Portal Axles

[Mike Nel]

Dumb question.

I saw on FB or the Community, cannot really remember, but Reenen was busy with one of his many vehicles fitting Portal Axles.

Now the question or questions:

1) how realiable are they? Its aftermarket much like diff lockers. So are they reliable?
2) can you fit them to any 4x4?
3) are they expensive? If not, why aren’t they one of the first Mods you do to your 4x4?
4) driving comfort?

I will think up more questions as answers start flowing in.

[ThysleRoux]

Have a look at these :http://www.tibus-offroad.com/en/ they were about 10k euro per set about 5 years ago.

Reenen has a set of Unimog axles that he is planning to use in his project.

[XJ Junkie]

Portals are super tough but super expensive. It’ll also be expensive to lift a vehicle high enough to fit them. Then fitting them isn’t straight forward.

You get massive clearance but bugger all articulation. But you’ll also need to wear a kidney belt permanently.

[Mike Nel]

So in essence fitting portal axels would be for a trail 4x4 only? Not something you would do to your Fortuner?

[XJ Junkie]

They are common on army & mine vehicles. But due to the big increase in unsprung mass, they’d probably work well in keeping a Fortuna the right way up.

[ThysleRoux]

Portals are super tough but super expensive. It’ll also be expensive to lift a vehicle high enough to fit them. Then fitting them isn’t straight forward.

You get massive clearance but bugger all articulation. But you’ll also need to wear a kidney belt permanently.

Thr TIBUS bolt-ons in the link in my previous post need no suspension lift, as it raises the vehicle up to 8 inches on the portals alone. Standard axle and suspension, wheel alignment, unaffected steering geometry, the ACRONYMS are not affected, etc but allowing bigger tyres without regearing of the diffs. Add a 4" long-arm lift to a Rubicon and it will be unstoppable. [DROOL]

[Mad Manny]

The Iveco Daily 4x4 has Portal Axles...


EDIT: I'm wrong - it doesn't....

[KurtG]

The Iveco Daily 4x4 has Portal Axles...


EDIT: I'm wrong - it doesn't....

Incredibly intelligent and insightful post, thanks for that Manny


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Oppies3800]

Maybe DawidLoubser can share his input here. His Mog has portal axles

[Samaya]

Tibus has portals for the Jimny

I know what I want for Christmas

[Saxj]

A Jimny with 380mm under the axles!

[Johannes]

Tibus has portals for the Jimny

I know what I want for Christmas

Better buy quick !!! Before the rand really tumbles

[dawidloubser]

I don't lie when I say that portal axles are the best possible thing for serious off-roading.

On the Unimog, they provide a double advantage: An instant ground clearance increase of 20cm or more, and increased of robustness to an already very robust drivetrain. Because the gears in each wheel hub work as reduction gears, there is a lot less reduction that needs to happen in the centre differential gears. As a bonus, the size of the centra differential "bulge" on the Mog is consequently smaller than many 4x4s, affording further ground clearance!

I have never found any evidence of anybody ever having broken side shafts on a Unimog. What I have seen, are unimogs dragging themselves, plus a 10 ton load of timber, through deep mud with only one or two wheels having traction, with difflock on, all day long.

Are there downsides?
Several, of course!

First of all, each hub now also needs to be checked and filled with oil. A common fault on Unimogs is a leaking hub seal going undetected (because it leaks INTO the axle shaft, not to the outside), draining itself from oil, and self-destructing. If you go on a trip with me, you'll see me under my unimog at least once a day checking my hub oil levels

Secondly, these axles do not like speed, plain and simple.
Sustained speed over 90km/h are just not what they are made for.
Luckily, in my case, my 1960s diesel engine and gear ratios make that impossible in anyway, but I think this was done for a reason by the engineers at Benz.

Thirdly, as mentioned in this thread, you have much more unsprung mass.
Great for preventing tip-overs off-road.
TERRIBLE for on-road comfort.
I once drove over some stupid unmarked speedbump on a main road at 60km/h with my unimog almost 2 years ago.
I'm still recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

A virtually indestructible drive train with portal axles is the reason why I got a unimog in the first place.
I'm sure a well-modified civilian 4x4 with portals is equally epic off-road.
But all of the down sides will still apply, and it would be VERY costly, so I would think twice.
Portals for sure kill any chance of good on-road behaviour.

[dawidloubser]

A Jimny with 380mm under the axles!

I think we need to start a kickstarter campaign to crowd-fund some of these for saxj (Vic) before the next carnage canyon
Because I think trying to fit some second-hand Mog axles to a Jimny might be... a mistake... for serveral reasons.

[dawidloubser]

Portals are super tough but super expensive. It’ll also be expensive to lift a vehicle high enough to fit them. Then fitting them isn’t straight forward.

You get massive clearance but bugger all articulation. But you’ll also need to wear a kidney belt permanently.

I just wanted to address these - I don't really agree.

Portal axles extend only downwards from a normal axle, not upwards.

With that in mind, you really don't have to lift the suspension at all - the whole vehicle is lifted by moving the wheels further down from the axle.
They neither increase, nor decrease, the inherent articulation of the suspension, assuming everything else stays the same.

However, you could fit much larger wheels, and keep the same articulation that you had, because the larger wheels now have more space before they will rub against the vehicle body.

You're absolutely right in that the increased unsprung mass makes for a worse ride on the road