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The rear hatch shocks will eventually fail, it's just a matter of when.
I recently bought a 2006 Porsche Cayenne Turbo for less than one-tenth what it cost new. The deal just seemed too good to pass up given the Cayenne's unique combination of a 450-horsepower twin-turbo V8 with a sumptuous interior, sporty driving dynamics, and impressive off-roading features that helped the 955 generation spark a revolution in the SUV market that continues today.
But all the Cayenne's pros come at the cost of concerning complexity, with a tightly packed engine bay prone to heatsoak and regular maintenance required to forestall hefty German luxury parts prices. Luckily, service records dating back to 2008 came with my Cayenne and the seller ticked many major service items off the list, including but not limited to overhauling the air suspension system, installing metal coolant pipes, rebuilding the front suspension, and replacing the entire center driveshaft assembly.
But he also left a number of smaller projects for the next owner, so now I face my own to-do list. At the very top, fixing the spent rear hatch decklid and window glass shocks felt like the most pressing, so that I could load up all the filters and fluids also on the list—not to mention my bike—without getting smacked in the head. Porsche's engineers made the hatch assembly hidden and, therefore, unnecessarily complex to service but with a few tools, a bit of patience, and a little hand from a helper, the whole job should only take an hour or two.
Accessing the shock housing requires only a few simple tools. A flathead and Phillips-head screwdriver, various Torx bits, and a plastic trim removal tool should be everything, though in the case that someone already did the same job and replaced parts incorrectly, having a full toolkit is probably a good idea. A flashlight for peering into tight places might help, too.
In terms of parts, finding the tiny shocks that hold up the hatch glass and what ended up being full-on miniature coilovers for the heavier liftgate itself proved pretty easy (the four pieces work together with the window closed). For Porsche purists, only OEM branded parts will do but I went for the significantly cheaper options of Stabilus for the shocks (made in the USA, somehow!) and URO Parts for the larger pieces. All four totaled less than $70 including shipping from RockAuto.
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Replacing the parts requires removing the upper rear trim in the trunk. I'd recommend folding down the backseats just to have enough workspace for tools, new and removed parts, and range of motion (a healthy amount of bodily contortion will fit into this process). Begin by popping out the top luggage light, which takes only a flathead on the driver's side to set dangling. Unclip the wire and set it in a safe place. Using a trim tool or fingers, pull down the edge of the upper rearward trim and take a look at the clips and wiring above.
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While pulling down gently on the trim, insert the flathead in towards the nearest of the many clips seen above. Get the tip of the screwdriver as close to the metal as possible, then twist to apply pressure on both the roof and plastic towers—be careful not to go too quickly, as the metal needs to squeeze inward and then pop out. A bit of wiggling may help the clips release and they'll occasionally pop out of the plastic towers, too. Collect any that end up separate, you'll need them to reassemble the trim panels properly.
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This job mostly consists of trim removal. Work slowly through all the plastic clips up top and then place the roof panel aside. Next, remove the hook brackets for the dog net, if equipped—a single T10 Torx and a Phillips-head screw held each of mine in place. Use either a flathead or the trim removal tool to pop the little bracket out. Then, continue moving down towards the tailgate, popping out more of the metal clips as above.
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The little metal clips here can be a bear to get to, but don't get distracted and forget to disconnect the speaker wire. Continue removing the clips, then switch over to the opposite side (or do one side at a time and benefit from learning while doing the second side—I did both at the same time because I wanted to be able to see the original layout while installing the new parts).
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Next, power cords running from the roof down toward the tailgate need to move over slightly, which requires removing the strange plastic piece above. Three T30 Torx screws and an ancient piece of duct tape held these in place on my Cayenne—indicating that either someone did this job before me or Porsche's technicians used duct tape while putting this mid-2000s super SUV together in the first place!
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Here's where the job got a bit dirty for me. The parts we need to access live above this filthy piece of waterproof foam and glue-like sealant. Be careful not to tear the foam or remove too much sealant because you'll want to tamp all this back into place later. I originally thought I could do the job without entirely removing the length of foam but quickly realized it all needed to come out. The sealant serves as an additional water barrier—anyone who has taken a door panel off to replace a window regulator or speaker will remember the pleasure of dealing with this gunk. If it gets difficult, a blow dryer can help, but I just used a flathead and sort of chopped through the strands leaving half up top and half on the foam insert.
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Depending on how big your hands are, it may help to pop out two more plastic clips holding on the next panel of roof trim towards the front of the Cayenne. Be extra delicate, though, since these are even more flimsy than the metal ones from earlier.
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By now, the housing where the shocks live should be pretty visible. At this time, I opened up the replacement parts to see how they worked. Most of the tutorials I saw online for this job advised putting some muscle into the flathead and prying off the ends of the shocks one at a time, but looking at my new pieces, they had little retaining circlips that could pop out a few millimeters for install and removal. Unfortunately, being able to see and actually manipulate the clips on the old shocks while still mounted proved pretty difficult—but with a little bit of feel, it's doable and should help to prevent too much potential damage to the roof metal while torquing off the spent parts. If not, just give it all a good shove and the ball should separate from the cup.
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The Stabilus and URO Parts replacements I ordered came with a dab of grease in each cup, which I smeared around a bit before installation. I loosened the retaining clips, then popped the forward (from the driver's perspective) cups onto the front ball mounts first. Here, the broomstick (or whatever you've been using as a makeshift hatch support) will almost always fail you and I'd recommend asking a helper to lend a hand. Have them hold the hatch all the way up, then slowly lower until the rearward cups line up and pop on easily.
With one side done, it will seem absolutely unbelievable that installing the other side's two shocks will hold up the entire liftgate—fear not! In fact, once I replicated the installation on the second side, the whole thing now felt almost too hard to close and I paused for a bit before carefully reinstalling all the trim pieces, popping the metal clips back into place with the heel of my palm, and replugging in the speaker and light fixture. I figure the new shocks will soften up a bit with age (before failing again eventually)
The entire process of disassembly, installing the new parts, and reassembling the trim again took around an hour and a half, with the helper really needed for maybe five minutes. Now that I've done the job once, I'd guess I could do it all again in half an hour total (with a helper for three minutes, hopefully).
And if I were doing the job again, I might buy the replacement parts from FCP Euro to take advantage of their Lifetime Replacement Guarantee since by then, I'll know the actual service life of these shocks. Would OEM Porsche parts last longer? Maybe so, but the price difference seems absurd, as usual. In the meantime, I can load gear, parts, fluids, filters, and a bike into the back of the Cayenne without fear of a concussion. Whether the replacement shocks will last as long as I keep the truck remains to be seen—it's been pretty damned nice so far and, as usual, every good repair only strengthens the bond between us.
Sources: stabilus.com, apaindustries.com, rockauto.com, and fcpeuro.com.
Michael Van Runkle grew up surrounded by Los Angeles car culture, going to small enthusiast meets and enormous industry shows. He learned to drive stick shift in a 1948 Chevy pickup with no first gear and currently dailies his 1998 Mitsubishi Montero while daydreaming about one day finishing up that Porsche 914 project. He's written in various media since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2010 and started at HotCars in February 2018.