A Porsche Like No Other: Dillon Houck’s Custom Overlanding Cayenne

Dillon Houck’s Painstakingly Prioritized Porsche Cayenne

Dillon Houck isn’t new to doing things differently. He started competing in robotics with his older sister Emily when they were only 12 and 13. They later co-founded a media company at the ages of 16 and 17 that they still operate today. So when he dove head-first into the overlanding community to learn how he wanted to build his next project, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the path would be… unique.

Dillon’s love for life on the road was instilled early. The Houck family moved full-time into a 34-foot RV for nearly two years, traveling the country doing ministry and consulting work when Emily and Dillon were only 3 and 4 respectively. “We saw over 20 states and went to Mexico a handful of times before I even knew that wasn’t ‘normal,’” says Dillon, who credits the family’s road tripping for his current nomadic habits. “So when I started thinking about how I wanted to work when I got done with high school, I knew I wanted a mobile element to it. Media lends itself to that, especially editing, so that made sense.”

Houck also got an early start in automotive customization, buying his first car at the age of 12 for $900. That build, a ’65 Falcon, eventually landed an 18-year old Dillon at SEMA with Optima Batteries in 2023, where he saw JMatt Garcia’s 2023 SEMA build (and TREAD cover vehicle)—a fully outfitted Lexus GX460 overlander. It was in that moment, Houck says, that he gained the full vision for where he could take the overlanding build he’d been contemplating.

Since mid-2022, Dillon had been following the growing number of off-road and overland Cayenne builds starting to show up online. Cayenne generations are described by their model numbers, and two in specific were the most popular. “There was already a lot of development in the 955 (2004-’08) and 957 (2009-’12) models, but nobody was really doing 958s yet (2013-’17s). I wanted to do something unique, so I focused on finding one from the newer generation,” says Houck. In December, he found the perfect fit in San Francisco, a 958.2 Cayenne S with a red interior—his unicorn. He sold another vehicle for the funds, and flew out with his dad to buy it and drive it home the same week.

The original plan was to build a simple overlanding rig that would serve as a mobile production office, to allow him to work and camp at the same time. After returning from SEMA in ’23, however, he realized he wanted to do it at a level that could take him back to SEMA for a second year in a row. Finally, in order to not go broke in the process, he knew he’d need to work directly with manufacturers to help them prototype products for the 958 Cayenne market, so he started reaching out and building those relationships.

The major modifications began in the family garage in December of 2023, the first of which was cutting 8 inches off the rear bumper cover and removing the stock rear bumper, Porsche muffler, and twin-tip tailpipes. With newly found ground clearance, a custom cat-back exhaust was fashioned, quieted by a Magnaflow twin-in twin-out 2.5-inch muffler that fed into a pair of through-body side dump exhaust tips, now relocated immediately behind each rear wheel.

With the factory bumper removed, a bolt-up Curt tow-hitch could now hold a RIG’d UltraSwing rear tire carrier, found used online. Today, thanks to the relationship he was able to build with RIG’d founders by providing consistent feedback on their product, the carrier is fully rigged out with a stainless UltraTable, lighted license plate frame, and SideHack, supporting not only the full-sized 33-inch spare, but also a custom colored Hi-Lift HL-485 jack, a Krazy Beaver shovel, an Ignik 5-lb propane tank in a JC Customs mount, and one of three RotoPax containers on the vehicle. The original Curt tow hitch found its way back to the garage floor, replaced instead by an integrated tow hitch and tubular rear bumper now being manufactured for sale by Mike Ngo at Eurowise Off-Road for those who want their 958 to have the increased functionality and clearance.

Balancing Functional Conflicts by Prioritizing Design Choices

Building any project plan means looking at priorities and weighing them against the conflicts they cause. In the case of the Cayenne, daily drivability was key, as was retaining seating for 5 in “midweek ” mode. “I wanted to be able to take friends in the car when I wasn’t out camping, but most of the more-developed Cayennes at that point were eliminating the back seat in favor of shelving, storage, or even sleeping surface.” Instead, Houck opted to limit himself to only developing the rear floor area for storage and pushing sleeping up to a rooftop tent.

This limit also meant that only one refrigerator would fit in the 30-inch space left when the rear seats were up: a Dometic CFX-35. One was found on Facebook for ½ price from someone upgrading to a larger unit, and with the 12v cooler size set, the rest of the “kitchen” began to take shape. Dillon and his dad made the drawers with lumber from Home Depot and soft-close drawer slides from Amazon, fitting the faces to the curvature of the hatchback to make use of every remaining inch. Drawer pulls are fashioned from the remnant of a blown cargo strap that matched the interior colors.

Since the spare was now outside, the spare compartment in the Cayenne’s trunk was re-fitted to hold a National Luna DC/DC charging controller for solar management, the Hertz 1000w amplifier for the BT auxiliary stereo system that would be added to the roof, and the Optima Q31M 150 ah lithium battery, along with all the new wiring and fuse panels these systems required. LED lighting under the floor panel illuminates the electronics bay for any late-night issues, and an Overlander 130w RTT mounted solar panel by Overland Solar tops off the power system during the daylight hours. To ensure that camping power stays isolated from starting power, an additional Optima YellowTop DH7 sits under the driver seat, maintained by the 65w Cascadia 4×4 VSS solar panel on the Cayenne’s hood.

The mobile production intent of the vehicle meant providing constant charging availability for cameras, laptops, and drone batteries within the rig. It was also important to be able to get to recovery gear without getting out of the vehicle, in case, for example, it slid backwards into something. With this in mind, Dillon designed the cabinet to have a 7-inch dead space between the rear wall and seat. A Renogy 1000w pure-sine inverter, also sourced off Facebook Marketplace, sits on the rear wall of the cabinets, and left just enough room to store a Factor 55 Sawtooth Recovery Bag while still maintaining full function of the rear seats.

Finishing out the interior modifications of the Cayenne is the simple but intentional rear package tray. Trimmed in aluminum, the top tray is the mounting surface for the weBoost cellular antenna amplifier, and also works as a secondary prep surface while making meals. “It lets me see out the back if I don’t have the car full of luggage, but still provides just enough space for my duffle bags if my back seats are full.”

When Getting There is Half the Fun

Whoever said “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” clearly hasn’t ever seen this car. While the camping, solar, and interior storage mods on Dillon’s Cayenne are impressive, they aren’t the thing that’s going to catch your eye when you first see this rig. What will, however, depend on whether it’s passing you, coming up in your rearview, or flying by you going the other way!

After all, it’s a Porsche, so you know it was built to drive, and thanks to the Fabtech tune and a couple additional Fabtech exhaust upgrades, this 3.6L twin turbo V6 now turns out around 500hp! Pushing that power to the ground is a Porsche 8-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission (with paddle shifters) with Toyo 285/60 r20 Open Country AT3s at all four corners mounted on Mantra 20-inch flow-forged Fox rims. Securing the wheels to the upgraded dimpled and slotted rotors (360mm front, 330mm rear) from Brake Performance are a set of Rennline M14 competition wheel studs and lug nuts, replacing the typical Porsche lug bolts. “They’re stronger, and it just makes changing a tire soooo much easier”, says Dillon.

Making room for these 33.5-inch tires (stock tire was 28 inches) meant both cutting and lifting. The cuts were again done by Dillon and his dad, with the “how-to” video being one of Dillon’s earliest YouTube efforts. They took a total of 1.75 inches out of each fender well, cutting or rolling the material and preparing the way for the custom-created RokBlokz fender extensions that you now see on the Cayenne.

The lift is a 2.5-inch Eurowise 958 air lift kit, complemented by a ½-inch subframe drop. “The front mods extend the stock Bilstein/Porsche air strut fork by extending and strengthening the forks, and the rear is a set of blocks that go between the strut and the body mounting points” according to Houck. The 8 anodized billet subframe drop blocks from Eurowise then finish the work by bringing axle alignments back into spec, and a set of Eurowise extended sensor links and extended sway bar links allow the stock Porsche PASM system to retain all its normal suspension management functions, including on-the-fly height adjustments of up to 4 inches of additional air lift for lower-speed technical maneuvers. This also means the ability to drop the vehicle on the highway, returning it to its more “native” state.

Of course, if it’s coming towards you, you’ll likely notice the large expanse of exposed rubber created by the Eurowise Baja steel front bumper. Or maybe you’ll zero in on one of the 14 front-facing KC HiLiTES auxiliary lights – as long as they aren’t on. Fitted to the roof rack by custom 3D-printed mounts by 3D Concepts Moto is an 8-light KC Gravity Pro 6 array. A pair of Flex Era 3’s ride Eurowise mounts in the ditch position, another set of KC Flex 3 SAE fogs sit on custom mounts in the bumper wings, a pair of Flex Era 1’s fill the lower outside corners, and a pair of Flex Era 4’s in combo lens configuration take over the middle. With such a broad range of lighting options, Dillon is never worried about late night surprises from deer on the side of the road. “I want to put a picture of Jesus on my master light switch” he says. “When I turn them all on, if you happen to be in front of them, I’m betting you’d think you’d died and seen the light. The output is significant.”

Tucked somewhat secretly into the front bumper is one of the more used elements of the build—Dillon’s Warn ZeonXD 10S winch. Dillon says people are always a bit surprised when he pulls up to recovery situations and offers to lend a hand. He’s pulled an Excursion out of the ditch, and a truck out of a snowbank. In both cases, the owners wanted pictures with his rig. His most unique “recovery” however, was winching a mini-monster truck onto its trailer in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard following an event. “I couldn’t believe that one, but hey – I was glad to be equipped to help!”

Under the front bumper, body coverage takes the form of a full 3/16-inch steel, 7-piece body armor kit from Eurowise, shielding the engine, transfer case, fuel and air tanks, and differentials. Tubular rock sliders and rear control arm skid plates carry the protection from side to side and front to rear, completing the kit.

Topping it all off

Perhaps one of the most eye-catching elements of this Cayenne, besides the entirety of the wrap itself, is the custom-matched rooftop tent. Another Facebook Marketplace find, it is a true Porsche product, produced under contract by the folks at iKamper. “We found someone who bought it to put it on a 911 he had on order. He got the tent, but changed his mind on the 911, so it was just leaning on his kitchen wall in his condo, still in the box.” says Houck. He bought it for ½ off the retail price, and sold his previous iKamper 2.0 tent to cover the cost.

Just ahead of the tent is one of Dillon’s favorite additions, his four 8-inch Hertz HTX Wakeboard Tower speakers. “I really wanted to add outside sound, and didn’t want to mess with the Porsche Burmeister sound system, so I went full standalone.” By custom fabbing speaker mounts, he was able to leverage the front two crossbars of the Eurowise 958 low-profile prototype rack to hold the speakers, and cut the opening for the Hertz Bluetooth marine receiver into the side plate of the roof rack. The whole system runs off the solar/lithium power source under the rear floor.

Tested, Tweaked, and Traveled

All in all, the build process spanned just under a year, but went through several iterations in that time. There were 2 tents, 3 different solar panels, multiple wheel/tire combinations, and even more adjustments made to what got packed into the back and on the outside of the Cayenne. “I knew I wasn’t going to hit the bullseye on my first shot on everything, so I tried to learn as I was going. I went out with friends. I bought and sold things online and in forums, and I traveled in the rig – a lot!”

Over the course of about four months during the peak of the summer, Dillon traveled 13,000 miles in the Cayenne, often for a week or more at a time, while working remotely. He was in Arizona, California, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Washington and Oregon, visited multiple national parks and spent countless nights sleeping on BLM lands and in secret spots shared with him by other overlanders. He met brands at overland events, showcased his project in the DIY space at Overland Expo, and lent a hand as a volunteer at overland gatherings around the west.

Finally, at the end of October, he took off on a 953-mile trek south from his hometown in Idaho. He spent the night once again amidst the stars and isolated on BLM land in Southern Utah, and awoke to drive the final hours to a destination he’d set his sights on a year prior – Las Vegas, Nevada – where his very intentionally built Cayenne would be a feature vehicle for Warn Industries at SEMA 2024.

So What’s Next?

You’ll likely find Dillon at many of the major overlanding events in 2025 (Overland Expo SoCal & West, NW Overland Rally), and he says he is on the waiting list for the Alcan 5000 for a chance “to really put the Cayenne – and myself – through a new challenge” , but if you miss him there, you can catch him here in the pages of TREAD as a new contributor!

He’s also working on two more build projects for 2025 and 2026 – The first is a restart on the ’65 Falcon. “Now that I have so many more relationships and some better experience, I want to take another pass at the Falcon. We’ll do some suspension and driveline upgrades and really make that thing a smooth cruiser.”

Then he says it’s back to the off-road space with another SEMA project for 2026. “I’m really excited about that one and how it’s progressing. I found an old ’63 Ford Econoline van for under a grand that we’re converting to a lifted 4×4. It only has a 90-inch wheelbase—shorter than a Jeep, so it just looks like a Matchbox car. It’s gonna be crazy! ”

We can’t wait. Keep it up Dillon.

UPGRADES

958.2 Porsche Cayenne S

Engine/Exhaust: 

Porsche 3.6L TT w/ Tiptronic 8-speed auto, Locking center differential w/ electronic traction control and off-road modes, Fabspeed XperTune performance software, Fabspeed BMC F1 hi-performance air filters, Liqui Moly synthetic fluids (engine oil, brake fluid), Fabspeed exhaust components, Magnaflow Dual/Dual muffler, Custom welded cat-back exhaust and tips

Suspension: Porsche PASM Active Air Suspension (by Bilstein), Eurowise 2.5-inch lift

Eurowise ½-inch subframe drop

Tires/Wheels: Toyo Open Country AT3 285/60r20, Mantra Fox 20-inch Flow Formed, Wheel wells cleared  by 1 ¾-inch diameter, Rennline competition lug studs & nuts

Body Mods – Exterior: Front and rear bumper covers cut for Eurowise front and rear bumpers, Roof drilled for Eurowise low-profile roof rack, Exterior wiring through-drilled in RV glands on roof (solar, audio, 12v), Porsche rooftop r  tent w/ Overland Solar 130w panel, Hertz Audio 4x200w HTX 8-inch tower speakers, Hertz Audio BT marine receiver

Finishes:
Vehicle and Tent Wrapped by WrapMatrix – Meridian, ID

3M 2080 Satin Vampire Red, 3M 2080 Perfect Blue, 3M 2080 Satin Black, 3M 2080 Gloss White (tent base), (Cayenne white is original paint – Porsche Carrera White Metallic)

Powdercoating by Hub Cap Annie, Annie’s Custom Coatings – Garden City, ID

All powders provided by Prismatic Powders/NIC, Illusion Blue-Berg w/ FOG Clear, Suddenly Red, Black Satin Texture

Lighting: Porsche Laser headlight upgrade w/ tinted smoke wrap, Rennline smoke side marker lights, KC Hilites Gravity Pro 6 8-light (top) on 3D Concepts Moto custom mounts, KC Hilites Flex Era 3 (ditch), KC Hilites Flex Era 3 SAE Fog (bumper wings center), KC Hilites Flex Era 1 (bumper wings outer), KC Hilites Flex Era 4 (bumper wings inner), LED rock lights (8x) under vehicle, LED work lights (2x) rear hatch for cooking/camp lights, LED strip light in grille for winch work light

Additional Accessories: RokBlokz window vents for 958, RokBlokz 958 “SuperFlares” and rally flaps, RIG’d UltraSwing universal spare tire carrier, RIG’d UltraTable stainless steel table, RIG’d  SS license plate light & bracket, Relocated rear camera into spare (custom), RotoPax water 2-Gal (x2), RotoPax fuel 2 Gal, RotoPax rraction boards, SeaSucker RotoPax mounts, SeaSucker traction board mounts

Recovery Gear/Safety: Warn ZeonXD 10S winch, Factor 55 fairlead, Factor 55 UltraHook w/ custom powdercoated rope cover plate, Factor 55 Sawtooth Recovery Kit, Krazy Beaver Shovel, Hi-Lift HL-485 Jack, Hi-Lift 4xRAC jack mount on custom  jack plate, weBoost Drive Reach Overland Cellular Signal Booster, Tredder “Adventure Driven” supplemental insurance coverage for all accessories and installs