AntonLargiader

We used T-bolts in the track to mount our rack. Assuming you don't want to clamp the Rotopax against the painted roof, you'd probably want to make a small rack across the roof (spanning both tracks) for the items you list. Attaching to just one roof track seems like a good way to damage the roof.

cameron110

As Anton showed in the photo above, we just cut some two to three inch long pieces of flat steel bar 1" by 3/16" I think (it might have been 1/4', I'll check if anyone wants to know exactly what we used) and drilled and tapped for a pair of M5 bolts at each of the 6 rack legs and slid them into the factory rails. It held up to some serious abuse in Baja and assuming you already own a drill and a hack saw you could do the same for super cheap. Steel stock from the big box home store and a $5 tap and the requisite size drill bit for a couple bucks.

NOTE: that photo just shows the tiny tack weld on the rack feet we fabricated, it got a full weld. Those tiny tacks would not hold up to any abuse.

Dave Waldo

1. What did you break and
2. what would you replace before you went again and
3. what spares would you carry next time

Just looking for a weakest parts list for more serious off road.

cameron110

concisely: 1: surprisingly little broke but we wore out a lot of things. 2. Some suspension and frame bushings, anything worn plus everything in the front lower A arms. 3. Airbags but not full shocks, heater hose and zip ties for the jimmie fix on the driveshaft bearing.

The only thing that failed catastrophically was one of the air bag collars cracked and the airbag blew. This was not a failure with a clear causative event but rather a fatigue failure that happened suddenly on a small any typical dirt road bump The truck was still driveable but riding on the bump stops. We drove a short distance and then replaced the entire shock and airbag assembly at the roadside. We carried 4 full shock assemblies (each corner is unique). I have since learned how to disassemble the shocks so that you could carry just the airbag and aluminum collar which would pack much smaller and is a small percent of the weight of the complete assembly.

We blew all the shocks to some degree, still totally drive-able but noticeably worse than before the start. I'm hoping to have a creative and bolt on solution for this that retains the adjustable ride height soon.

We wore out a number of suspension bushings. The front lower shock mount bushings took the worst of it were almost metal on metal by the end of the event. They have since been replaced with solid bearings. I would do these prior if you plan to run lots of wash boarded dirt roads or just do it once the first set wears out.

The most surprising wear item was the upper motor mount, the small dog bone shaped brace on the right top of the motor. the bushings in this failed completely. We did not figure out until driving with a replacement it that this impacted the shifting, causing the shift to be subtly laggy. Our experience with that was what inspired Greg at PRG products to develop the replacement he now sells. He has developed a number of upgraded parts for the 955s based on what we found worn and damaged on our truck after the event.

The front skid plate took a massive beating and is definitely a must do for the V8 with the oil filter dangling down and in front there in harms way. I made ours by hand and it is a simple design that bolt on to factory mount points, it took me about 4 hours to make. I think there are also a few companies who are in the process of developing some skid plates for these trucks for commercial sale.

I'll try to get some pictures up to go along with the above info this weekend.

Thanks for reviving this thread, it reminded me that I gotten pulled into other things and not had finished the write-up.

Dave Waldo

Thanks for all the info. It would be great to read more on your issues and solutions. We get 100's of miles of corrugations here.

Is the air bag swap over an intuitive thing, I worry about playing with them, especially if they might be under pressure.

I saw the engine mount T Bone on Greg's web site and thought it was a strange part to make, I know why now...... added to the list :-)

Looking forward to hear the solution for the adjustable suspension.

MarkGolf

This looks like great fun!!

We have a lot of off roading areas here in the UK, many people are in to what we call 'Green laning'. Your post has given me a push to find another Cayenne to build into a decent off roader to handle the green lane tracks!

Great work!!

jeremy@matrix

Thx for the info Cameron, keep pushing forward and making new tracks!

cameron110

Swapping the airbag suspension is not too daunting with the air pressure. In the manual there are instructions for how to lock the air suspension for putting it on a lift, do that first to keep the computer happy. However I can tell you if you forget the system if freak out initially with a bunch of warnings but let it idle until the compressor stops then drive a few hundred meters and they will self clear. To de-pressurize there is a brass airline fitting at the top of the shock where the colored airlines enter the shocks (10 mm IIRC) which you can simply loosen to bleed the pressure out (don't do this with the truck running you'll burn out your compressor). The system is not at hydraulic pressures its only a few hundred PSI under load and probably under 200 at rest, nothing scary.

If you want to prep to do it road/trailside figuring out what tools you'll need is critical so you can be sure you have what you need in the vehicle. Two 21 mm wrenches/sockets for the front as I recall was one oddity that you might not anticipate needing. Not sure if you are in the states or not but shock assemblies are cheap here from a junk yard, you can buy a rear on fleabay for ~75 and play and learn. If you want to swap (carry as spare) airbags rather than complete strut assemblies you'll need either an impact gun or a way to hold the shock shaft to crack the top nut. grabbing the shaft with shaft with vice grips hard enough to hold it would certainly damage the chrome finish so opting for that option would be a choice made knowing your would do further work once home.

cameron110

Definitely do it. If you are moderately handy with a spanner they are a surprisingly cheap (lots of the cost is paying someone else to do the work) and they are an astoundingly competent option.

AntonLargiader

2. I think the shocks (or at least some of them) were worn out before we started, which cost us some driving speed/flexibility later in the event. This may have contributed to the early demise of the left control arm.

With good shocks, you only need to carry spare air bags which are smaller and lighter than complete struts.

The control arms are heavy enough that I don't think it would be worth carrying complete ones. There is always a way - a hole in the wall shop - to swap bushings in an existing one. I'd carry spares of the bushings that failed.

Petrolhead_007

What an awesome story
Enjoyed reading both threads

Anyway, maybe I missed, but what kind of roof basket are you using?
Also, which led bar and yellow fog lights are those?