[casioqv]

This is a build thread for converting my "post fix" '09 3.0 V6 TDI Touareg into an offroad expedition camper for my family to explore remote areas outdoors together. We're not interested in technical offroading or breaking stuff, but want to get safely and reliably away from the crowds, into remote desert and forest. Reliability and safety trumps capability for my purposes, as I am bringing my young toddler son, dog, and girlfriend and want them to have a fun experience. We've had this Touareg for over 3 years, and have done dozens of long offroad trips with it already.

Here is what I have done already (kept up to date w/ edits):

• iKamper skycamp roof tent: I just upgraded from the 2X (2 person) model to the 4 person model w/ wind deflector
• BFG A/T KO2 LT245/70R17 on 17" Canyon wheels with full sized matching spare
• Factory roof crossbars
• T1 underseat drawer, filled with emergency repair parts: epoxy, bailing wire, coolant sealing tape, etc.
• Comprehensive maintenance: all fluids changed with OEM fluids, all major wear items replaced with new
• Recovery gear including Smittybilt recovery ramps, hi-lift jack that lifts from the wheels w/ extra base, folding shovel, lots of shackles, straps, and ropes, come-a-long, and a small electric chainsaw that charges from onboard inverter
• Eurowise 2.5" lift kit with 1/2" subframe drop for 5 degree axle angles
• Bilstein B6 shocks all around, with stock metal springs
• Eurowise winch plate (hidden inside bumper)
• Harbor Freight BADLAND APEX 12000 lb winch with synthetic rope, and wireless remote control
• Upgrade 1.0 skycamp roof tent to 3.0 skycamp tent with kit from iKamper

Here is what I currently have planned (feedback very welcome):

• Some type of undercarriage protection- considering making just a DIY flat steel plate vs buying a Eurowise system
• A slide out kitchen drawer for the tailgate area
• Modest engine and transmission tune that leaves all emissions equipment intact and functional - I would especially like to recover the hill descent control features, and long adblue range it had when it was new
• Sand anchor(s) or deadman for winching out of soft sand
• Some type of wind deflector for the roof tent (it's loud on the freeway)
• Spare tire carrier on 2" receiver

(photo from my Mojave trip thread)

 

[casioqv]

Any other mods that would be highly suggested? I noticed Eurowise now sells a lot of different suspension reinforcement/strengthening parts, but I am not sure if I need any of that for relatively mild offroading, with tires only slightly bigger than stock.

Also, is the 0.5" subframe drop enough to prevent premature axle failure, or would it be worth doing a full 1" subframe drop to keep the axles totally level? I am heavily leaning towards the 0.5" subframe drop kit because I have already purchased it, and it seems to give about 3/4" of real world ground clearance over the 1" kit. Looking at Toyota forums, it seems like there is a rule of thumb that 15 degree or less axle angles still wear about the same as stock, and the 0.5" kit gives angles only 1/3rd of that (5 degrees), but Toyota and VW axles are possibly quite different.

 

[MidnightTouaregV8]

If you are looking to build an overlander rig, keep the suspension geometry as is.
I suggest checking Porsche Cayenne "Otis".
Yes, who doesn't want their Egg to look aggressive sitting on stilts and rocking some 35s, but it is so unrealistic.
Consider other things like a roof tent and ancillary equipment depending on your needs while trekking.
Some Like B6 and some don't. B4 is more like OE feel.

I'd keep it simple. Simplicity is the key to trouble-free adventure.

Cheers...

 

[casioqv]

Thanks Midnight for your thoughts! I looked up Otis, and found lots of interesting ideas and info, including an article in the Porsche Club of America magazine I was able to access as a PCA member. It reminds me of the book "Road Fever" about endurance rally driver Garry Sowerby's panamerican highway record, where he insists that you should never modify a car used in extreme conditions, because the modifications are what lead to failures. I appreciate the philosophy of at least minimizing mods, but I haven't found a totally stock vehicle that does what I need.

The main issue is my Touareg is a steel suspension model, and needs slightly more clearance to avoid damage where I am taking it. I have had ground clearance issues a few times so far- the Mojave trip I did last year had some hairy sections that would have been much safer with a little more clearance. Otis is an air suspension model. I looked for years before buying mine, and finding an air suspension model with a diesel V6, and low range proved impossible... my only real option would be to buy a complete V10 Touareg and swap the entire suspension over, which I don't have time for.

My plan isn't to put it on "stilts with 35s" but to do a small lift, along with my 30.5" KO2 tires that are only slightly taller than stock (29"). The effective radius off-road is about stock, since I also air them way down. I suppose I should get the 1" subframe spacers, which will reduce the lift from 2.5" to 2", and maintain factory suspension geometry. But is that enough difference to really matter, on a vehicle with suspension geometry and axles already engineered for variable height air suspension?

I have had B6s on other cars and liked the feel, but for on-road rather than off-road use.

 

[casioqv]

I did a major upgrade on the RTT yesterday, upgrading the iKamper 1.0 to a 3.0 model by replacing all of the canvas, as well as a bunch of other parts. iKamper customer support has been awesome, and the tent is super upgradable and modular. The upgrades make the tent easier to close, better ventilated in the rain, and also have a quick drawstring curtain on the windows, better blackout capabilities, and interior storage pockets. I can't wait to try this new tent as I haven't slept in the RTT since I had the old 2 person model.

I also spoke w/ Eurowise about swapping my 0.5" subframe drop for a 1" subframe drop. They are willing to let me do this, but I am not sure if it's worth it. Eurowise says they have not seen any axle or other reliability issues in vehicles with the 0.5" drop. Hopefully someone on here will chime in, but I'm leaning towards keeping the 0.5" drop for more usable ground clearance.

 

[casioqv]

I towed my small sailboat almost 2,000 miles this last weekend to a sailboat race, including a little bit of off-road towing to camp in the Mojave along the way. Yes, a Touareg can pull a trailer through sand with street tires. At one point I noticed the trailer had sunk to the axle and the wheels were no longer turning, but the Touareg effortlessly kept it moving.

It's really relaxing and enjoyable to tow long distance with this vehicle... no overheating, and incredible passing power and uphill speeds.

 

[C-ya]

Nice! @casioqv , I keep threatening to get a trailer sailer/sailor. I think I would like it but I can't talk the wife into it. We have a 21 ft cabin cruiser at the moment, so if I ever sell it, it will promptly be replaced by a sailboat.

 

[JimJ]

Three modes of transport.

 

[casioqv]

The Eurowise 2.5" lift, 0.5" subframe drop, and Bilstein B6 struts are all installed now. I am pretty happy that the lift doesn't look crazy high, it still pretty much looks like a normal SUV. Hopefully the B6s aren't too stiff for offroading, but I noticed the on-road handling is drastically improved over OEM despite the lift. The KO2s on 17" rims give an extra 1" of height, but I only install them for offroad trips. Now I'm hoping to finish the winch install before my Death Valley trip in April.

 

[Touaregman33]

looks great now restore those headlights!

 

[casioqv]

I got a chance to do a long winding coastal highway drive today, and am blown away by how good this thing handles now. I was concerned that the 2.5" lift would really damage the road-going abilities of this vehicle, but it didn't at all. Whatever small harm to handling dynamics was caused by the lift, is 10x compensated for by going from old OEM shocks to the B6s. I'm almost embarassed to say that this lifted truck handles better than any of the 80s european sport sedans I've owned.

 

[casioqv]

I installed the winch today on a Eurowise winch plate. It was a lot harder than I expected... it took me hours to get off and reinstall the radiator clips on the crash bar, because my hands are so big and access so tight. My hands are really torn up. I imagine this would be easy on a non-turbo car, but on mine all of the intercooler parts were in the way. I need to get used to the reality of modern cars, where 90% of the labor is removing and reinstalling unrelated parts for access.

It's not every day one gets to take a dremel to a nice German luxury car and "make room" for a large item like this.

I am really happy with how it turned out... the winch is nearly unnoticeable with just a small fairlead tucked just below the license plate. I like how this car has turned into a sort of sleeper where I can remove the roof tent, reinstall street tires, and it looks and drives basically like a stock car. You'd have to really know Touaregs and look closely to notice the lift or winch.

I'm taking my family to Death Valley for spring break, where we will spend a week exploring offroad in the Touareg.

 

[seafarer28]

Looks veery impressive, well done.

Got a few questions....was there/did you follow any instruction to make the job easier or just "wing" your way through it?

Particulary interested if there was any welding involved in fitting the EW plate as there are some that believe you should not weld that front crash bar as it compromised the integrity of it, personally I'm a fence sitter as I believe anything you do to that bar, weld or drill and bolt would have an effect on it's design integrity.
I do know one of my Aussie friends and forum member "hedditch" did manage to fit a winch without either welding or bolting through that crash bar, there is a tread he put up on his installation, (probably 6-7 years ago).
Can you give some more details on the parts that were actually required to get to the finished item and how did you decide to go with the winch wiring set up?
Thanks, and pictures on project always welcomed....

TonyB

 

[casioqv]

Looks veery impressive, well done.

Thank you!

Got a few questions....was there/did you follow any instruction to make the job easier or just "wing" your way through it?

There is an installation guide here: link

However, there was a lot not covered in the guide, mostly because it was for a T1, and the front end of a T2 is very different. Off the top of my head, some extra things I had to do:

• A lot more cutting of plastic trim and supports to get it to fit than was discussed in the guide. I used a large number of dremel steel and plastic cutoff wheels for this job. Power tools that can cut steel or plastic are essential for this job
• I had to notch the fairlead mount to get it as far back as possible without hitting the winch, and clearance to the bumper was tight- this is a heavy steel plate that needs 4 cuts about an inch long
• I had to cut a new hole in the winch control box to get the positive cable exiting in a different spot, and the regular spot was blocked by a cooler directly behind the winch
• Removing the bumper on the T2 was VERY different from the T1 instructions I found in a lot of places. Importantly, the grill is integral and does not come off
• The Eurowise instructions said to cut off the steel cross bar in the center, where the vehicles exterior temp sensor mounts, which I did. I later realized, I could have cut it lower, and kept a mount hole for the temp sensor! I ended up using a glue-on cable loom holder to make a new mount for the temp sensor.

Particulary interested if there was any welding involved in fitting the EW plate as there are some that believe you should not weld that front crash bar as it compromised the integrity of it, personally I'm a fence sitter as I believe anything you do to that bar, weld or drill and bolt would have an effect on it's design integrity.

The plate just bolts in as a complete replacement for the factory crash bar, no welding. The replacement is much stronger and heavier than the factory crash bar, and still has mounts for the factory tow hooks (if you pay extra to order it with these). I am skeptical that welding a plate to the factory bar would be sufficient to handle the forces of a 12,000lb winch, as it is made from just sheet metal, not heavy steel plate like a winch bumper.

Even with my setup, I am skeptical that the factory tow hook type screws are a safe recovery point. I saw the "stress test" someone did on the forums showing how strong they are, but as a poster on Expedition Portal pointed out, the design will still be weak for an off-axis pull from the side, which is common in offroad recovery.

Can you give some more details on the parts that were actually required to get to the finished item and how did you decide to go with the winch wiring set up?

Everything else I needed came with the Harbor Freight Badlands winch, which seems much much higher quality than you might expect for a Harbor Freight product... it feels like a very expensive item, and the reviews online show it holds up to frequent heavy offroad use, deep water, etc.

In my case, I ran the wiring through the air intake hole on the left side of the car, as the V6 TDI only has one air intake. If you have dual air intakes, you can see an alternate routing path in the eurowise photos. In reality, there are a lot of possible paths that would work. I ran both the + and - cables to the jump start terminals in the engine bay. The winch came with a disconnect switch, which I zip tied to the negative cable, but will build a proper bracket for eventually.

One thing to keep in mind- it is impossible to access the winch at all on a T2 without totally removing the bumper, as the grill doesn't come out of the bumper. This winch has a wireless remote, if you didn't, you would need to run a remote line that was permanently stored in place, and figure out how to make it waterproof. I also cannot access the winch clutch anymore- I will need to spool it out electrically, which I think is fine, just takes a few seconds longer. If, in an emergency, I needed to access the winch clutch or physically plug a remote in instead of using wireless, I could remove the entire front bumper cover, or break the grill open by hand and access it, and replace the grill later. This isn't ideal, but is the reality of installing a winch inside of a bumper. At least, the synthetic rope is well protected from UV.

 

[meanyhead]

Awesome build I will be following. When it comes to underbody protection watch Darkside Developments' Youtube video of their V10 Touareg getting protection. It's just one giant plate covering the entire underside of the car. That's what I want to do. $3500 for all of Eurowise plates seems ridiculous especially since it only protects individual components, when you know you can spend way less than that getting a big quarter inch steel plate bolted up.

 

[casioqv]

It's just one giant plate covering the entire underside of the car.

Thanks. That does sound like an excellent idea for a dedicated offroader, and I will consider it, but I am also trying to balance keeping the weight down, and being able to maintain and inspect the vehicle easily. I am pushing the GVWR already with 3 people, a dog, roof tent, recovery gear, and a weeks supply of extra of fuel, water, and food.

I also want to be realistic- I consider myself an overlander and not an offroader, and am most often bringing my 5 year old son along with me to explore the outdoors, not to challenge the vehicle. I do hit rocks, but very infrequently, and try to limit myself to places where it won't happen. My current thinking is to actually just copy the shape of the plastic factory engine and transmission covers in steel or even aluminum plate, and mount using the same factory mount points, ideally with beveled/recessed socket cap screws.

I also think an access door to drain the oil would be nice, and think VW should have included it even in the plastic pans. On my MKIV Golf TDI I had the Diesel Geek panzer plate, and it was an incredible design. It has a snap in plate to access the oil drain, and was strong enough that I did in fact offroad a lot the MKIV with zero damage.

I also feel like some sort of fuel tank protection might be in order, but mostly just for flying rocks or sharp edges and abrasion, not high centering. So possibly just an extra layer of plastic or aluminum attached to the bottom of the tanks, and not a fully boxed structure.

 

[Tiliqua]

Yes to the overlander tag. Another yes to the oil drain access flap / door. Protection does get difficult without a lot of extra weight, lightweight alu isn't much use, in fact the poly sheilds are quite good. I would ideally like to have 5mm plus poly for impact protection with light weight. For an overland purpose, that should give more than adequate protection from impact damage. The stock mounts are quite flimsy though and could use some redesign.

 

[casioqv]

I would ideally like to have 5mm plus poly for impact protection with light weight.

Fascinating idea! I did some googling and found that this seems to be a common approach on jeeps- an aluminum skid plate with replaceable UHMWPE panels: JLU Belly Skid Replacement UHMW Kit (UHMW Only)

 

[Tiliqua]

It's been a innovation on some of our off road camp trailers for a while. Instead of steel water tanks with extra guards and the like, they have been using food grade Poly. Stones and the like just bounce off and damage and weight are both substantially reduced. I can see it being a viable option for an overland quality undertray.
I have a car lift but not rated for the Touareg weight. When I needed to get under for repairs I bought a pair of 2 ton poly ramps. Fantastic, proof of concept so to say.

 

[meanyhead]

Thanks. That does sound like an excellent idea for a dedicated offroader, and I will consider it, but I am also trying to balance keeping the weight down, and being able to maintain and inspect the vehicle easily. I am pushing the GVWR already with 3 people, a dog, roof tent, recovery gear, and a weeks supply of extra of fuel, water, and food.

I also want to be realistic- I consider myself an overlander and not an offroader, and am most often bringing my 5 year old son along with me to explore the outdoors, not to challenge the vehicle. I do hit rocks, but very infrequently, and try to limit myself to places where it won't happen. My current thinking is to actually just copy the shape of the plastic factory engine and transmission covers in steel or even aluminum plate, and mount using the same factory mount points, ideally with beveled/recessed socket cap screws.

I also think an access door to drain the oil would be nice, and think VW should have included it even in the plastic pans. On my MKIV Golf TDI I had the Diesel Geek panzer plate, and it was an incredible design. It has a snap in plate to access the oil drain, and was strong enough that I did in fact offroad a lot the MKIV with zero damage.

I also feel like some sort of fuel tank protection might be in order, but mostly just for flying rocks or sharp edges and abrasion, not high centering. So possibly just an extra layer of plastic or aluminum attached to the bottom of the tanks, and not a fully boxed structure.

i have beat mine to hell with no protection under, everything smacks the subframe or sway bar, rarely a control arm. oil pan and vital stuff is tucked pretty well up there. if you aren't trying to get stuck rock crawling or push the absolute limits in a mud hole i don't see why you would have to get too complicated with it. anything offroad usually has an easy route. i've seen honda civics go up silverado peak in socal.