

[Tazzieman]

Just a word of caution regarding the extinguisher mounted under the shelf, that has a potential to become a missile in a frontal collision. I have seen this type of thing on 2 occasions cause serious injury.

Yes, at highway speed coming to a sudden stop , the TNT equivalent figure is (in tonnes):

 

[vtgrenadier]

To their credit, DropRacks discounted the 36" connecting bars to $50.00 shipped... their online calculator was off. Pfew!

Very pleased with their customer service.

 

[Logsplitter]

I crawled under my Grenadier today as part of a general check over before the next tour. I found that the coolant pipes on my petrol model needed better support as previous attempts to fix the very loose flailing pipes hadn’t lasted. The radiator bottom pipe Was rubbing on the chassis rail and other smaller pipes were rubbing together and some clips were loose. I used a roll of soft Velcro tape to support and fix the said loose pipes in place. The radiator bottom pipe I wrapped with Velcro tape then fixed to the chassis rail with cable ties.

 

[Logsplitter]

Further checks revealed that the heat shield panel around the petrol tank was extremely loose and very noisy. The metal push fit fixing in the first photo had almost completely worn through the heat shield allowing a lot of movement. The solution I used was to drill holes in the heat shield at various points and fix with cable ties. No movement now

 

[Logsplitter]

Next job. Make sure that the storage box in the spare wheel well could be removed and spare wheel removed for cleaning and to check for ease of changing a wheel. The rear receiver hitch step proved a useful aid for me to aid getting the spare back in place on the rear door. Being not tall , lifting the wheel onto the rear step then repositioning my grip before lifting onto the wheel mount made it much easier.

 

[ECrider]

Next job. Make sure that the storage box in the spare wheel well could be removed and spare wheel removed for cleaning and to check for ease of changing a wheel. The rear receiver hitch step proved a useful aid for me to aid getting the spare back in place on the rear door. Being not tall , lifting the wheel onto the rear step then repositioning my grip before lifting onto the wheel mount made it much easier. View attachment 7890211View attachment 7890212

Similar to my way. I roll the spare up on to the tow ball then, bend ze kneez and lift onto the hanger.

 

[anand]

I crawled under my Grenadier today as part of a general check over before the next tour.

Which is....

 

[Logsplitter]

Morocco and rural Portugal end of next week