Ineos Grenadier TJM x CATuned Offroad on board air (OBA) review

One of the first mandatory modifications to any serious offroad vehicle! On board air or OBA is vital for offroading as it allows you to air up your tires after spending time on various terrains. Airing down your tires allows for greater sidewalk deflection, increased footprint and contact patch, flotation, and ride quality. Having OBA available allows you to fine tune your psi for various terrains and to air fully up to ideal street pressure for a safe drive home, without having to rely on another rig or stopping to fill your tires!
This CATuned offroad x TJM OBA is great as it mounts the compressor in the engine bay, minimizing in cabin noise and heat. It is easily accessible and gives you an opportunity to inspect the engine after a long day on the trail as well. This unit is not as quick as a twin compressor but is sufficient for the job.

[@kertparsley9258]

Justin, do you mind taking pictures of where you have the different wires? I just got mine, the wiring instructions are still non-existent. I have emailed back and forth a few times with CATuned, and they offered pictures, but as soon as I asked for them, radio silence. I would love to just see where you have the different wires (I think there are too many leads) and where you put the relay box. IF you feel comfortable in showing us what you did, not giving electrical advice!! If not, no worries, I will keep hounding CATuned. I am sure they will respond eventually, maybe they are on a multi-week hiatus playing with their Grenny out in the wild. You've responded to me on the FB forum about this, but was looking at your video, wondering if you wouldnt mind adding wiring video or pics here, or even a DM on the forum would be great. Thank you - love your Grenadier and your sharing!

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@kertparsley9258 hey buddy! All of my wires are taped up and loomed together. If you want to call me you can and I can try to walk you through it! Message me on FB.

[@kertparsley9258]

Got it. Thanks. Let me take a closer look and reach out again, I know the team at CATuned are a great team.

[@kertparsley9258]

UPDATE: CATuned reached out and "labelled" the pics I sent them. Should be much easier this weekend. I do plan to use the switch under the hood - for my limited experience and use, that seems like what works best. Flip it on, stay outside with the tires, but I also paid extra for the overhead panel, so HMM.

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@kertparsley9258 yeah I’m more just lazy 🤣

[@nadirelf]

Thanks for the video - very helpful. A couple of questions: 1) are you planning on adding a dust-cover of some kind to the quick connect? 2) what are your recommendations on the wiring harness - is it worth trying to use the one CA Tuned sends or just wire it yourself? It sounds (from others) like that was a big part of the install headache.

[@pilotgabe]

I would use a dust cap too, that was the first thing I thought of haha. An absolute must.

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@nadirelf I’m probably going to plumb the quick connect elsewhere once I get the wiring tapped to the interior switch, just need to find the time to sort out the wiring. If you have electrical knowledge and don’t mind doing your own wiring you could do that, but their harness has a relay built in. If you like the switch under the hood then I would just stick to their harness, it’s simple enough once you figure out where every wire goes. Labels would be useful.

[@fabulousoffroaddesigns5080]

Why would you waste an interior roof switch when you are lifting the hood to hook the hose anyway? Dirty hands, in and out of the car... I would literally look for a way to attach the accessories storage bag under the hood as well. Also get a cover or use tape to keep the dirt out of that connector.

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@fabulousoffroaddesigns5080 would not be a waste for me, what else am I going to use it for? I’ve got like 5 empty switches currently. I like to have all of my controls in one spot. A few will power auxiliary lights, the other the winch. Outside of that I don’t really have dedicated use for the others.

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@fabulousoffroaddesigns5080 as far as accessories, I’ve got boxes on the roof rack that hold all of my recovery gear. I also have space under the passenger seat if I wanted to store a hose and gauge there. This is an offroad vehicle, I’m not over concerned with cleanliness, more with functionality 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@SaltShack]

Wrong! (Edited by original poster, NOT WRONG, ARB single is rated for 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off). All ARB compressors, except the CKSA12 which is designed for actuating air lockers only, are 100% duty cycle. That being said I’m not married to ARB though they have served me well for decades literally since my 1990 TJ. I’m not a fan of engine compartment mounted compressors though when there are reasonable alternatives. But if you do mount your compressor in the engine bay there is literally no reason to plumb a remote hose coupler and a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t, heat being the number one reason for the sake of the compressor and your car.

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@SaltShack sorry I believe you’re mistaken. Unsure where you’ve gotten your information. The twins are 100% duty cycle where as the singles are not. You can find that information on the ARB website here: www.arb.com.au/assets/air-lockers/6-07.pdf unless they’ve changed something I’m unaware of. I love ARB’s as well, I mainly chose this option for this car as it is currently the only solution that mounts under the hood. I ran an ARB twin under the hood in my 2013 JKU (one tons, 40’s, coilovers, 3 link long arms, hydro steer, ARB Lockers) for several years until I needed to upgrade the brake booster and big brakes, then I lost that space. I mounted it under the passenger seat and it would go off periodically when the lockers were engaged so it was super annoying. Plus when I needed to air up at the end of the trail, my passenger couldn’t just hang out in the rig as it would vibrate like crazy. The reason I would plumb it is for quicker or more convenient access. If I wire it to my interior switch panel I would have no reason to open the hood. I like the idea of the coupling mounted flush into steel bumpers, just waiting on someone to make some I like. The other option is to plumb it to the cargo area so I can access everything quickly if I’m storing the hoses and gauges there. The heat in the engine bay is not a concern for me effecting the compressor as I’ve never had issues there. I’m more concerned with the heat, noise, and dirt it would make the interior prone to, though not so much the dirt. Thanks for your input! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@SaltShack]

@@Bodhigrenadier I think you’re right, I am WRONG, on Duty Cycle but I don’t know why as the twin is merely two singles. All TJM products seem to be giving ARB a run for their money and that’s a good thing for all of us. Anyway, if my single, mounted under the rear seat passenger side of my Grenadier runs for more than 30 minutes there’s likely a problem. It’s never a bad Idea to have your hood up when idling and running your compressor though especially when temps are high.

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@SaltShack I agree, it is best practice to open the hood if your compressor is located there. I’m sure the compressor under the rear seat is totally fine as it likely won’t run for a continuous 30 minutes and is more than adequate for the size tires on these rigs. Really the only reason for a twin compressor is if you’re pressed for speed or in charge of filling up multiple rigs on a trail run. I used to run a power tank as well which was stupid fast, but it got expensive as I was leading trail runs every weekend for a few years. I ended up saving the power tank for reseating beads if needed!

[@SaltShack]

@@Bodhigrenadier Agreed, though I intend, sorry for not being clear, to keep the door open and the seat up when airing up and I’m sure the head start not being prewarmed from engine bay heat at least balances out. Thanks for the dialogue and great content. I’m sure we both agree 100% that the Grenadier is the kind of enthusiast truck we’ve been hoping for, for a long time and pray for Ineos’ continued success. But, I hope I’m not just saying that because I have Grenadier in the Garage and a Quartermaster on order and ‘am giving up extremely well Modified 200 Series and an exceptional Colorado ZR2 Diesel that you can read about in “WHEELS AFIELD” magazine published by Petersens and OSG. Look for up coming content about the Grenadier on AND IN FIELD ETHOS publications. Forgive shameless plug but we will call it resume bona fides to avoid embarrassment. Thanks.

[@Bodhigrenadier]

@@SaltShack no worries! Sounds like you’ve built some awesome vehicles! I’m no professional by any means, but I have a fair amount of experience running some of the hardest trails across the southwest with the Jeep club I founded. RSRC (rock steady rock crawlers). This is a different type of rig but very similar feel, but more luxurious and geared more towards overlanding. I absolutely love it and have no problem wishing success for the brand or having intrinsic bias! Don’t worry about the plugs! 😜😜😜