Thread: Portals & D3's

Originally Posted by TerryO

One other point that has been raised is why would anyone want to modify a expensive D3.

Some D3's are a massive amount cheaper now then they were even 12 months ago. Even on here I have heard of D3 owners being offered extremely low trade in prices and I have seen D3's for sale under 30k now.

Good D2a's sell for high teens for V8's and for low twentys for TD5's.

The gap between D2a and D3's is closing so D3's aren't the expensive vehicle that many may think. I saw a top condition 2005 HSE V8 D3 with only 120k on the clock get bid up to only $28,100 recently on ebay. I know the owner and he is struggling to get a buyer at any price so it won't be long before there are plenty of D3's being sold for numbers in the high twenty thousands.

So even now D3's are fast becoming affordable 4x4's for the guys who do mods to their vehicles. Go have a look on the D2 site, there are pelnty of highly modded D2's out there that would struggle with rego but that doesn't stop them being modded.

cheers,
Terry

So is this now more than an "academic" question? Are you equating those kinds of mods with fitting portals? The "guys who do mods to their vehicles" don't normally go that far, and for good reason. To my mind, even a D2a would still be too expensive a car to go destroying by fitting a mod like that. Try driving it down the freeway! An old D1 on a trailer maybe .........

Although I was called nuts for doing the mods in the pic below, at least the vehicle was still able to be returned to near-standard in a couple of hours. You could probably go further and still be within the NCOP guidelines.

And still be able to drive the car around town

Cheers,

Gordon

Originally Posted by TerryO

Hi Gordon,

there is one other really good reason for fitting portals and that is to allow much bigger tyre rim combo's and the D3 is severly limited for options with its present set up. Only portals would allow much bigger tyre/rim combo's as far as I can see.

Add 4" portals along with new bars back and front and I'm guessing you could fit 33's to 35's on a D3 and the suspension would still be at standard angles not at hyper extended angles that you would get with a spacer on top of the airbag .

That being the case with standard angles on the suspenion you could still use the Air suspension to raise it another two inches and or lower it if need be.

Would you not agree?

cheers,
Terry

Re-read my post before - you don't need portals to fit 35" tyres to a D3. Not even a suspension lift. A body-lift and some wheel arch cutting will do it.

Cheers,

Gordon

Originally Posted by gghaggis

So is this now more than an "academic" question? Are you equating those kinds of mods with fitting portals? The "guys who do mods to their vehicles" don't normally go that far, and for good reason. To my mind, even a D2a would still be too expensive a car to go destroying by fitting a mod like that. Try driving it down the freeway! An old D1 on a trailer maybe .........

Although I was called nuts for doing the mods in the pic below, at least the vehicle was still able to be returned to near-standard in a couple of hours. You could probably go further and still be within the NCOP guidelines.

And still be able to drive the car around town

Cheers,

Gordon

For me it is academic because I have no plans to do it, but as I'm saying this will become a serious option for the next generation of D3 owners.

As for there not being many highly modified D2a's around I don't think your looking very far, there are plenty and most mods that are done the owners accept that they are on a one way street.

Still that is their choice just as it was your choice to mod your D3 when most others thought you were crazy for doing it.

Just because some present D3/4 owners think mods like portals are daft doesn't meen that everyone does, nor that it won't be done by many in the not to distant future.

I reckon if the bloke in Germany who is doing kits for Puma's right now did kist for D3's at a half decent cost then in a couple of years you would start to see D3's with these mods starting to pop up more and more.

Do you agree or not that it would be a better vehicle off road if you had a D3 with say a 6" lift using portals and larger tyres with standard suspension angles compared to having a modded jacked up D3 with a simialr 6" lift that already has hyper extended suspension before you even start to go off road?

Which has the potential to work better?

By the way Gordon, for what it is worth, thank you for the intelligent debate I'm enjoying this discussion and learning lots of interesting information as it goes on.

cheers,
Terry

Terry,

I don't doubt there are many highly-modified D2's around. But do you know of any with portals? In fact, have you ever seen a 4WD with after-market portals?

They are as rare as hen's teeth. Have you stopped to think why?

Even within the narrow confines of the dedicated off-roader, there is a very small niche group who would need or consider them. And a D3 with 35" tyres would probably keep up with most of them even without portals - actually an RRS would be better, as it's a shorter wheelbase

If you're really considering driving that kind of terrain, the size and weight of a D3 (now an extra 6" further off the ground!!) wouldn't make it a practical vehicle to expend those kind of resources on. For the same or lesser cost, you could take an RRS, bob-tail it, remove the front plastic bumper cover and supporting structures, add a 2" body lift, cut back the wheel arches and fit 35" muddies. Add shortened HS rods, modify the camber and you're looking at around 6" of extra lift, without venturing into "hyper exended" angles or using portals.

Hmm - once mine's out of warranty, sounds like a project

Cheers,

Gordon

Originally Posted by gghaggis

Terry,

I don't doubt there are many highly-modified D2's around. But do you know of any with portals? In fact, have you ever seen a 4WD with after-market portals?

They are as rare as hen's teeth. Have you stopped to think why?

Even within the narrow confines of the dedicated off-roader, there is a very small niche group who would need or consider them. And a D3 with 35" tyres would probably keep up with most of them even without portals - actually an RRS would be better, as it's a shorter wheelbase

If you're really considering driving that kind of terrain, the size and weight of a D3 (now an extra 6" further off the ground!!) wouldn't make it a practical vehicle to expend those kind of resources on. For the same or lesser cost, you could take an RRS, bob-tail it, remove the front plastic bumper cover and supporting structures, add a 2" body lift, cut back the wheel arches and fit 35" muddies. Add shortened HS rods, modify the camber and you're looking at around 6" of extra lift, without venturing into "hyper exended" angles or using portals.

Hmm - once mine's out of warranty, sounds like a project

Cheers,

Gordon

Well Gordon I for one would be very interested in seeing your RRS with those mods just mentioned.
In fact once it was done if you felt so inclined to include me in a days off roading in it then chances are I'd jump on a plane and come visit.

cheers,
Terry

Actually, why even bother stopping at portals?

" + title + "

Cheers,

Gordon

Originally Posted by gghaggis

I don't doubt there are many highly-modified D2's around. But do you know of any with portals? In fact, have you ever seen a 4WD with after-market portals?

They are as rare as hen's teeth. Have you stopped to think why?

Even within the narrow confines of the dedicated off-roader, there is a very small niche group who would need or consider them. And a D3 with 35" tyres would probably keep up with most of them even without portals - actually an RRS would be better, as it's a shorter wheelbase

There are probably at least 10 members on here who have portals. I suspect the reason more don't is due to cost more than anything else.

There is even a portal axled D2(a?) on here (Monsterdisco(?)) - from the UK - which has unimog axles and is apparently fully road legal in the UK. Not my cup of tea, but then... There are also a few portal axles D2s in iceland.

IME portals are mainly suited to the deeply rutted tracks in VIC and TAS. I haven't felt the need for them in WA. However I wished I had portals when I was back in QLD recently.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

IME portals are mainly suited to the deeply rutted tracks in VIC and TAS. I haven't felt the need for them in WA. However I wished I had portals when I was back in QLD recently.

I think the VersaTracks would be a better proposition - just chuck them in the back and fit when required. But at $18,000 a set, I guess there wouldn't be too many of them either!

Cheers,

Gordon