VW Touareg V6 Diesel Overland Build thread

[mk216v]

Looking good, very hidden.
I chuckled at your comment about having to remove 90% of unneeded parts to get to the part you need to access. Ze German engineers aren't so friendly in this dept; they have no forethought as to how someone will service the vehicle. Pisses us off every day to no end.

 

[casioqv]

I installed a cheap fold down (instead of side swing) spare tire carrier I found on Amazon for under $100 shipped. It seems like a good alternative to the Eurowise side swing carrier that would be as much as $1800 with shipping and options. It seems more sturdy than expected for the price, and I am sure it will hold up. It only takes seconds to fold down, and should be much lighter and stronger than the complex side swing carriers... but less convenient. Usually when on a trip I never open the full tailgate anyways and use the top door, because I pack the rear too full and everything will fall out. I also ordered a license plate carrier that will screw into the tow eye fitting.

I did end up cutting the bottom tube short to get the tire closer to the car, and installed an anti-rattle clamp to remove slack. From a side profile, I don't think this reduces approach angles, and it doesn't block the rear window view.


Thanks to someone on the Touareg forum, I also realized that my Eurowise recovery point doesn't fit with the T2 front bumper. For now, I will use that as a recovery point on the rear, and use the OEM eye with a soft shackle on the front.

 

[mk216v]

EW doesn't make a T2 recovery point?

 

[casioqv]

EW doesn't make a T2 recovery point?

My impression is that they assumed the first gen Cayenne and the Touareg T1/T2 are all the same, but they're not. Most of their customers seem to have Cayennes, and they recently updated this design to be much stronger. I contacted them to see what they say about it.

 

[mk216v]

My impression is that they assumed the first gen Cayenne and the Touareg T1/T2 are all the same, but they're not. Most of their customers seem to have Cayennes, and they recently updated this design to be much stronger. I contacted them to see what they say about it.

Will be interesting to see what they say. Doesn't seem too difficult to check that a T1 and T2 are the same. <puzzled>

 

[casioqv]

I am leaving for my week long Death Valley trip this week, and finished a bunch of little projects to get ready.

First, I found I could install traction boards on the roof by bolting to the bottom of the RTT. Now I just need to figure out an external mount for my hi-lift jack.

Then, I installed a license plate relocator so it's not blocked by the spare tire. This was the only one sold as fitting the T2 Touareg, but the threads were totally wrong after all. I ended up cutting up an extra cheap knockoff VW tow eye I had, drilling, and tapping it to create a new base for the mount.

Then I indexed my recovery points to be flat/side-to-side for off-center pulls with 18mm id/ 25mm od stainless indexing shims. Eurowise is working on building me a recovery point for the front like I have on the rear, but until then I have an OEM tow eye.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Man…

I hate being negative Nancy when it’s not in good fun, but PLEASE be careful with that roof tent mounted like that.

Looks like a recipe for disaster on the unforgiving Death Valley washboards.

Don’t like leaving these type of comments but feel almost obligated to with this one

 

[casioqv]

PLEASE be careful with that roof tent mounted like that.

Can you please clarify the concern with the RTT mounting? Note that in the photo the RTT roof crossbar system is not visible, because the traction boards are bolted to the underside of the RTT, and block its view. The RTT may appear to be sitting on the traction boards, but it is not, they are just bolted to the bottom side of it.

It is higher than I'd like above the roof, but this is a very sturdy roof rack system that could easily handle twice the weight of the roof tent. The cross-bars and roof rails are all factory VW parts (rumored to be made by Thule for VW) that are made of roughly 2" thick solid machined aluminum. I am a large guy, and can give the car a hard shake/rock from the RTT, and there is zero flex or play. This is hands down the most sturdy roof rack system I have ever had or seen on any vehicle short of the type of systems commercial contractors would use. It has already survived some pretty rough and long duration trips with an RTT on top- Mojave road, etc.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Can you please clarify the concern with the RTT mounting? Note that in the photo the RTT roof crossbar system is not visible, because the traction boards are bolted to the underside of the RTT, and block it's view. The RTT may appear to be sitting on the traction boards, but it is not, they are just bolted to the bottom side of it.

It is higher than I'd like above the roof, but this is a very sturdy roof rack system that could easily handle twice the weight of the roof tent. The cross-bars and roof rails are all factory VW parts that are made of roughly 2" thick solid machined aluminum. I am a large guy, and can give the car a hard shake/rock from the RTT, and there is zero flex or play. This is hands down the most sturdy roof rack system I have ever had or seen on any vehicle short of the type of systems commercial contractors would use. It has already survived some pretty rough and long duration trips with an RTT on top- Mojave road, etc.

Well, if its as strong as you say, no issues.

What i will say, is that i saw a BRAND NEW (still had paper plates) Rav4 with similiar RTT lose the entire thing, factory roof racks and all, hitting a small drainage swale here in San Diego, about 2 months ago, and i have a blurry cell phone pic on my phone somewhere

RTT, rack, and factory mounts all came off in one piece and landed on the street.

Maybe the angle of your pics are playing tricks on me, but that seems like a ton of stress on those factory rails as it sits.

Also, check Death Valley site for whats open right now.

I was there between Christmas and New Years and a ton of it was closed, and theyve gotten more rain

 

[mk216v]

Why is the RTT so high off the roof?

 

[casioqv]

This is why I like the Touareg so much as an overlanding platform... everything is heavy duty and extremely overbuilt. I have seen factory roof rack setups on Toyota, Nissan, GM, and other SUVs and they aren't comparable to this system.

The roof itself has a heavy T-bolt channel that is through bolted to the roof with large bolts every few inches spanning the entire length of the roof. This alone is often used with just T-bolts to mount heavy duty modular overlanding roof racks, e.g. this one. The factory heavy aluminum rails then bolt to this with T-bolts, so the forces are spread out evenly the entire length of the car by the T-bolt channel. On top of these attaches the heavy duty cross-bars, which don't have any plastic or sheet metal, but heavy steel bases and a thick aluminum cross bar.

 

[casioqv]

Why is the RTT so high off the roof?

The factory cross-bars are just too tall. I can get it lower with a T-bolt cross bar that bolts directly into the track on the roof, like the Porsche Cayenne overlanders on here mostly use.

 

[TyScot]

Oooh!!!!! I’m going to be watching this one for sure! Proud owner here of a 2010 V6 TDI Touareg, over 180K on it. 2” lift and some oversized Toyo’s. These SUV’s are amazing (as you know ), highly underrated and absolutely perfect for this kind of thing. Let’s face it, most people never gave these a look as they’re just VW’s not knowing that these were built damn well for…..going offroad. Now that there a bit older and one can pick one up at a decent price people are seeing that they are extremely capable ( same for Cayenne’s ) I have a Land Rover as well and I would put money on it that my Touareg will go anywhere the Rover can and I suspect even further to be honest. And it will pull my 27” travel trailer weighing in at over 5000lbs like it’s not even there.

Do you have a link for the spare tire carrier, I could use something like that for longer road trips as I usually just have the spare in the boot but takes a ton of room.

Im sure you’ve seen this one, more then what I need but cool build

VW Touareg MK1 Overland Adventure Build by Avid Outdoorsman - offroadium.com

Perfect recipe of an overland build based on a first gen Volkswagen Touareg with air suspension, 3” lift, 33” Mud tires and other upgrades.

offroadium.com

 

[Winterhawk]

Watching because my new neighbor has an '09 V6 diesel like yours and I love it. Makes me want to find one. Anyway he's running LT265/70r18's (32.6) and has all the options. He claims however that he has the front locker option which as mentioned here and elsewhere doesn't exist except in aftermarket and I know he didn't add it. I'm 100% sure he's used the rear, center, and low range, and probably thinks he's used the front. Anyway, I now have Touareg envy so will be looking.

 

[Sparse Gray Hackle]

Thank you for all of the advice! Indeed, I placed a big order last year and am still waiting on some parts, but what I have received from them seems to be good quality. I will post some more pics shortly, here is one of towing a 15' sailboat offroad through the Mojave desert the weekend before last.
View attachment 768040

Nice M15. I miss mine.