Thread: Portals & D3's

what are "Portals"?
I knew they were windows we look out off on a ship? but not sure what you mean on a D3 unless you have been checking out deep river crossings?

Portal units are found on "Live Axle" vehicles not "Independent" suspension vehicles such as the D3 or D4.
Buy a Nissan Pootrol if you want them!

Originally Posted by weakestlink

what are "Portals"?
I knew they were windows we look out off on a ship? but not sure what you mean on a D3 unless you have been checking out deep river crossings?

They do help heaps with deep water crossings if you have them ...

They are basically drop axles driven by gears. They usually give about 4 inches of lift which raises diffs and all other under body bits. They are excellent for fitting larger wheel tyre combo's as well.

Not that common on straight axle 4x4's but many of the really serious punters get them fitted. The real issue for many is that they are relatively expensive and in some States are not allowed for rego.

cheers,
Terry

Originally Posted by ~Rich~

Portal units are found on "Live Axle" vehicles not "Independent" suspension vehicles such as the D3 or D4.
Buy a Nissan Pootrol if you want them!

Thats not entirely correct. EG. US Military Humvees are independent with portals

Originally Posted by ~Rich~

Portal units are found on "Live Axle" vehicles not "Independent" suspension vehicles such as the D3 or D4.
Buy a Nissan Pootrol if you want them!

Why??
I know a beautiful 110 Puma on portals,and it definately isn't a Datsun.

Wayne

Originally Posted by ~Rich~

Portal units are found on "Live Axle" vehicles not "Independent" suspension vehicles such as the D3 or D4.
Buy a Nissan Pootrol if you want them!

Not at all. Portals are factory fitment to H1 (and later?) Hummers - which are 4-wheel independent, as well as IRS VW buses, and several military 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8s with fully independant suspensions. In fact Unimogs are probably one of the few solid axle vehicles which came with factory portals.

I constantly see people on this site shout down anyopne who dare suggest a modification... Rather than fix this silly non-mod culture, such threads have been relegated to the "modified zone"

TerryO,

There is no reason it couldn't be done, and it would probably be a good idea IMHO as the D3 needs some extra clearance... However I suspect you would be the first.

The easiest way may be to modify hummer portals to fit (or rather modify the suspension arms and axle shafts so you can fit hummer portals.

Lots of guys in the US have done this (hummer portal grafted onto a solid axle).


The only major PITA I can forsee would be sorting the ABS system, and dealing with the 5? computers the ABS system talks to...

EDIT:
Hummer portal in place on a hummer

Originally Posted by ~Rich~

Portal units are found on "Live Axle" vehicles not "Independent" suspension vehicles such as the D3 or D4.
Buy a Nissan Pootrol if you want them!

Hi Rich,

yes I know Patrol, Fender and other 4x4 straight axle owners fit them occassionally. The question was, could they be fitted to a D3? So can they be fitted to a vehicle with independant suspension?

cheers,
Terry

Maxi drive portals give 5" of lift,and can be engineered in NSW.Which is important to us

Wayne

Originally Posted by TerryO

They do help heaps with deep water crossings if you have them ...

They are basically drop axles driven by gears. They usually give about 4 inches of lift which raises diffs and all other under body bits. They are excellent for fitting larger wheel tyre combo's as well.

Not that common on straight axle 4x4's but many of the really serious punters get them fitted. The real issue for many is that they are relatively expensive and in some States are not allowed.

cheers,
Terry