When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have a 2016 Diesel that was delivered without factory roof rails. I have purchased a set of decorative look-alike roof rails from Bragan (http://www.bragan.net) and plan to mount them soon. Yes, I know that it is an adhesive mount and for decorative purposes only. I simply prefer the look of the Cayenne WITH roof rails.
My question is this..... Can someone with factory roof rails that have been installed, provide some measurements for placement of the rail on the roof? As an example:
Offset measurement from upper edge of front windshield to roof rail?
Offset from edge of moonroof to the roof rail?
Offset from rear roof edge to roof rail (at the rear of the vehicle)?
Having these values, or best of all worlds a photo with measurements would be great. Thanks in advance to any who are willing to offer this information up.
Thanks for the reference for the Touareg bars -- I can't find that kit that was listed on any on ebay but shouldn't be too hard to track down. I've installed Yakima roof rail kits on campers before & if you use the aforementioned 3M marine sealant it will never, ever leak. As soon as it warms up I'm going to do this on my CD, and I'll try and document the process in detail. Very happy that it is both doable & pretty much plug-n-play with the correct Cayenne/Touareg brackets. For <$500 and an afternoon of work, this is a much better solution than the Thule/Yakima clamp type systems.
I've done this on both Pano and regular sunroof Cayennes, and just a couple things to clarify/correct some of the information above:
Touareg roof rail bars are NOT exactly the same. The mount points are the same, but there are two differences, for those that care: the Touareg bars are longer - they reach further backward than Cayenne ones. And for the silver rails, they have a black plastic section while Cayenne ones are silver colored plastic.
In the pictures above, the "shoulder washers" info is not correct: it looks like those "shoulder washers" that Bob used are in the wrong location, which is why he used a nylon spacer. There is specific hardware used with the brackets, and those "shoulder washers" as shown above are part of the process, but they are not the ones that go through the roof. They are actually below the washer that goes through the roof: there are supposed to be two washers above the bracket; the pictures above appear to be showing just one "shoulder washer" aiming up through the roof, but that is supposed to aim down, through the bracket, with the proper spacer washer above it. If you buy the brackets new from Porsche or VW (same parts, but the Porsche are double the price), they will include the hardware, and the hardware is preset in the correct configuration by plastic holding pieces. Using the correct hardware, the rail's sealing gasket won't get over crushed when installed.
Garrett, great info. TY for the clarification. One thing that hasn't been clarified in any thread: is the frame construction on Pano roofs the same as other Cayennes, meaning can they be added with just the P/A/VW brackets + some drilling? Looking at the spacing with the head liner removed it appears that this would all be the same. (and from a manf standpoint it wouldn't make sense for it not to be). Just some clarification would be appreciated as there is a TON of disinformation out there. TY
Garrett, great info. TY for the clarification. One thing that hasn't been clarified in any thread: is the frame construction on Pano roofs the same as other Cayennes, meaning can they be added with just the P/A/VW brackets + some drilling? Looking at the spacing with the head liner removed it appears that this would all be the same. (and from a manf standpoint it wouldn't make sense for it not to be). Just some clarification would be appreciated as there is a TON of disinformation out there. TY
It's actually easier to know where to drill on a Pano roof Cayenne, because the drill points are designated due to having a double-layer roof on the pano cars in the rack mount area. But yes, the process is essentially the same for a pano roof Cayenne: just a few more roof opening clips to pop, but those come off super easy; uses the same parts, same tools.
TY!. Someone could have a nice side-hustle with ready-made kits with all the bolts & good instructions as to how to mount. Might do that myself as did it with P38s for a while. It seems like 95% of gen 2 Cayennes went w/o racks......TY Porsche for opening a nice biz opportunity as SUVs definitely need RRs.
I've done this on both Pano and regular sunroof Cayennes, and just a couple things to clarify/correct some of the information above:
Touareg roof rail bars are NOT exactly the same. The mount points are the same, but there are two differences, for those that care: the Touareg bars are longer - they reach further backward than Cayenne ones. And for the silver rails, they have a black plastic section while Cayenne ones are silver colored plastic.
.
Thanks for the info, is the first difference (reaching further back) only aesthetic or does it have any negative effects?
is ebay the best place to source the rails and hardware?
Thanks for the info, is the first difference (reaching further back) only aesthetic or does it have any negative effects?
is ebay the best place to source the rails and hardware?
No negative effects - just esthetic. The Touareg bars are 3.5" longer in the rear; 1 inch longer in the front.
Porsche no longer sells them, so you can't get them new, but eBay has tons of used ones available: ones from Cayennes, and ones from Touaregs.
Brackets are available from any Porsche or VW dealer:
FL: Front Retainer - Porsche (958-559-197-01)
FR: Front Retainer - Porsche (958-559-198-01)
Lt: Rear Retainer - Porsche (958-559-201-00)
Rt: Rear Retainer - Porsche (958-559-202-00)
I bought a used 2014 CD that was bare(no roof rails). I knew i wanted a roof rack because I like the look and want somewhere to put skis, traction boards, and a full size AT wheel/tire.
Yes, under the headliner there are bolts to mount/position the factory roof rail mounting brackets which come with mounting hardware (shoulder washers, bracket nuts,…). I got mine from Eurowise as that was the vendor I selected for the rack.
Once i got started the install was easy but removing the headliner was quite fiddly. I spread it out across two days but if I had been focused on one task it could have been just a day.
I had never drilled holes in the roof of a car before so the first hole was a little unnerving. Based upon the supplied parts and how well they fit I am no more worried about leaks than I would be buying a car with factory installed roof rails. The holes needed are 16 mm in diameter. Finding a 16 mm drill bit was problematic so I just used a big step drill.
I like the finished look.
Next projects are a 2 inch lift kit
bigger 18” AT tires (reco for max tire size slight trimming?)
Baja Tubular bumber with bullbar and winch(winch reco?)
...I installed a pop up sunroof in an old Volvo wagon years ago. Yes, that first penetration through the sheet metal is a bit nerve wracking. But, hey, it was an old Volvo wagon.
It works pretty well. You have to hole punch the roof, but it looks like they seal well.
Um, rivnuts?
Installing rivnuts into sheetmetal will provide moderate (at best) retention. A good twisting force and that sheet metal could rip open.
Also, a rivnut is not designed to seal against the elements. It's aluminum or stainless steel stuck through a hole, with no gasketing. And you've got a great source of corrosion at each of the penetrations.
I trust the replacement rivnuts I installed on my Seven to hold a 20 oz water bottle. I would not trust a rivnut setup to hold anything significant to the roof of a vehicle at speed.
02-25-2023, 10:24 AM
