Cayenne for the 2019 Baja XL Rally
01-09-2019, 01:01 AM
#31
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Unmounted - missed that part. Still huge, but much better. 👍
01-09-2019, 01:17 AM
#33
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Ok time to get back on schedule with the build story. In that first bit of work I chronicled one of the team members drove up to me here in Sacramento from LA. A couple weeks later I headed South to his place in LA and three of the 4 of us got together for a a 3 day weekend to do the next round of work.
The nighttime bomb down the 5 after work went pretty well, I took the opportunity to do a bit of an experiment with fuel grades so we would know what to expect when we have limited options in Mexico. Dropping to 89 octane for a tank looses about 1 mpg at 75 to 80 mph, less at 55 to 60. Dropping to 87 lost close to 3 mpg at 75 to 80 and about 1.5 at 55-60. Neither resulted in a perceptible loss of power or any performance issues but questionable fuel availablity is one of the reasons we never seriously considered a Turbo Cayenne.
We got to work on the list; we changed the oil and filter,
New Bosch Icon wipers were snapped in and we started in on wiring for the various things we want/need to power. The sharp eyed among you will notice a new 8g ground lead that is run behind the carpet up the transmission tunnel from the batter to behind the ashtray and hvac controls. We also ran 40 amp and 30 amp independently fused circuits to the same location.
In the photo above you can also see a blue wire that was the first of several that run through a factory loom grommet in the fire wall behind the kessy and above the throttle pedal. This isn't a great shot but they come out here.
Next we tore what felt like half the truck apart to swap the rear hatch struts which took a solid couple hours but had to be done if 4 guys are gonna live out of it for 10 days.
Most importantly we addressed the one significant mechanical issue we found with the truck. The rearmost bushings in the front lower control arms were failing. There was a definite clunk if you jumped on the brakes quickly. We could have done just those two bushings for $40 each and a huge amount of hassle and time. We decided that for the $160 or so each for new Delphi control arms pre-loaded with all the bushings our time was better spent on other things. Whats more the other bushings can't have been great if the rear ones had failed as much as they had.
The fender trimming made a very convenient head hole for swapping the control arms:
Somethings missing here:
The swap went super smoothly, we had both done in under an hour and a half. Much less time and way less frustration than the rear hatch struts.
We then started setting up the auto cross alignment rig only to discover the camber gauge my teammate had contacted the spokes of the rim in the middle before the three contact pins touched the edge of the rim. We didn't get far into trying to devise a work around when we decided our time was better spent on other things and this was a good problem to solve with money. Off we went to a (to remain unnamed) national chain shop for a 4 wheel alignment. The best part is the alignment guarantee, we can bash it out of alignment with testing and get it dialed back in before the race for free. Even better we'll surely knock it six ways from Sunday during the race and we can get it done again after, although we'll probably need to wash it first.
We also discovered why the bushings had failed...
Anyone care to take a guess?
The nighttime bomb down the 5 after work went pretty well, I took the opportunity to do a bit of an experiment with fuel grades so we would know what to expect when we have limited options in Mexico. Dropping to 89 octane for a tank looses about 1 mpg at 75 to 80 mph, less at 55 to 60. Dropping to 87 lost close to 3 mpg at 75 to 80 and about 1.5 at 55-60. Neither resulted in a perceptible loss of power or any performance issues but questionable fuel availablity is one of the reasons we never seriously considered a Turbo Cayenne.
We got to work on the list; we changed the oil and filter,
New Bosch Icon wipers were snapped in and we started in on wiring for the various things we want/need to power. The sharp eyed among you will notice a new 8g ground lead that is run behind the carpet up the transmission tunnel from the batter to behind the ashtray and hvac controls. We also ran 40 amp and 30 amp independently fused circuits to the same location.
In the photo above you can also see a blue wire that was the first of several that run through a factory loom grommet in the fire wall behind the kessy and above the throttle pedal. This isn't a great shot but they come out here.
Next we tore what felt like half the truck apart to swap the rear hatch struts which took a solid couple hours but had to be done if 4 guys are gonna live out of it for 10 days.
Most importantly we addressed the one significant mechanical issue we found with the truck. The rearmost bushings in the front lower control arms were failing. There was a definite clunk if you jumped on the brakes quickly. We could have done just those two bushings for $40 each and a huge amount of hassle and time. We decided that for the $160 or so each for new Delphi control arms pre-loaded with all the bushings our time was better spent on other things. Whats more the other bushings can't have been great if the rear ones had failed as much as they had.
The fender trimming made a very convenient head hole for swapping the control arms:
Somethings missing here:
The swap went super smoothly, we had both done in under an hour and a half. Much less time and way less frustration than the rear hatch struts.
We then started setting up the auto cross alignment rig only to discover the camber gauge my teammate had contacted the spokes of the rim in the middle before the three contact pins touched the edge of the rim. We didn't get far into trying to devise a work around when we decided our time was better spent on other things and this was a good problem to solve with money. Off we went to a (to remain unnamed) national chain shop for a 4 wheel alignment. The best part is the alignment guarantee, we can bash it out of alignment with testing and get it dialed back in before the race for free. Even better we'll surely knock it six ways from Sunday during the race and we can get it done again after, although we'll probably need to wash it first.
We also discovered why the bushings had failed...
Anyone care to take a guess?
Last edited by cameron110; 01-10-2019 at 12:52 AM. Reason: fixing a duplicate photo
01-09-2019, 12:45 PM
#34
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Cheers,
Tom
Last edited by TomF; 01-09-2019 at 01:49 PM.
01-10-2019, 12:16 AM
#35
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I'm pretty surprised no one jumped on the low hanging fruit of the country of origin of the failed part. There has to be some decent joke about suspension parts off a Deux Chevaux. Maybe something about at least I could build a motorcycle out of it to drive out of the sahara...
01-10-2019, 12:48 PM
#38
subbed! Looking good so far! Those big KO meats stuffed under there are impressive!
01-10-2019, 09:00 PM
#39
Reason I asked about the glass struts is I changed my hatch ones on their own only to have the hatch start to drop again within 12 months - the glass is heavy and the two sets act in concert to hold the full weight up. It'll be ok for a while, but if it starts to go early again, the main ones should be still functional if you change the glass ones.
01-10-2019, 09:25 PM
#40
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Reason I asked about the glass struts is I changed my hatch ones on their own only to have the hatch start to drop again within 12 months - the glass is heavy and the two sets act in concert to hold the full weight up. It'll be ok for a while, but if it starts to go early again, the main ones should be still functional if you change the glass ones.
01-11-2019, 01:34 AM
#41
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Once we had the mechanical tick list knocked out we set about increasing our cargo capacity.
That should be more than enough space to hold some of the relatively light things like tents and sleeping pads along with a 2nd full size spare.
The following pic should be fairly self explanatory so now it's time to cue up the 80's action tv show music montage
Once it was all tacked together it came back off and got finish welded but I failed to grab any pictures of that.
That should be more than enough space to hold some of the relatively light things like tents and sleeping pads along with a 2nd full size spare.
The following pic should be fairly self explanatory so now it's time to cue up the 80's action tv show music montage
Once it was all tacked together it came back off and got finish welded but I failed to grab any pictures of that.
01-11-2019, 06:08 AM
#42
Only just seen this thread (dont come on here as often as I should!! I can add a couple of comments
1. Airbags, disconnect the control box, which is under the centre console, by the gear lever, its 2 screws and 5mins tops. I do it everytime I go into the dunes. It works 100%, and is easy to put back for when you are on the road.
2. skid plates, the challenge is finding something to to mount the top of the front skid plate to, we had to get a bar fabricated to mount to. I did custom plates front and back and over the petrol tank. There are pics on the facebook page. www.facebook.com/cayenneGTSoffroad.
3. Wheels, I think you've got this covered, but make sure the car can roll when the air si fully out, otherwise if an air spring fails, you cant roll the car out.
We've done a few long overland trips in ours, upto about 600km offroad and through some pretty remote areas, although not at the same pace as you will. The cars are really good, knowing when to keep the traction/stability control on or off is key. Its great on rock / gravel to cover slow tricky areas, but you want it off on Sand and you want it off at speed on gravel tracks.
The build looks great - will follow this thread
1. Airbags, disconnect the control box, which is under the centre console, by the gear lever, its 2 screws and 5mins tops. I do it everytime I go into the dunes. It works 100%, and is easy to put back for when you are on the road.
2. skid plates, the challenge is finding something to to mount the top of the front skid plate to, we had to get a bar fabricated to mount to. I did custom plates front and back and over the petrol tank. There are pics on the facebook page. www.facebook.com/cayenneGTSoffroad.
3. Wheels, I think you've got this covered, but make sure the car can roll when the air si fully out, otherwise if an air spring fails, you cant roll the car out.
We've done a few long overland trips in ours, upto about 600km offroad and through some pretty remote areas, although not at the same pace as you will. The cars are really good, knowing when to keep the traction/stability control on or off is key. Its great on rock / gravel to cover slow tricky areas, but you want it off on Sand and you want it off at speed on gravel tracks.
The build looks great - will follow this thread
01-12-2019, 12:13 AM
#44
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Once the rack was up we had a place to mount the first of several lighting upgrades planned for the truck.
And here it is in the wild on the way back to Sacramento from LA. This is before the bigger BFG KO2s were mounted
And here it is in the wild on the way back to Sacramento from LA. This is before the bigger BFG KO2s were mounted
01-12-2019, 02:11 PM
#45
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Great thread! What light bar are you using? There are some really great ones out there and cheap ones that last months. I'm looking for the former!
Cheers,
Tom
Cheers,
Tom