Owl Vans Grenadier Steering Box Upgrade

[HereinDaRockies]

I hope that is what he meant by saying that he hasn’t heard the whine in awhile. There are a lot of people who say their IGs done’ whine. I am interested, but anything with an electrical pump is going to ‘whine’, I just don’t want to be heard from a block away, or have to keep lying to people that my IG has a turbine powertrain…

Damn at close to $3k… I may as well trade it in for a new one, which I would confirm to not whine

 

[Tenac]

I'll be coming down for a visit in a week or so to the PHX location for a test drive and probably buying a bunch more stuff anyway!

 

[Dokatd]

I meant taking a southwest flight over to az. I recognize the distance...
I should have been clearer...

No, you're good. But yeah not sure it's worth the flight. I'd rather just buy the thing and go have it installed in Austin and see what it does. I won't fully trust a test drive in a test bed vehicle. No telling what else has changed or how it will really change my truck. At least not in terms of something like this. It's cheap enough to not fuss over if it's not 100% as advertised. Plus I do have a touch of confidence in Owl on this.

 

[pmatusov]

No, you're good. But yeah not sure it's worth the flight. I'd rather just buy the thing and go have it installed in Austin and see what it does. I won't fully trust a test drive in a test bed vehicle. No telling what else has changed or how it will really change my truck. At least not in terms of something like this. It's cheap enough to not fuss over if it's not 100% as advertised. Plus I do have a touch of confidence in Owl on this.

Your comment made me wonder - the ~1" of play in the steering wheel: is it a genuine artifact of the steering box, or a software setting to avoid power steering working at all times?

 

[Dokatd]

Your comment made me wonder - the ~1" of play in the steering wheel: is it a genuine artifact of the steering box, or a software setting to avoid power steering working at all times?

There are most certainly some goofy things going on with the pump. I have to be honest and admit I have little experience with these newer vehicles with electric power steering. I have never owned anything with electric steering except my wife's Rivian. But I can sure tell when the system on the Grenadier turns on and off. And it most certainly shuts down when you approach the factory steering stop. Who knows what it does while driving. I'd prefer it to be less powerful for sure. I have always hated over powered steering on road going vehicles. I love one finger steering on my crawlers, but not anything that goes on the highway.

 

[Borg54 (Owl Outdoor)]

I know a video will not do much justice to a product that you typically have to "feel," but hopefully you can get a sense of how easy the Greny becomes at freeway speeds with this new upgrade. I also didn't hear any pump noise, but I still want to get ours back and test more before I am definitive on that front. Keep in mind, this Grenadier also has a 4" lift, which never helps freeway stability

 

[CrazyOldMan]

I know a video will not do much justice to a product that you typically have to "feel," but hopefully you can get a sense of how easy the Greny becomes at freeway speeds with this new upgrade. I also didn't hear any pump noise, but I still want to get ours back and test more before I am definitive on that front. Keep in mind, this Grenadier also has a 4" lift, which never helps freeway stability

Ok that’s cool. Did you guys adjust caster? I can’t remember if you left that at the factory angle.

 

[Borg54 (Owl Outdoor)]

Ok that’s cool. Did you guys adjust caster? I can’t remember if you left that at the factory angle.

Maxed it out

 

[MileHigh]

I just had the caster added last week when they did an oil change and door button fix. To me, the whine is pretty loud, but you can really tell in a garage or even up against a wall. Don’t know if you have a standard IG to side-by-side it?

What-o-what are people going to complain about if you ‘fix’ the steering…

I never found the steering that troublesome. I one hand it outside of rough pavement- and that is why I had the caster added; on uneven pavement, at highway speeds, and braking hard, it was a handful- definitely two hands full. That is too much to put my 18yo daughter and X5 driving wife into and expect things to go well. The caster seems to help, this would make it so that my daughter might actually drive it.

Thanks for working on this.

Funny how the inside of the OWL test mule looks like my IG, I didn’t realize how much OWL gear I’ve thrown into it.

 

[Dokatd]

I have to say I would absolutely do that with my truck as it currently sits. My return to center is also exactly the same. I would expect there are some differences that are not as easy to relay in a driving video. I'm still certain this is a great upgrade to be fair.

Honestly though my biggest gripe is how squirmy my truck gets when letting off the throttle at high speeds or hitting the brakes hard. My truck likes to dance a lot. If this pump fixes that I am very much sold.

 

[Clark Kent]

Honestly though my biggest gripe is how squirmy my truck gets when letting off the throttle at high speeds or hitting the brakes hard. My truck likes to dance a lot. If this pump fixes that I am very much sold.

Rear axle thrust angle?

 

[spyder6255]

I know a video will not do much justice to a product that you typically have to "feel," but hopefully you can get a sense of how easy the Greny becomes at freeway speeds with this new upgrade. I also didn't hear any pump noise, but I still want to get ours back and test more before I am definitive on that front. Keep in mind, this Grenadier also has a 4" lift, which never helps freeway stability

Who can install this in New jersey? Do you have anyone or a partnership with? Or do we have to ship trucks out to AZ? Thanks mike

 

[Jeff Olson]

I know a video will not do much justice to a product that you typically have to "feel," but hopefully you can get a sense of how easy the Greny becomes at freeway speeds with this new upgrade. I also didn't hear any pump noise, but I still want to get ours back and test more before I am definitive on that front. Keep in mind, this Grenadier also has a 4" lift, which never helps freeway stability

This looks pretty amazing!

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Need a video of the hood open shot of the steering pump area while someone is cranking the steering wheel

I am also in the camp of the steering feel is not a bother to me