Bolt-On Portal for some Awesome Ground Clearance!

[JasonInDLH]

First I’ve heard of this portal axle stuff (saw it in January ‘23 Four Wheeler Magazine), but apparently they’ve been around for decades.

Sounds like a winner to lift (3.9”), re-gear(4.10 OEM gears will be like having 5.00 gears and 3.73 OEM gears will be like 4.55) and upsize your brake rotors all in one package. It lifts the axle, thereby giving you much better ground clearance at the differential (as opposed to a suspension lift and bigger tires) and room/ability to run 37” tires (40” if you’re willing to do some trimming).

With 40” tires aired down to 15psi on Currie 60 axle housings you’ll see 16.25” of ground clearance and would be able to drive over one of those 5 gallon Home Depot buckets. Not bad!

A couple downsides I can think of is:

1. Your articulation will be hampered since you’d be using your stock suspension.

2. The 8 ounces of 250W gear oil in these things (multiplied by four wheels) need to be changed every 10,000 miles. I guess this isn’t too bad, but just some added work.

3. I don’t know how much these things cost, but I’ll wager they’re expensive.

Here’s their website:

https://motorsports.74weld.com/jeep...zTqicTJKDSQGLBLi3vhzCV5rSU1SQNZRoCcQIQAvD_BwE

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[TKL223/3]

For the low price of $25k +

 

[Beachcomber72]

Jeep portal? Like we can go back to the early JK days?

maybe I’m here for the wrong portal…

 

[word302]

Portals work really well……for a vehicle that’s designed for them. Keeping the factory suspension/severely hampering articulation is a no-go for anyone that wants to do anything serious off-road. Imagine having 37”-40” tires with 0 uptravel. No thanks.

 

[JasonInDLH]

For the low price of $25k +

Whew…no thanks.

 

[JasonInDLH]

Portals work really well……for a vehicle that’s designed for them. Keeping the factory suspension/severely hampering articulation is a no-go for anyone that wants to do anything serious off-road. Imagine having 37”-40” tires with 0 uptravel. No thanks.

I was thinking these things would be perfect for the mall crawler crowd. I’m thoroughly enjoying my suspension lift.

 

[Dan M.]

I don't think I would put them on a vehicle aftermarket. TFL has some good videos about the G wagen 4x4 squared that comes with them from the factory. Seems pretty bad ass, but it literally costs as much as my house.

 

[Tech Tim]

If you want ground clearance, portals are a great way to get it.

When adding taller tires, you only get 1/2 of the tire height increase at the differential. Going from a 33" up to a 37" tire, maybe a 4" increase in tire height (if you have a true 37"), it's only a 2" increase in ground clearance at the differential.

Add in a portal with a 4" gear spacing and you add in 4"s off differential clearance, that'd be the same as running a tire that's 8" taller.

Thanks to Quinn at 74Weld for the pics.

 

[word302]

If you want ground clearance, portals are a great way to get it.

When adding taller tires, you only get 1/2 of the tire height increase at the differential. Going from a 33" up to a 37" tire, maybe a 4" increase in tire height (if you have a true 37"), it's only a 2" increase in ground clearance at the differential.

Add in a portal with a 4" gear spacing and you add in 4"s off differential clearance, that'd be the same as running a tire that's 8" taller.

Thanks to Quinn at 74Weld for the pics.

A great way to gain ground clearance…………. While sacrificing uptravel. Unless you’re planning on 6.5”+ of lift (which would be absolutely silly on a JL), you’re stuck with the garbage factory suspension. Never mind the added complexity. Portals are far from bulletproof. My buddy has broken several petal units on his buggy. Like I said, they’rea great option for a vehicle (buggy) that was designed around them.

 

[CaJLMetalHead]

A great way to gain ground clearance…………. While sacrificing uptravel. Unless you’re planning on 6.5”+ of lift (which would be absolutely silly on a JL), you’re stuck with the garbage factory suspension. Never mind the added complexity. Portals are far from bulletproof. My buddy has broken several petal units on his buggy. Like I said, they’rea great option for a vehicle (buggy) that was designed around them.

I am not sure I understand the uptravel issue.. can you please explain? Thanks!

 

[jeepingib]

Been working on portals for more than 20 years. The HMMWV is a portal IFS. Albeit a unusual 2 gear box vs the more common 3 gear ones. I would definitely run portals if it weren't so dang expensive. The pros outweigh the cons with the exception of price in my opinion.

 

[word302]

I am not sure I understand the uptravel issue.. can you please explain? Thanks!

When you add a suspension lift you are increasing the distance between the axles/tires and the rest of your vehicle (frame, belly, etc.) as well as typically adding components that allow for more flex (longer springs, shocks, etc.). When you add portals you are gaining 4”-5” of lift without gaining any clearance for more travel as well as stick with the factory suspension components that severely hamper travel unless you manufacture your own. Either way there is little room for longer shocks which is the key to gaining more suspension travel and little room for those axle tubes to move up before hitting the frame. So you’re left with a Jeep that can’t really articulate over terrain which is what Jeeps do best. Typically when you build a buggy with portals you fabricate the frame and upper shock mounts to still allow for tons of travel while also getting the increased ground clearance under the pumpkins. In order to gain the clearance for a well articulating Jeep with portals you’d need a minimum of 6” of lift (4” from the portals and 2” for suspension travel) but your uptravel would still be hampered compared to the same JL with 3”-5” of suspension lift.

 

[Industrialwrench]

Portals rock. Gaining that much clearance is awesome. The stock suspension and travel are pretty damn good.

 

[grimmjeeper]

When you add a suspension lift you are increasing the distance between the axles/tires and the rest of your vehicle (frame, belly, etc.) as well as typically adding components that allow for more flex (longer springs, shocks, etc.). When you add portals you are gaining 4”-5” of lift without gaining any clearance for more travel as well as stick with the factory suspension components that severely hamper travel unless you manufacture your own. Either way there is little room for longer shocks which is the key to gaining more suspension travel and little room for those axle tubes to move up before hitting the frame. So you’re left with a Jeep that can’t really articulate over terrain which is what Jeeps do best. Typically when you build a buggy with portals you fabricate the frame and upper shock mounts to still allow for tons of travel while also getting the increased ground clearance under the pumpkins. In order to gain the clearance for a well articulating Jeep with portals you’d need a minimum of 6” of lift (4” from the portals and 2” for suspension travel) but your uptravel would still be hampered compared to the same JL with 3”-5” of suspension lift.

A lot of lift kits come with bump stop extensions to limit up travel so the larger tires won't contact the fenders.

Also, the longer shocks that come with tall lift kits have a longer compressed lengh which limits up travel as well. That's what you have to have to get the down travel you want.

So in reality, a portal axle wouldn't have much less real world up travel than a standard axle with a lift kit.

 

[word302]

A lot of lift kits come with bump stop extensions to limit up travel so the larger tires won't contact the fenders.

Also, the longer shocks that come with tall lift kits have a longer compressed lengh which limits up travel as well. That's what you have to have to get the down travel you want.

So in reality, a portal axle wouldn't have much less real world up travel than a standard axle with a lift kit.

Sure but you’re limiting travel in general by utilizing stock components. You can’t use longer shocks with portals without also adding a lift or doing some serious modifications to the factory shock mounts. They just don’t make a ton of sense on a Jeep.

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