Wrenchparty's 4L Offroad Q7 TDI Build

[Wrenchparty]

Been a couple years of ownership and with the amount of questions I figured I could document some of the stuff done to this rig. I havn't taken photos of actual build stuff, so i'll try to get some where it's needed. Took this build a little different and wanted to enjoy it as much as we could instead of just working on it...

Can find all our current adventures on instagram @wrenchparty

Throw back to 2021...

[IMG]4L Q7 TDI by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

We purchased this 2014 Audi Q7 TDi Sline, glacier white with espresso brown interior and only 95,xxx km's. With the intents of being our camping pig. Within the same week I made a modular roof rack and threw on the Eurowise 2.5" lift and 1/2" Subframe drop. I made my own intercooler relocation brackets to pull them forward. With the fabric fender liner, i undid all the lower screws pushed it closer to the body and sent the screws back in. Was able to suck the fender liner in a lot this way without having to cut it up. The tyres were 265/70r18 Toyo Open Countries AT3, with Blackrhino Havasu wheels. They needed 15mm spacers to just clear the front calipers. I didn't want crazy poke as that throws the turn radius out which will result in more trimming needed to not rub.

By the 3rd week of ownership we took it on a 7k km's road trip to the Arctic Circle, and it really kicked off our want to go places with the Q7

[IMG]Offroad Audi Q7 by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

The roof rack was fairly simple. I removed the factory rails. Using cardboard to make a template then cut each side piece out of 6061 7”x7ft 1/4” thick aluminum . I used 1/4” aluminum angle sections to mount it to the body using the factory cross bar mounting points, with 3M double sided tape to stop any rubbing on paint and window adhesive with the bolts. Then I used extruded aluminum as my cross rails. Local metal supply stores only had raw aluminum ones. I’m concerned with getting them powder coated if I can still fit accessories into the channels, so until I decide.. It sits rattle canned black.

A common water leak point for the Q7 is the sunroof drain tubes. They leak water at the joint of the sunroof frame and the tubes. It causes all sorts of electrical issues, so some preventative maintenance was in order. While the headliner was down I sealed the sunroof drain tubes. With a layer of window adhesive over the joint, I then slipped a 1” section of shrink tube over it and sealed them.
While I was at it… another common issue is the kessy sensors. The lock button fails and prevents the computer from going to sleep. Basically the car thinks someone is pressing the button. This causes a battery draw on the Q7 and commonly kills the battery. Handles are expensive and need to be painted. Unplugging the sensors is an easy fix.

While this one didn’t have any of these issues yet, we didn’t want them to act up while out camping.

[IMG]4L Q7 Custom Roof Rack by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Lifted Audi Offroad by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

We found out quickly having no hitch makes recovery difficult and the rear muffler was taking a beating. I found a hitch for cheap from a 2009 cayenne and cut the rear valance and ditched the rear suitcase muffler. With all the emission systems intact there is no noticeable noise difference. I ended up putting a B9 SQ5 factory turndown exhaust tip on it and called it a day.

Maintenance continued on it…
I updated the mmi software to the latest revision and found all of the TSB software updates that weren’t performed and completed those as well.

The factory ground strap from the frame to the engine is another common issue. It corrodes and can cause hard starts and so on… It was another easy mode to make with some 2/0 gauge welding wire.
[IMG]Audi Q7 4l Upgraded ground Strap by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr

Audi Diesel Offroad by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

Lifted Audi Q7 by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[jbain2]

Love it! What wheel and tire setup are you running?


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Wrenchparty]

Thanks! Started off with 265/70r18 Toyo OpenCountries, did some more trimming and was able to fit 275/70r18's Goodyear Duratracs. And still running the 18" Blackrhino Havasu's 18x8 et48. Load rating and 5x130 limits wheel options

[zatch_303]

This is one badass Q7!

[Wrenchparty]

I started doing some testing with disconnecting the sway bars as well. Loaded with gear in the roof box and the Thule awning makes out to about 150lbs on the roof. Which is as much as I would want. The rear made a very minor difference, but when loaded the front is pretty noticeable, so I ditched the rear and made quick disconnect links for the front sway bar.

Next up on the list was to get a full size spare and rear bumper, with nothing on the market I was going to have to make a bumper.

I used a 2-4x innovations hinge kits and made the rest. The bumper is welded to the hitch and the lower cross tube under the car mounts to where the rear sway bar used to sit. The spare tire mounts to a factory hub welded on, making a convenient place carry spare wheel bolts if something ever happens ( which they actually did come in handy for another traveler we met)

It’s been a couple years now with it and I’ve been happy. It’s taken a pretty good beating, I landed on a rock and snapped the latch for the swing out on trip, which then snapped the swing out lock.. Was pretty easy to slap a new latch on. I think next time square tubing instead of round might be a better option for the swing out. Also with the rear bar mounting to the oem sway bar mount I am unable to do more of a subframe drop to lift it more.. For now the 2.5” lift is ok

I have found metal brackets I can modify to re locate the parking sensors, so next time the bumper has to come off that's one of the projects

Q7 Winter Trip by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

4L Q7 TDI Winter Offroading by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

We then did another run back up to the Arctic, but this time we were able to complete the full length journey and make it to the Arctic Ocean, in Tuktoyaktuk, North West Territories. We knocked the trip out in 10 days.. longest drive was just over 1,100km’s in 1 day. We would 100% do it again and are planning to one day. Our full story was featured in Quattro Magazine, even landing cover photo. The full feature can be read here with more photos

https://audiclubna.org/feature-car-r...in-offroad-q7/

Quattro Magazine cover by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

Audi Q7 TDI Arctic Ocean by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

Q7 Onboard air

Let’s ignore the unruly amount of dog hair, our husky is molting with this warm winter. Installing on board air was relatively straight forward in the Q7. I used a Viar compressor from my previous car that had bags and a 1 gal tank. For power, under the drivers seat there was an unused power stud. It was then easy to run a length of power wire to the trunk. It has a simple relay set up with a 125psi pressure switch on the control side. From there I ran the air line up and had my access point and power switch ( circled ) in the trunk compartment. The whole coiled air hose fits snugly inside the compartment, but it can make it to all 4 wheels easily.
Custom On board air audi Q7 by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[blackfunk]

Sweet. I think the Porsche has built in air as well.

[Wrenchparty]

Sweet. I think the Porsche has built in air as well.

Yup, if they had air suspension they all did. There was even an oem tire inflation adapter for the factory system

[Wrenchparty]

The front bumper was next up on the list

Went with the Eurowise winch plate (Q7 specific one) as a base. Then made all of the rest of the bumper. I then mounted a Warn 10k winch. Power was ran just to the jump post with a shutoff switch in between. I cut a hole into the carrier cover for clutch access on the winch. I’m also running the Eurowise upgraded recovery shackles.

Bumper has worked awesome, and the winch has made for some quicker recoveries in the winter.

The Toyo’s were also worn out at this point so was time for an upgrade. Went with LT275/70r18 Good year Duratracs this time. Noticeably more grip with these tires and noticeably less fuel mileage. Not too surprised as each wheel and tire set weights 80lbs..

Audi Q7 TDI Offroad by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

2014 Q7 Diesel Winter by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

Bumper was finished off with a 1/4” aluminum skid plate up front and 2 Auxbeam spot lights and 2 fogs down low

Q7 TDI Offroad by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

Q7 TDi snow wheeling by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Das Ponto]

Oh hai!

Fancy seeing you here.

[Wrenchparty]

Oh hai!

Fancy seeing you here.

Does this make me old?

[Wrenchparty]

Rock Sliders completed and mounted. As far as bolt on sliders go, this chassis is like nothing else on the internet.. So with some inspiration from the few that are out there. This is my version. Main Square tube rest on the pinch weld, utilizing the whole pinch weld to take the load of it. Then 4 arms go up and bolt onto the frame, with custom bolts with frame tabs. Where the bolts mount there 1.25" sch40 pipe dropped in an welded, so the bolts won't get crushed. Off the 2 inner arms theres plates that brace against the frame to stop the whole slider from being pushed inwards. Theres also 2 tabs that bolt to the body to add some rigidity when stepping on the slider.
[IMG]Audi 4L Rock Sliders by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Audi 4L Q7 Rock Sliders by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Photo 2024-04-19, 12 27 04 PM by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

This should hold up well, but there's only one way to find out. Maxed the jack out, but was able to pick up half the Q7 from the outter pipe
[IMG]Bolt on Sliders Mounting Audi Q7 by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Rock Sliders Kick Out by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Rock Sliders by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Audi Q7 Rock Sliders by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[19birel]

I love this build so much, been following on IG for a while and it's been cool to watch the constant development/evolution of it!

[Wrenchparty]

Thanks! It's been fun going through the stages with it!

[Wrenchparty]

For those interested in wiring their auxiliary lights so that they can only run if the high beams are on. For Canadian Laws this is the recommended way to have aux driving lights. It also makes it really easy to turn them off when someone comes up on you instead of having to press multiple buttons.

This was done on a 2014 Q7 with HID bulbs, so pin locations may be different on other cars.

The issue isn’t that the main Hid beam gets tilted up for high beam, it was that the solenoid is pulse width modulated.. This meant the relay for the aux lights was clicking on and off..However utilizing a 12v-9V step down converter I was able to make that pulse width a constant power source, to be able to turn a relay on without pulsing it.
I then used the power signal from the high beam to power the relay and I have a manual switch inside the cab controlling the ground side. This makes it that the high beams have to be on to turn the aux lights on, and by turning either the high beam or the switch off will turn the lights off.
Aside from the relay control the Aux driving lights are wired like any other relay. Have been running this set up for about 6 months now with no issues. I did sea the step down coverter with large shrink tube as it didn't look very weather sealed.
* to expand on the wiring diagram. T14a/11 is the location of the wire. T14a is the 14 pin connector. 11 is pin 11.

[IMG]High Beam wiring location by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

Couple little projects crossed off
Got water in the trunk at some point from the body vent flaps..
Removed and cleaned the left side, Right side has electronics so I removed the vent and glued in some abs plastic. There was no noticeable difference closing doors with just one body vent
[IMG]Q7 body vent by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Q7 body vent by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
Q7 body vent sealed by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr

I also ripped an inner cv boot, swapped in my spare. Putting the old CV back together with new boots, it was noted to trim part of the inner ring off, to reduce pinching of the boot. This was easy to accomplish with an angle grinder, I left a little bit of a lip so the boot won't slide off and cleaned the edges up. The housing was pretty deformed from all the times the axle was hitting it and full droop.
[IMG]CV axle trimming by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]CV axle trimming by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

More tech stuff..
CV angles
Stock sits at the 2 - 2.5 degree range
With the eurowise 2.5" lift and 1/2 subframe drops it's in ther 7 - 7.5" range

Will be going to a custom 3" lift and 1" drop soon, so hoping it corrects those angles
[IMG]Lifted CV angles by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

Couple shots from another trip. We got snow!!
We also have a Youtube to share our trips and Q7 projects now
https://www.youtube.com/@wrenchparty

[IMG]Lifted Audi Q7 by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Audi Q7 on 33's by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Wrenchparty]

Well it was gonna happen eventually..
First proper failure was the transfer case. Noticed the tires were binding on corners and would even stop the vehicle before needing to give it throttle. Subtle clunking and felt like was power was undecided on front or rear. Found the transfer case fluid burnt with lots of metal shavings (new oem fluid 2 years ago). Got a replacment case to swap in and tore the old one apart. I exploded the torsen centre diff, i suspect 5 months ago and kept driving on it. Impressed it was still holding together with how bad it was
Failed Quattro Torsen Diff by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
Audi Q7 TDi in the Shop by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]
Audi transfercase replacement by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr
Q7 Transfer case removal by Ryder Holuboff, on Flickr[/IMG]