1991 FJ80 with Volvo Portals
Having been a military vehicle collector for over twenty years I’ve owned a wide range of vehicles from a World War Two tank to a Slantback Humvee, but the military vehicle that performed best off-road was the Volvo C304 6X6 which had portal axles but lacked in the "Creature Feature" area.
I’m also a big Land Cruiser fan having owned a couple FJ40s and a FJ55, so when I ran across a good deal on a "91 FJ80 I couldn't resist. My original intention was to make it a medium duty trail rig with the usual modifications (springs and shocks, lockers, tires, etc.). I drove the 80 for a couple of weeks and was amazed at the comfort and sturdy design, with it parked beside the Volvo 6X6 I began to notice how well the Volvo portal axles would fit underneath the 80.
Fujitsu tablet PC with Delorme TopoUSA with GPS.
ARB Bumper with MileMarker 12,500# winch.
Mounted the MileMarker upside down and used the upper fairlead mount.
I picked up a setup of Volvo C303 Portal Axles with the 5.99 gearing.
All the old brackets were removed and the stock FJ mounts were graphed on.
The Volvo axles have vacuum operated lockers so I also got the control valves from the donor vehicle.
I added a vacuum pump from an RV to backup the engine vacuum, it also acts as backup for the brake booster.
These adapters let me keep the stock driveshafts, the Volvo stumps were 1" shorter so the adapters fit perfectly.
The portals gave me 5" of lift but it was still a little close so I got a set of OME 2" Heavy springs and shocks from Slee.
I went with 38.5-11-16 TSL Boggers, anything wider would require custom wheels with less backspacing.
With the new springs it measures 44.5" to the center of the wheelwell.
There's about 2" of clearance at the tightest point.
17.5" of ground clearance.
Homemade sliders.
I have put about 3000 miles on it and it drives great and is very capable off road.
Having been a military vehicle collector for over twenty years I’ve owned a wide range of vehicles from a World War Two tank to a Slantback Humvee, but the military vehicle that performed best off-road was the Volvo C304 6X6 which had portal axles but lacked in the "Creature Feature" area.
I’m also a big Land Cruiser fan having owned a couple FJ40s and a FJ55, so when I ran across a good deal on a "91 FJ80 I couldn't resist. My original intention was to make it a medium duty trail rig with the usual modifications (springs and shocks, lockers, tires, etc.). I drove the 80 for a couple of weeks and was amazed at the comfort and sturdy design, with it parked beside the Volvo 6X6 I began to notice how well the Volvo portal axles would fit underneath the 80.
Fujitsu tablet PC with Delorme TopoUSA with GPS.
ARB Bumper with MileMarker 12,500# winch.
Mounted the MileMarker upside down and used the upper fairlead mount.
I picked up a setup of Volvo C303 Portal Axles with the 5.99 gearing.
All the old brackets were removed and the stock FJ mounts were graphed on.
The Volvo axles have vacuum operated lockers so I also got the control valves from the donor vehicle.
I added a vacuum pump from an RV to backup the engine vacuum, it also acts as backup for the brake booster.
These adapters let me keep the stock driveshafts, the Volvo stumps were 1" shorter so the adapters fit perfectly.
The portals gave me 5" of lift but it was still a little close so I got a set of OME 2" Heavy springs and shocks from Slee.
I went with 38.5-11-16 TSL Boggers, anything wider would require custom wheels with less backspacing.
With the new springs it measures 44.5" to the center of the wheelwell.
There's about 2" of clearance at the tightest point.
17.5" of ground clearance.
Homemade sliders.
I have put about 3000 miles on it and it drives great and is very capable off road.
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