Gearmaster portal axles

[dieseldan]

Diesels? Portal Axles? Panties wet.. I'd HIT IT!

... you just never know where things like this thread lead. I had an S404 that I'd picked up for 8 grand with 22,000 orig. kms - but it had a gaspot which did nothing for me. If I still had it and read this thread ...

.. I'd see myself looking for a 4.2 diesel and making a nice little S404 Landmog-a-cruiser! .. anyone got one?!?! <hijack>

 

[4WD Toyota Owner Magazine]

One big issue with portals of any brand is that if it breaks on the trail, NO ONE will have spare parts or know-how on fixing it. The FSM won't be much help, obviously. Likewise, once you make it back to town, the Toyota dealer/local auto parts store won't either.

 

[TiredIronGRB]

One big issue with portals of any brand is that if it breaks on the trail, NO ONE will have spare parts or know-how on fixing it. The FSM won't be much help, obviously. Likewise, once you make it back to town, the Toyota dealer/local auto parts store won't either.

If it was easy everyone would have them

 

[e9999]

one problems with portals is that the few guys who have them think they're the kings of the hills.....
































oh wait! they ARE the Kings of the Hill....!
get up and down the dang things with no trouble....

 

[concretejungle]

One big issue with portals of any brand is that if it breaks on the trail, NO ONE will have spare parts or know-how on fixing it. The FSM won't be much help, obviously. Likewise, once you make it back to town, the Toyota dealer/local auto parts store won't either.

That's a good point. I guess if you have those types of axles, YOU better know how they work, and YOU better carry some spare parts.

 

[Discyota]

As nice as those look, I wouldnt buy them, ever. They are nice looking, and the concept is great, however I'd draw the cost/value line at about $5K. Not 12

For those of you who dont spend a majority of your free time on pirate 4x4, here is some helpful info on portal axles, listed from weakest to strongest:

Mog 404: smallest of the benz axles. 3rd member style diff. Drum brakes. Dont like highway speeds. Very long pinions. portal boxes are known to explode. factory lockers

Volvo 303: about same strength as the mog 404, however better suited for a LC sized vehicle without needing a re-size. Portal boxes seem to be stronger than Mog 404. factory lockers. drum brakes, but they tend to be ok at hwy speeds. short / standard pinion design

Mog 406/416: Absoultly huge axles, massive bull gear clamshell style diffs. facroty lockers. disc brakes. twin u-jointed steering axles. even stronger portal axles. easier to re-tube than a 404.

Mog u1300: Most current mog axles. Even larger than the 406/416s. Also most expensive. Nearly 2" diameter axleshafts, and the largest portal gears. disc brakes, facroty lockers. Stronger than a rockwell.

If I were to put portals under my truck, Id go with 406s. I'd have them re-tubed to the proper diff offsets, and make them a bit wider than stock. You could probably get 406s re-sized for you, and rebuilt and fabbed up under your rig for under $10K, and in the end you will have a setup way way stronger than the gearmasters.

The nice thing about the volvos is that they are nearly a bolt in application, the bad thing is if you break anything good luck getting parts. Thats the best part about the Mog stuff, you can go to any MB dealer and order what you break.

 

[Dusty]

if someone gave me some portals or mog axles for what I could afford I would do this upgrade asap. That said one could get some killer d60's with disks for 6k and run 40's all day long on our truck. whats 5" of clearnce when your axles are bombproof? -just go ahead and beat on them. I think the whole portal thing is a lot of hype

 

[WrenchMonkey]

Ok guys why not go with a company in north america that builds special mog portals for 4X4s you should look into these guys and for canadians they are LOCAL!! http://www.exaxt.ca/

 

[concretejungle]

whats 5" of clearnce when your axles are bombproof? -just go ahead and beat on them. I think the whole portal thing is a lot of hype

I gotta disagree. Some of the pictures i've seen and video clips of tirediron's rig disproves the are just hype. One clip i remember there was a huge rock in the middle of a tight trail. iron's rig walked over it, and the jeep following barely made it. It kept getting hung up due to not having the clearance.

 

[alkaline747trio]

Not diggin the bolt-on now that I've thought about it, but it's putting the urge for Volvos back in my system. Portals ROCK...

 

[-Spike-]

whats 5" of clearnce when your axles are bombproof?

The difference between running the trail and getting out the hi-lift, strap, stacking rocks, winch, etc. It doesn't take much of a rock to stop an 80 if it's well placed- and that place is usually the diff. Get stuck on a piece of the bedrock we have around here, and no amount of bashing will get you over it.

I'd be a lot more excited about the Gearmaster setup if it were bolt on- to my axles. Even if some fab work was necessary. I'd go 5 or 6 grand for something like that. The bracing doesn't bother me- it would be a lot easier to keep that off rocks than my whole axle as it is now.

-Spike

 

[j2custom]

This is what I like to call "________ porn". It doesn't matter what the subject/obsession is there are always these types of topics that everyone spends time verbally jerking off about but most folks never actually does anything about or with. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE THE CRUISER THAT HAS THE VOLVO PORTAL AXLES ON IT!!! I give the guy total credit and mad props for doing it and I am jealous for sure. It is the coolest one I have seen. I just can't justify the expense of the axle swap to go back to drum brakes. If I used my LX450 as a hard core wheeler I would likely have custom axles made for it. EXO cage, supercharger, etc etc. Just my $.02

 

[Dusty]

ok more than just hype. I too saw that cool video of tirediron walking over that huge rock.

 

[landtank]

have to admit though, 1 rock for 6K, not a huge return on the investment.

 

[concretejungle]

another way to look at it IMHO...

How much is slee's 6inch lift? ......$3,100!!!! That's to fit 35-37 inch tires. Then add in the cost of install, add in cost of tires.... you are pushing $4,500-$5,000.

Find some portals like tirediron did.....guessing $3,500. Have them installed (based on his install thread it really doesn't look to be terribly difficult for someone with half-assed fab skillz). Put 35-42 inch tires.

You are right, drum brakes are moving backwards. But for right around the same cost, you have twice the ground clearance which is REALLY what we are all after, and honestly you don't even need a suspension lift. A small $600 OME lift will be more than adequate.

I guess what i'm saying is that for just about the same cost, if not cheaper, one can have twice the ground clearance, and twice the tire size. I wouldnt say that's a bad investment at all.

 

[FirstToy]

from this thread
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?p=504342
Some really great advantages...
"Humm 9 portals under Drexx's U80, all new parts, 8 inches of lift, 4 inches wider track width than stock, CTI, ARBs, 4:80 final drive, almost 16 inches clearence under the differencial, uses stock drive lines, weigh the same as Dana 60s......"

"One of the best uses of the portal box is not only the clearance but also the fact that after the 2:1 portal box gears the drivetrain only see 1/2 the force of the wheel. A 40 inch tire is like a 20 inch tire to the axle sharts, 3rd members, drive shafts.....and you can have cental tire inflation, change tire pressure on the run"

 

[GXO]

I was there when TiredIron drove over that rock

I then followed and had to go around to the left. My truck has Js ad spacers, running 35s...

http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e...ay Rock 2006/?action=view&current=DanKunz.flv

http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e...ock 2006/?action=view&current=MoreDanKunz.flv


His is the monster

http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e... Rock 2006/?action=view&current=TiredIron.flv

I think the portals debate and mods are novel and ingenius. I would love to have the skill it takes to do this. This is what I marvel at in threads like this. It isn't the cost, the ability, or anything else. This is an amazing modification and I salute anyone taking it on!

 

[Dusty]

concrete,
your argument isn't exact. if one has the skilz to fab a portal swap one probably doesn't need to spend the moneyz to get the slee lift. most of that excellent hardware can be fabbed rather easily. those fancy slee arms are sexy as are all those suspension extenders but if one has the know how to swap a portal then reproducing the slee kit is an easy build-though probably not as sexy

 

[GXO]

Actually, the TiredIron setup was easier than fabbing up a slee kit from what he told me in Alabama. The stock suspension is re-used and the mounts are added to the stripped portal housing...he only has 2.5" OME springs on that setup and is running 39.5" tires.

Stock control arms, etc.

 

[concretejungle]

Dusty, based on what i understood in his build thread, he basically cut the front control arm brackets off the 80 axle, titled the portal axle to have the proper castor and welded the bracket on. Bolted the arms up, sat the springs on and used the same steering linkage as stock. Seems pretty dang straight forward.

That's with no suspension lifts. So my argument of not needing a slee lift still holds.

Then he added an OME medium lift which really is just springs and shocks. He could have still ran 35's without a lift at all just because of the axles.

Now i'm in no position to show how easy this swap is. But it is honestly something i have been really thinking about. As soon as i get a good buisness car this swap may become something i might try.