Thread: Maxi Drive Portal Axle Drop Boxes

>I saw a photo advert for Davis Automotive that shows a defender 110
>well back with portals, has anyone seen it?? sorry I cant remember
>where I saw the ad - probably browing in a newsagency

Forget the blokes name. Is Mal Val Dyseldyk's (sp? - the bloke who won Tuff Truck in the yellow Bushrangie) father owns that 110. I see the vehicle at Tuff Truck every year.

Or could do what Mal did with his Bushie. Cut mog 404 diffs with Nissan GU internals to put airlockers in them.

Or go with Mog 406 diffs. ARB airlockers are made for them apparently (so I was told). They also do come optional with disc brakes.

If you are patient enough Mog diffs do occasionaly come up on ebay very very cheaply.

Originally Posted by BigJon

What brakes is he running? Aren't the Volvo axles drum brakes?

He is running the standard Volvo drum brakes, apparently the engineer was happy with them!

I haven't tracked the company down yet but from an internet surf for portal axles it also appears that a USA company makes them for Dana 60 fornt and rear as well. That would be sweet but I bet they would cost a small fortune - actually it appears any portals cost a small fortune, which is a shame - portals and the new V8 diesel in my disco would be hot.

The volvo sound like a good complete change over as they are no where near as large as the uni mog - I actually owned a 404 unimog and sold it dirt cheap before I realised just what I had sob sob the new owner did a complete ground up resto, then died having never driven it, now his son has it and not interested in selling it back. Oh well we live and learn, I originally sold it as it is left hand drive and thought it would be easier to buy a right hand drive one derrrr stupid stupid me

And no I am not telling what I sold it for as it is way to embarissing

Blythe

Originally Posted by blitz

And no I am not telling what I sold it for as it is way to embarissing

Blythe

Now you have to tell us, we won't laugh, promise!

Bloody hell Ok

the mog came out of the NT desert so not a miniscule spot of rust any were, it had done under 1000 miles from new (700 something) cab had been pulled off but was sitting on it and it had no tray oh and one tyre had gone flat I got it for $500-00 and sold it for that as well, all glass was good, some of the levers had been pulled out of the transfer case but were sitting in the cab and it had rags over it that had obviously been there for years. But that was the reason for the rebuild - me I would have just changed the oil done a few laps changed it again and that would have been it. But the guy who bought it replaced all bearings from mercedes germany and seals etc, cost him a bloody fortune

It was about oh I dont know ten fifteen years ago, I had young kids and not a lot of money when the missus saw it she hit the roof so I sold it, as I thought I was happily married at the time - not long after marrage went pear shaped so I really missed out with the bloody unimog

This sort of thing is the reason why bill gates doesn't take advise from me


Blythe

Mate, we won't laugh - we'll cry along with you.

I, too, have missed out on or sold some good stuff because my wife hasn't seen how good it was. Some women (NM excluded ) wear different glasses to us.

Ron

Originally Posted by Oilworker

Thanx!

I have considered the Volvo axles, as friends of mine drive a few 6x6s and I have just come across a shop that has quite a few of those axles in stock.
For me it depends on how tough they are in everyday use. The transfer ratio starts from 5.90:1 and the Defender is 3.54:1.

I think these axles are wider, too, arn't they?

To be honest, I still like the idea of bolt-ons. Will try to get hold of Mal this week, or maybe anyone has a set of pre-owned Maxi-Drive Portals???

Cheers, Robert

I have volvo's under my bushie. Brackets for coils and suspension links are simple to do. The trickiest part is the drag link - you will need the volvo drag link for the wheel end.

Down side is the lower gearing. The more popular 6:1 are hard to find these days. The 6 x 6 volvo was 7:1.

They are strong because the portal reduction (approx 2:1) halves the loads on the cv's, axles and diffs. The weakest part is probably the 2 pinion diff centre in the 4 X 4 version. The 6 X 6 version is 4 pinion (but 7:1 overall)

The diff locks are vacuum operated, the vacuum actuator from LT95 centre diff lock can be adapted. They are easy to convert to cable operated. They have a lever inside the axle case and the actuator is mounted outside (on top, right (2 o'clock) of the pumpkin).

They have drum brakes which have no problem pulling up a defender. Shoes and brake cylinders are same as some rover parts. Portal-tek http://www.portal-tek.com/ make a disc brake conversion which suits both the rover 5 on 6.5" and 5 on 5.5" stud patterns (Volvos are 8 on 8.75").

Volvo wheel track is approx 1540 mm (60.6"), about 50 mm (2") more than rover.

Easy to re-drill the front portal box to rotate the diff pinion up to suit coil sprung rover driveshaft.

The portal-tek is one of the best options for complete custom portals if you have the $$. They are based upon the volvo C303, but improved in all areas and use ford 9" centres (for best range of ratios).

Thanx John,

I have just told one of my friends driving these 6x6 Volvos to check for a nice pair of axles, as they are currently starting to import a whole load of 6x6 Volvos.

On the other side, it seems like quite a few shops are working on bolt-on portals currently.

www.daur4x4.de has a prototype running somewhere in California (6000mls so far)
and www.killeraxles.com is in the final stages of production and will introduce them later this year.

Cheers, Robert