An expedition truck on portals...

[Oilworker]

Hi,

after 4 years of research and a few times getting really close to buying something existing, like modified Volvo C303 portals, and a year of design and prototyping work by the guys at www.killeraxles.com, itīs almost done

We are currently fitting these new portals to my expedition proven Defender axles (the one in my Avatar) and these will then be fitted under my 130CC which will then undergo some further modifications to become a safe and reliable truck for a few solo trips in the coming years.







You may ask yourself, why portals? Well, first of all, for the trips that I want to do, I need as much ground clearance as possible and want to stay with a reasonable and locally available tyre size. I will be driving 35" Cooper STTs for now.
The stress on drivetrain and halfshafts is greatly reduced by the portalīs gearing. In our case itīs almost by 60%.
The axles get wider by fitting the portals (add approx. 4" to each side) but by using wheels with a bigger offset the overall width of the Defender axles is only increased by about 2.5".
Furthermore I wanted a tyre inflation system to control the tyre pressure. This system can be safely installed with portals.

Further modifications will be again a external rollcage, 2 fully waterproof winches (currently in development by the guys who build these drop boxes), underbody protection for the gearbox and rear, 2nd fuel tank on the tray and a new dashboard to take all the additional instruments, the notebook mounts and the navigation equipment.

I donīt want to have this in my Defender again...


By summer it should be fully done as the first trip will be in late summer.

So long,

Robert

[Antichrist]

I don't have any need for portals, but definitely interested in how it progresses.

[barlowrs]

Wow, that is sexy! Nice work, can't wait to see her all done

[haven]

The KillerAxles web pages include this one, documenting a project that put Unimog portals onto a Jeep YJ's Dana 44 axles. The result is a stock-looking Jeep with 37 inch tall tires!

http://www.killeraxles.com/html/wran...talachsen.html

Note: The page loads slowly. The text is in German, natürlich, since the KillerAxles headquarters is located in Schortens, a city near Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany.

KillerAxles also has a shop in Ogden, Utah, where they prepared the axles for this this rock crawler using Unimog parts



Read about this competition buggy here http://www.4wdandsportutility.com/fe...her/index.html

Looks like Tibus Offroad also makes lockers for American axles
http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/brandpa...ker/index.html

[Wander]

There is an expression here "you're loaded for bear" which applies very well.

Interesting build, please post updates. Where are you going that will require that much clearence?

[Oilworker]

First trip: Russia, all the way up north to cross the Ural mountain range above the polar circle and then drive home via Ekaterinburg.

Second trip: Up the Panjir Valley to the Lapislazuli Mines. I was close but I couldnīt get there all the way on my first trip in 2002 and Iīve tried twice after that.

But hey, weīll see :-)

[SeaRubi]

these look similar to the drop boxes that maxidrive were making - are they using some of the maxi parts or is it an all new box?

[Oilworker]

They look similar because there arnīt that many ways to build a good drop box.
I sadly was too late when I heared about the Maxi Drive bolt-on portals.
Mal Storey had already sold his last 5 sets to Outback Import of France and was not going to make any more as they took so long to manufacture.

Hereīs some images of the Maxi Drive portals:

front drop box:


rear drop box:


Wolfgang Tibus developed his drop boxes using his experience with portals and portal conversions and we had a long chat about what I had learned about the MaxiDrive stuff and about what I was expecting from a portal conversion.
I think that what he developed is amazing and will hold.

There are quite a few guys out there that keep insisting that the Defenderīs axles are too weak, but they always think about extremes.
Mal Storey told me that he developed his drop boxes for a tyre size of max 35" and he knew of no customer that had broken one of his drop boxes in "normal" offroad use.
The ones that broke or more correct, where the axles proved to be the weak point, where being used with tyre sizes above 35" and/or in extreme offroading, like rock crawling, etc.

The drop boxes that the Tibus family developed are for regular, daily use with "normal" tyre sizes.
How strong they are is something that heīll test this summer in his rallye Defender 100" that heīs going to build and race.
I will tell you about how mine did when I return from Russia :-)

Weīll see.

[Root Moose]

This thread is really putting too many ideas in my head.

[Oilworker]

May I ask which ideas? :-) Just out of professional curiosity ;-)