Petza914

...and by fixed, he means the Pyro fuse needs to be replaced. It's under the seat near the battery, costs a couple hundred bucks, and isn't a normal fuse like you'd have handy. Disconnecting (fuse as Lupo suggests) the airbags or coding them with a Durametric or similar to be inactive is probably a very good idea.

user 83838290

No good story ever starts with "....I made an informed and wise decision ..."

But I'd still pul the fuses out or even better, physically disconnect the airbags and bypass the pyro fuse at the battery

cameron110

Thanks for all the thoughts on the airbags, it is something that was on my radar but we haven't made a final team decision about how to handle it yet. Otto ran the Alcan 5000 without issue and I've not heard that they disabled the airbags. Our truck has been taken back out to the offroad park to shake down some of our work and run a good bit harder than I anticipate during the event to no ill effect and HUGE grins for all involved. I may have been keeping up with a Raptor that was getting beaten like a rented mule.

The label on the tin just says to keep it under 150 mph on mud and snow tires...

The race is on dirt roads and beach with minimal to no technical or high speed offroading. Infact we will loose points if they review our GPS data logger and find that we have been exceeding local speed limits.

Ok, enough forshadowing, lets get back on timeline with this story...

after the first outing we started a bit of Colin Chapman'ng


We pulled the lower front bumper to make room for a proper skid plate. The oil filter housing in WAY too vulnerable on the v8. We ditched a bunch of other plastic shrouding from the engine bay and pulled the amp, sub and nav/stereo head unit to free up storage space in the back for cargo and make room for 2-way radios and nav gear in the dash.

We also did a bit of fender liner trimming to make room for bigger rubber.






Then the apprentice lost the 10mm so we had to call it a day

cameron110

​​​​​​So very true, best advice yet in this thread .

RS-America

What year did Otto do the ALCAN? We did 2016 and again entered our Cayenne to do it in 2020 which will go up to Tuk.
Highly suggest getting two (four even better) Maxtrax recovery boards - will need more than one for a successful bridge. Really like our Come-Up winch, soured on WARN when they sold their warranty & after market support to a third party. Tires - we have been using Grabber AT2s for six years now, changing to BFG KO2s for the spring. While the KO2s are heavier they are also a bit more aggressive and have better puncture resistance. Seriously look into true rock sliders vs side steps - ours provide protection while not impinging on ground or side clearance. Also look into roof mounted brake lights - Cayenne's are notorious for getting theirs obliterated by dirt/snow.
For more ideas there are quite a few of us on Expo:
https://www.expeditionportal.com/for....68922/page-40
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Libast

#1 cause of many jobs being called for the day across the automotive world. Darn those 10mms!

cameron110

I was thinking Otis but typed Otto. Your Exp Portal thread as well as the thread you linked above have been super helpful to us. Recovery tracks are on the list for sure. We are running 10 ply LT KO2s I have been thinking about rear rack mounted brake lights but they are lower on the list and we'll have something that we can use to increase rear conspicuity when we get into the silt beds. We considered a winch as well but time and budget and weight bumped that off the list. there are a number of other competitors who have them and the rules are set up the teams are rewarded for coming to the aid if other entrants in need. We also plan to try really hard not to get that stuck.

Do I recall correctly that you have the stock air suspension? If so have you had any issues?

RS-America

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Yes we do have air suspension - love it, could not have accomplished what we have without it. Only issue was when temps dropped to -36F - water freezes well above that temp, there is moisture in the air, the air suspension system does not play nice with ice in it. Thankfully we were at the level height we wanted.
Would highly recommend getting aux tail lights even the magnetic type tow trucks use. Getting the vehicle damaged is one thing - getting y'all hurt in a remote location is all together different!
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https://rennlist.com/forums/cayenne-...meet-otis.html

bigbevo

Great work! Look forward to seeing more and following your progress. Good luck

cameron110

Once we had the fender liners trimmed we re-took the measurements at loading level on the air suspension and a decided that we would be able to clear a bit bigger than the commonly known to clear 265/65r18. So we picked up some used BFG KO2's in 275/65r18 which we could use as spares and for fitment confirmation.





those are at loading level and a bit deceptive since they aren't mounted and just sitting in front so there is a bit of lens compression to account for when looking at the photo. It looked like they would fit, and look awesome. We debated running mud terrains but all terrains are actually better suited to the terrain we will find in Baja and will be much more quiet, comfortable and handle better on the tarmac sections.

We pulled the rear mounted spare to see about fitting one in the rear carrier:



The larger tire won't drop all the way back into the carrier but we will be able to build a spacer to offset it by the inch and a half.

we found that the lug threads in the rear carrier had suffered some impact gun abuse at some shop along the way in the last 14 years. A few minutes of work with a thread restoring tap cleaned them up pretty well and we will be able to flip it over to use 1/2 and inch of previously unused threads as well.



We also spent some time thinking about how we would fabricate a better front skid plate, fortunatly where we want it the various frame points where we will mount it are all on more or less the same plane which will make it relatively simple to build.





Next it was up to the roof to start thinking about what we would do for a roof rack.







We don't really care about having the sun roof be able to open by lifting at the rear but we don't want to risk it getting broken by someone turning the dial the wrong way and accidentally opening it up.

​​​​​​​

cameron110

I had a nice big post that I wrote up last night and clicked submit, it said will be approved by mods before posting and ti seems to have just disappeared. I'll take another crack at it.

One think we know we need is more protection for the front end, especially that oil filter housing that hangs right down in harms way. Fortunately the contact points are all on the the same plane which will make fab eaiser





We also took a bunch of measurements to start working out a plan for a roof rack. We want it as low to the roof as possible while still allowing full function of the sunroof.







We picked up a couple used BFG KO2s in the biggest size we thought we could fit based on our measurements after some trimming. Lens compression wacks this out a bit to make them look like they will rub but they don't

Special Terrain mode




Loading level




We test fit it in the rear carrier and as we expected it fit but not all the way bottoming out.



We'll build a spacer there so it can mount securely in that position

An unexpected finding was that someone somewhere along the line trashed the threads in the mounting plate inserts.

a few minutes with a thread restoring tap had them back in decent shape and we'll be able to flip the plate to catch un-molested threads for the first cm or so as well

Petza914

Those tires are GIGANTIC! Can't see how they won't rub when turned anywhere close to full lock, maybe even half lock and then hit a mid-corner bump, but I'm assuming you tested all of this more than just with the wheels straight and no suspension load or articulation. If so, that's amazing.

nodoors

Forget the winch. A quality come along and some tow straps and cable is all you will need - especially with 4 guys at the ready!

This looks like a heck of a lot of fun. I can't wait to see how it goes! Please keep posting more.

Libast

okay the pics of the tires were throwing me off until i noticed they weren't mounted on the wheels yet

cameron110

Yup I tried to warn about the camera distortion but I guess pointing out that they were unmounted in those pics would have made it more clear.

Mounted.



This one is dropped to loading level


They are tight but not crazy tight, They do not rub at all even at full lock and full suspension compression 275/65 r 18 BFG KO2 10 ply light truck. Without the trimming we did to the fender liner they would have rubbed at full lock. As it is based on our measurements we could have gone up a bit more in both diameter and width.



But there would have been no way we could have crammed something bigger in the rear carrier. Really, 32"s are plenty for what we are doing and got us another inch and a half of ground clearance over the stock 255/55 r 18s at 29" diameter, which is the big win. And they look awesome...

Those tire mounted photos are jumping ahead in the story a bit but I figured I owed you guys one for missing adding a post yesterday.