Project: Expedition Allroad

[elephant man]

Can't you "cheat" the suspension to think it's lower than it is, so it will raise the car?
There must be some kind of height sensor on each corner you can alter the length of it's tie rod.
Same as on Johnson rods for land rover Discovery 3

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[elephant man]

http://johnsonrods.com

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[daleh951]

That's what biturbo already has made similar to Johnson Rods. Problem is that if air suspension fails oversize tires will be resting on the wheel wells. leaving you stranded.

 

[ExDementia]

Can't you "cheat" the suspension to think it's lower than it is, so it will raise the car?
There must be some kind of height sensor on each corner you can alter the length of it's tie rod.
Same as on Johnson rods for land rover Discovery 3

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Like Dale said, that is what biturbo's IPP sensor arms do:

One issue with these, is at level one, it actually puts the suspension lower than stock, due to the geometry of the lever arms -- and of course like mentioned, in the case of air bag failure, we would be sitting on our tires.

I have those sensor arms on, and they're great though.

 

[ExDementia]

Cheap light bar time!

Got a few things in the mail yesterday. An Xpel headlight protection film kit, a 30" single row light bar, some bar clamp mounts, and some replacement OEM chrome trim pieces that I bought off a guy on Audizine. If you haven't noticed, I've been missing the chrome trim below my passenger side headlight and it's been bugging the **** out of me, so I finally was able to track down some replacement pieces.

The light bar mounts that came with it are just the worst:

I wanted to mount the bar so it was more streamline with the rack, but that's not really possible with these cheap, awful mounts, so I ordered some better brackets: http://www.roughcountry.com/universal-led-light-bar-mounting-clamps-7017c.html

With those I can mount the bar at a better angle than just having it hang straight down from the rack. Annoyingly, the light bar only came with maybe 2-ft of wiring, so I'll need to pick up some supplies to wire it up. I also need to find a decent place to mount a switch panel, as the interior of the Audi is way too nice to just cut some random holes and stick in some cheap switches. At some point I'll get getting some nice switches and a panel from these guys here: https://otrattw.net/home.php

They've got tons of different options and designs that look pretty damn slick, and I can get them with red LED backlighting to match the interior of the Audi:

 

[biturbo]

Love the light bar. I've been thinking of installing one in the center section of the lower bumper grille. With it up on the roof, where are you running the wiring through?

 

[ExDementia]

Love the light bar. I've been thinking of installing one in the center section of the lower bumper grille. With it up on the roof, where are you running the wiring through?

I was thinking of putting one in that grill initially, but decided on the rack. Haven't made a final decision on where to run the wiring, I was thinking of running it through the sunroof, but I'm worried about leaks. Really not sure how I'm going to wire it yet. I'm waiting to wire it up until this comes in: http://cutby.caschy.com/wp/?product=98-04-a6-99-05-allroad-usb-power-panel-version2-cup

Going to drill a few holes into that panel for my light switches, and then run them through a relay block that I'll be putting under the rain tray next to the battery on the firewall. If you've got any ideas on where a good spot would be to cleanly get the wiring into the cabin, I'm definitely open to some outside opinions. I might just end up running a ton of wire and go through the rear hatch, but I'd prefer not to.

Took the allroad out to Anza Borrego yesterday, hiked around the Wind Caves and had a pretty good time blasting through the washes in Fish Creek. Man, this thing really launches out of corners, even when sliding through soft sand. It just grips and goes. I was very impressed with how well the AWD handled everything, and I know from lots of experience with the previous gen BFG All-Terrains that they do very well in sand, the KO2s are no different.

I was with a group, so I didn't waste everyone's time by taking a ton of pictures, but here are a few:

​

 

[java]

There was a spare grommet in the firewall next to the ecu, kind of above the steering column, on my B5, I bet there is something on the AR too.

Have you tried the light bar up there yet? I hated roof lights, so much reflection off the hood, which may be even more pronounced with the scatter nature of cheap light bars.

 

[iluvdrt]

Hey ExDementia, I noticed you're in SD, as am I. I do a lot of exploring/off roading and camping with lifted Subaru groups. Especially in the winter we love to go to Fish creek canyon (In your pics above) as well as various other places. Feel free to hit me up sometime. Would love to go out one time with the Audi. Ive always thought those wagons were cool.

 

[limeylight]

Subscribed. Love this build. Just picked up a 2001 manual to replace my 2001 auto that's got to be about to blow up any day. Contemplating following your lead somewhat.

Old car:




New car:

 

[limeylight]

Starting to plan my project out and was wondering what crossbars you used to mount the rack to.

 

[DIRTRIDER]

Nice build !!! How did you put your wires from LEDBAR to the interior switch?

 

[ExDementia]

Oh man, it's been a while! Don't worry, the project is still going, just had to take a bit of a break while life got in the way.

Recovering from a knee injury back in June, dislocated my patella and tore my MCL, that was pretty nasty. Couldn't drive for almost two months, but I'm almost back to 100% now:

Then a week later, we packed up and moved from San Diego to Tucson, AZ. That was a hell of an adjustment. Moved in 115 degree heat with my leg in that giant immobilizer, and I was pretty much useless. I couldn't do much but carry small bags and pillows with my crutches. But now on the upside, since things are so cheap here compared to SD, we got a nice big house and I finally have a garage, which I'm stoked about.

And now the thing I'm most excited about... Got a lift kit made for the Audi! I was contacted by Sergio from IPP (biturbo above) (he makes the sensor adjustment arms I'm running as well), and he happened to be in the middle of a similar project, and was working on a spacer kit for his, and wanted to know if I would be interested in one as well. I said hell yes, and finally got the kit a few days back:

The spacers are delrin with aluminum inserts, with all grade 8 hardware and then corrected length sensor arms. Can't wait to get these installed.

 

[ExDementia]

Hey ExDementia, I noticed you're in SD, as am I. I do a lot of exploring/off roading and camping with lifted Subaru groups. Especially in the winter we love to go to Fish creek canyon (In your pics above) as well as various other places. Feel free to hit me up sometime. Would love to go out one time with the Audi. Ive always thought those wagons were cool.

Nice! I would definitely be down to head out there once I get everything back sorted out! I still head back to San Diego regularly.

Subscribed. Love this build. Just picked up a 2001 manual to replace my 2001 auto that's got to be about to blow up any day. Contemplating following your lead somewhat.

Dude nice! Love that green, definitely jealous of the color. Nice find on the manual as well!

Starting to plan my project out and was wondering what crossbars you used to mount the rack to.

They are the factory Audi crossbars.

Nice build !!! How did you put your wires from LEDBAR to the interior switch?

That got put on hold for a while with everything else going on, but the wires will go in through the roof rack mount and down under the interior paneling for the A pillar and through the firewall that way. I found a write-up of someone doing something similar somewhere online.

 

[Alfissimo]

I think these cars are reliable. I had a 2005 that I just sold. Just did not need it. I think the main thing is using OEM parts ONLY, making sure everything is in tip top condition, including cooling system, fans, sensors, fan module (complex cooling system that I suggest you look at carefully), airbag system, shocks, control arms and bushings. Other than that this car is amazing.
I have tons of OEM parts left over if you need any! lol.

This car is a very capable car. I have raised it to level 4 and got through some tough stuff. If I had those BFG tires, it would have been amazing. The quattro is a great system but of course lacks lockers.

I'd like to see how this ends up. When I move back to SD, love to come by and see it in person!

Good luck!