One of the first things I noticed when I started daily driving the Grenadier was the lack of a door-mounted armrest. I find that good elbow support makes one-handed driving much more comfortable for long stints behind the wheel. The generous flat door top surface is great but I missed a door-side arm rest that mirrors the center console.
This is not a big deal of course, but if you are prone to multi-week trips you have lots of time to ponder these details. Anything that reduces driver fatigue is a win, and lots of vehicles get this detail right. Even my Jeep Wrangler, for all its shortcomings, had perfectly matched elbow support on both sides.
I stared at the door card for months trying to figure out how to attach an armrest that would mimic the shape and position of the center console. It's not an easy task in the Grenadier, and unfortunately the method I landed on is probably not acceptable to the resale-conscious masses.
I laser scanned this area of the door so that I could conform my design accurately to the curved sheet metal of the door structure. You see, nothing is as flat or square as it might appear with the Grenadier. I have been shocked to learn that virtually every old-school straight line on the vehicle is not, in fact, straight. The flat faces of the sides are not flat, but slightly curved. Even some of the console rectangles are actually trapezoids.
A few quick prototype iterations allowed me to match the console shape and fit properly to the door surfaces. This armrest must avoid interference with the door seal and also provide clearance for the seatbelt as it passes between the seat and door.
I first tried the armrest without padding, and it felt plasticky and terrible. I wrapped the top in fake leather (shown in pic above) and it felt nice to the touch but was still not comfortable on the elbow. This may seem minor, but the point of this armrest is to allow low effort one-handed steering, and requires some reaction force to be applied thru the elbow contact. This gets old quickly when pressing against an un-padded surface.
I decided to go all in and mold a silicone pad under the leather material. I 3D printed a mold (yelllow shape in pic below) and poured a 2-part silicone resin (durometer 10A). This pad (shown below in whitish color) was wrapped in the leather and the leather was then pulled tight and pinched between a pad mount and the main body of the armrest.
I used the only exposed fastener in this entire area of the door to fix the armrest in place and locate it right where I wanted. However this single attachment point is not sufficiently stiff/strong so I tried fixing the body of the armrest to the door face using double-sided tape. This worked for a while but I eventually always broke it free. After trying 3 different types of tape I gave up and just drove three wood screws into the door. This was a bit painful but I figured what the hell; it isn't a DIY project unless it involves a few #8 sheetrock screws, right?
I am very happy with the result. It doesn't quite look OE but it doesn't look bad either. And it feels great when driving, which is the whole point. Perfect symmetry with the console, soft and comfy on my elbow, and genuinely helps make highway hours more effortless.
Downsides? I haven't really seen any yet (ignoring the obvious sheetrock screws driven into the door).
One concern I have though is the side airbag: I don't know where it is or what space it deploys into, but I think it comes out of the side of the seat. If so, I sure hope this armrest doesn't become a projectile in a crash. I couldn't find any info online about where/how the Grenadier side airbag deploys.
At this point I don't plan to make this into a product or share the files. It requires various materials and pieces and the silicone molding in particular was pretty labor intensive. I also think most people just aren't willing to drill holes in the large door molding of their $90k SUV. Maybe someone smarter than me can figure out a better way to attach an armrest in this position.
Pic above shows early prototypes to left, final body to upper right, pad mount wrapped in leather on far right. Molded Silicone pad is whitish, next to the yellow mold it came out of.
For now, I'm happy. I might even make one for the passenger side so my buddy stops complaining about the lack of armrest over there.
This is not a big deal of course, but if you are prone to multi-week trips you have lots of time to ponder these details. Anything that reduces driver fatigue is a win, and lots of vehicles get this detail right. Even my Jeep Wrangler, for all its shortcomings, had perfectly matched elbow support on both sides.
I stared at the door card for months trying to figure out how to attach an armrest that would mimic the shape and position of the center console. It's not an easy task in the Grenadier, and unfortunately the method I landed on is probably not acceptable to the resale-conscious masses.
I laser scanned this area of the door so that I could conform my design accurately to the curved sheet metal of the door structure. You see, nothing is as flat or square as it might appear with the Grenadier. I have been shocked to learn that virtually every old-school straight line on the vehicle is not, in fact, straight. The flat faces of the sides are not flat, but slightly curved. Even some of the console rectangles are actually trapezoids.
A few quick prototype iterations allowed me to match the console shape and fit properly to the door surfaces. This armrest must avoid interference with the door seal and also provide clearance for the seatbelt as it passes between the seat and door.
I first tried the armrest without padding, and it felt plasticky and terrible. I wrapped the top in fake leather (shown in pic above) and it felt nice to the touch but was still not comfortable on the elbow. This may seem minor, but the point of this armrest is to allow low effort one-handed steering, and requires some reaction force to be applied thru the elbow contact. This gets old quickly when pressing against an un-padded surface.
I decided to go all in and mold a silicone pad under the leather material. I 3D printed a mold (yelllow shape in pic below) and poured a 2-part silicone resin (durometer 10A). This pad (shown below in whitish color) was wrapped in the leather and the leather was then pulled tight and pinched between a pad mount and the main body of the armrest.
I used the only exposed fastener in this entire area of the door to fix the armrest in place and locate it right where I wanted. However this single attachment point is not sufficiently stiff/strong so I tried fixing the body of the armrest to the door face using double-sided tape. This worked for a while but I eventually always broke it free. After trying 3 different types of tape I gave up and just drove three wood screws into the door. This was a bit painful but I figured what the hell; it isn't a DIY project unless it involves a few #8 sheetrock screws, right?
I am very happy with the result. It doesn't quite look OE but it doesn't look bad either. And it feels great when driving, which is the whole point. Perfect symmetry with the console, soft and comfy on my elbow, and genuinely helps make highway hours more effortless.
Downsides? I haven't really seen any yet (ignoring the obvious sheetrock screws driven into the door).
One concern I have though is the side airbag: I don't know where it is or what space it deploys into, but I think it comes out of the side of the seat. If so, I sure hope this armrest doesn't become a projectile in a crash. I couldn't find any info online about where/how the Grenadier side airbag deploys.
At this point I don't plan to make this into a product or share the files. It requires various materials and pieces and the silicone molding in particular was pretty labor intensive. I also think most people just aren't willing to drill holes in the large door molding of their $90k SUV. Maybe someone smarter than me can figure out a better way to attach an armrest in this position.
Pic above shows early prototypes to left, final body to upper right, pad mount wrapped in leather on far right. Molded Silicone pad is whitish, next to the yellow mold it came out of.
For now, I'm happy. I might even make one for the passenger side so my buddy stops complaining about the lack of armrest over there.
