2wd to 4wd conversion

[soundsk]

I did this on a 2.5 T5 cali.

Haldex wired to abs module canbus, no sw changes was needed.

Hi Ingvar!

This is exactly the project I'm looking into for our 2007 T5 Cali. We absolutely adore the van and for it to be perfect it just needs 4x4.
Would you mind sharing further details of how doable this is and what I'd need? I'm trying to evaluate if I could actually pull it off.

I know people say just sell and buy a 4motion, but here in Portugal, Californias are rare, and 4motion Cali's are unicorns which means that even if I could find one, it would be very expensive. Same for importing, the costs of making it legal also raise the price quite a lot.

So my thinking is: buy a donor van from Germany or Spain, have it hauled over, transfer the parts I need into our van. I have a couple of friends who could help with the mechanical side, but I'm wondering about the wiring and electronics? You mentioned CAN bus, where/what could I start checking our van to see if it's actually got what's required to accept the conversion? It's a 2007 T5 California, 2.5 TDI 130HP, LHD, 6 speed manual.

Thank you for your time!

 

[buggy-boy-shane]

I did this on a 2.5 T5 cali.

Haldex wired to abs module canbus, no sw changes was needed.

What year van did you do this to? I've a 2007 2.5 and would love to concert it, I'd be fairly sure the mechanicals will be fine but it's the electrics that will push boundaries of my skills