It's not as aggregeous as I first feared. You adapt; it's rare I need a 3 point turn at this point.
Respectfully disagree. Plenty of people change their own oil. I will change my own oil again once we land in a place. I just don't (can't) carry all the stuff to make that happen while on an extended trip. Limited dealerships can make it a serious PITA to not do your own changes.
Funny how none of the reps I talked to at Overland Expo, nor salesmen knew about that switch.There is descent mode available- might be specific to the "rough pack" (includes locking diffs). Switch is on the overhead panel.
But I'm sure their cologne was quite delightful.
Which begs the question, why did you ditch your WT for the Grenadier? One can substitute the "it" above with the Bronco with the only exception is that it not only excels off road but also on road. Seems like a downgrade but at a substantial cost difference.
They fon't have a forscan equivalent where you can hack it yourself?
The Grenadier slightly piqued my interest so I rented one on a family trip and put on 1,000 miles. Flew into SFO, so had it in San Fran, Yosemite and Monterrey/Big Sur.
Thought I would share some thoughts. I didn’t take it off road unfortunately but this is more around everyday use -
I liked it, not as much as I thought I would. If it were strictly driven by me and me alone that’s one thing, but it was pretty flawed/compromised for everyday driving / family passengers. The steering and turning radius is lacking for around town driving. I think this has been improved slightly for the 2026, mine was a 2025.
The steering doesn’t really snap back to center and takes a bit getting used to. You need to manually turn back to center when coming out of turns. It feels weighty which is nice but there’s a lot of input needed. I got used to it but my wife pretty much hated the feel of it.
The turning radius is probably one of the worst of a recently manufactured vehicle for this size, and is the primary common complaint. Lots of corrections are needed around a parking lot. Especially tight lots - Turning into spaces flanked by occupied spots usually required a 3 point turn which is a bit crazy. Or for example, pulling out of a parking lot aisle with someone passing, you would need to completely stop and wait to have enough room to turn. There were a few awkward moments of others seeing you stop, then they stop and wave you on, and you roll down your window to explain that they need to move or reverse because your unable to make the turn without hitting them. They just don’t expect you to have the turning radius of a semi truck when you’re in a defender looking suv.
in general I would say just…finicky…My wife and kids were successful about 50% of the time to fully close the doors. And sometimes the car would throw itself into park when reversing out of a spot, to the point you think you hit something, but it was really because a door wasn’t 100% shut with a thud. It could have also been provoked by seatbelts not being buckled but I doubt it - pretty sure it was the doors. This happened a bunch.
constant rear rattle. Seemingly the tailgate or ladder.
No passive entry for the locks or push button Start. Which after unpacking and repacking a car full of luggage every couple days was noticeably a bit annoying putting down arms full of stuff to pull out the key and unlock the vehicle. One of those features you get accustomed to with modern cars that becomes obvious when it’s not there. The sticker on mine was 83k BTW.
no rear window lockouts for kids. Probably no big deal for most, but dealing with a toddler in the backseat constantly not listening and messing with the windows got old quick. Seems trivial, but when driving around the Big Sur wildfires, and trying to keep out the smoke it actually was an issue - pulling over multiple times arguing etc, for something that could so simply be resolved with a feature every other vehicle has. Or my toddler opening up the window while exiting the car (happened often given the allure, since we’ve always had the lockout feature) then you walk around, take out the key (since it doesn’t have keyless) turn back on the car and roll up the window. You forgive these things because it’s a pretty cool truck, but also think why am I dealing with this in 2026 on a 83k vehicle. It’s not even an option. And they figured this tech out 30 yrs ago.
some technical issues. Like an off road mode flashing error on the screen that stayed on for a couple hours.
Everything else (minus the price) was to the positive. Huge cargo, very nice seats. I loved every second of the airplane cockpit and safari windows. If it I wasn’t using it for family use I probably would have enjoyed it more. Also I think the 2026 improved the turning radius some (5%), and the steering feel a bit.
edit - looking into it further - here are the things missing (I don’t think these are options but I could be wrong) but my $83k spec fieldmaster did NOT have: power front seats (obviously no memory), rear heated seats, adaptive cruise, blind spot monitoring (obviously no lane keep assist), passive entry locks, push button start (obviously no remote start), child rear window locks. Etc. not really being a princess here since it only include tech that’s absolutely necessary, but the main point here is there’s about $10-15k worth of content missing when comparing this $83k sticker to competitors.
some pics
Yeah, I noticed this vehicle when I mistakenly pulled into a dealership selling them. To me it looks like a “G” wagon of sorts, which I think is overrated. I have a 2025 OBX Sasquatch which I optioned out and would never compromise kid safety over looks, especially for that price point.
Primarily cargo space. Everything we are carrying for 6 months fits into 6 Frontrunner Wolfpack boxes and 6 70L RUX boxes. They both have the same footprint, so everything stacks nicely together. ADGU drawer system in the cargo area folds out to make a load floor with rear seats down, and I have a drawer for stuff that stays in the truck, and a 30L drawer fridge. Dogs ride in front of the cargo load.
For cargo space, the Grenadier (and 6gen 4Runner) has way more room behind the second row seats. Pretty much because the Bronco is a 'convertible' and so the roll over bars get in the way.Primarily cargo space. Everything we are carrying for 6 months fits into 6 Frontrunner Wolfpack boxes and 6 70L RUX boxes. They both have the same footprint, so everything stacks nicely together. ADGU drawer system in the cargo area folds out to make a load floor with rear seats down, and I have a drawer for stuff that stays in the truck, and a 30L drawer fridge. Dogs ride in front of the cargo load.
I did spend a good deal of time trying to make it all fit into the Wildtrack, but the only way I could come close was Goose Gear seat delete with 4 Roam boxes up top. The Grenadier has a good deal more space.
Oh, and I like a good vehicle project. Prior to the Grenadier, I did a bunch of mods to the Bronco, had a ZR2 Bison, built a camping trailer, and a bunch of road stuff before that. I would say now that I have the truck set up the way I do, it is a good 8.5 as a road trip car. And my wife thinks it is quieter and more comfy that the Bronco. I woudl rate them abotu the same, but that's me.
I did buy my WT at the very end of ADM nonsense, so had to work to pay sticker. Deliered to my place in NM from a dealership in Detroit, I paid right at 68k for the vehicle, plus 1,500 for delivery. Grenadier was 73k, and I went and got it. Bronco now available off sticker, but close to same money in my eyes.
Pictures are of first load in- I am better at the process 3 month in.
How have you been resetting the oil service light?
