Bolt-On Portal for some Awesome Ground Clearance!

[grimmjeeper]

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.

So now you're talking about all aspects of articulation? We were talking about up travel.

I wish you wouldn't keep evading salient points whe your BS is called out.

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[word302]

So now you're talking about all aspects of articulation? We were talking about up travel.

I wish you wouldn't keep evading salient points whe your BS is called out.

Well grimy, since you’re the expert I’ll bow down to you. Have you ever tried to setup portals on a Jeep? I’ve helped a buddy and I stand by my assertions. When adding a suspension lift most of us usually do everything we can to add as little bump stop extension as possible to maximize uptravel. Chopping fenders, using wheels with less backspacing, etc. When you add portals into the equation there isn’t anything you can do to maximize uptravel, you’re stuck with the factory bumps, until you start also adding lift. Companies like Metalcloak have come up with shocks with much smaller collapsed lengths to also maximize articulation. You can’t do any of that with a portal. They are super awesome for a rig built around them. For a Jeep they just don’t have a very good cost/benefit ratio.

 

[grimmjeeper]

Well grimy, since you’re the expert I’ll bow down to you. Have you ever tried to setup portals on a Jeep? I’ve helped a buddy and I stand by my assertions. When adding a suspension lift most of us usually do everything we can to add as little bump stop extension as possible to maximize uptravel. Chopping fenders, using wheels with less backspacing, etc. When you add portals into the equation there isn’t anything you can do to maximize uptravel, you’re stuck with the factory bumps, until you start also adding lift. Companies like Metalcloak have come up with shocks with much smaller collapsed lengths to also maximize articulation. You can’t do any of that with a portal. They are super awesome for a rig built around them. For a Jeep they just don’t have a very good cost/benefit ratio.

Ah. You helped a buddy. I should have known that you're the expert...

 

[Tech Tim]

. 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.

What portals are your buddy breaking?

 

[CptFloridaMan]

Not that I’ll ever buy portals because $25k is steep, but what does it mean for balljoint longevity if it replaces the stock knuckles? It seems like a lot more leverage would be put on the Cs/BJs. Although I don’t believe it would be different than running insane offset wheels.

 

[Tech Tim]

Not that I’ll ever buy portals because $25k is steep, but what does it mean for balljoint longevity if it replaces the stock knuckles? It seems like a lot more leverage would be put on the Cs/BJs. Although I don’t believe it would be different than running insane offset wheels.

Yeah, that is a bit of jingle for sure, but they are selling. When I talked with Quinn at 74Weld a month ago, they had already sold out 1/3 of the first run. Although thinking about it, I didn't ask him how many were in the run. The numbers are not that impressive if they only did a run of three as opposed to a run of 300...

The official lift gained is 3.88", so there is still room to do a 2" lift for extra travel and better aftermarket springs/shocks.

That also helps cut down on the ball joint leverage compared to a taller portal like a Unimog or Volvo portal.

 

[multicam]

This kind of strikes me as an Everest situation… why do this? Because it’s there… I guess?

If I had the money to do this I’d rather have a sane JL and a separate, dedicated buggy type vehicle that is built for this. But hey, to each their own.

 

[Tech Tim]

It seems like a lot more leverage would be put on the Cs/BJs. Although I don’t believe it would be different than running insane offset wheels.

I grabbed the spec sheet off the 74WELD website and they had this little graphic on it discussing scrub. The difference is just over 1.5"s, so @CptFloridaMan is pretty spot-on with his comment about insane offset wheels.

Quinn at 74WELD says he has 4K miles on his portal'd 392 JL and his engineer has 20K on the set in his JK.

 

[word302]

What portals are your buddy breaking?

SuperATV Gen 3 billet. Granted this is on a competition buggy with stickies but they are definitely the weak link of his drive train. I know he blew another one up soon after this one. This took out the housing so the entire portal has to be replaced.

 

[AcesandEights]

The stock JL has quite a bit of flex. Add portals and you can run 33"+ tires and have the clearance of a much taller tire. You put less stress on the components with smaller tires, while gaining the clearance. It creates insane clearances (approach, breakover, and departure angles) with "stock" tires. All that said, you can maintain stock suspension while being about to run a 38"+ tire.

In fact, the Mercedes G-Wagen comes stock with portals. They are able to run a 36" tire on a vehicle that looks like a stock mall-crawler.

 

[Tech Tim]

SuperATV Gen 3 billet. Granted this is on a competition buggy with stickies but they are definitely the weak link of his drive train. I know he blew another one up soon after this one. This took out the housing so the entire portal has to be replaced.

Wait.... Portals suck because your friend has broken a bunch of ATV portals?

 

[Ratbert]

This kind of strikes me as an Everest situation… why do this? Because it’s there… I guess?

If I had the money to do this I’d rather have a sane JL and a separate, dedicated buggy type vehicle that is built for this. But hey, to each their own.

Exactly. It's a significant increase in unsprung weight, which has ramifications for the rest of the suspension. Pretty much everything has to be upgraded, but I guess if you're paying over $25k for that one piece then that's not too much of a concern.

If you do a 2" lift then the Jeep is lifted almost 6" (3.88" for the portals per @Tech Tim above). Driving that high up doesn't sound like fun to me, but I prefer to cruise the interstate to Moab at 80-ish. And, of course, the portals are offset, so you sure as hell don't want to hit a significant pothole at speed.

 

[c20040215]

Wait.... Portals suck because your friend has broken a bunch of ATV portals?

They suck because that's not what he is running. You gotta get used to that guys comments.

 

[Ratbert]

In fact, the Mercedes G-Wagen comes stock with portals. They are able to run a 36" tire on a vehicle that looks like a stock mall-crawler.

I'm not that familiar with their models, but the AMG G63 4x4² (the one with portals) seems to start at about $250k while the non 4x4² AMG G63 seems to start at about $179k. I'm fairly sure that they don't "come stock" with portals.

 

[AcesandEights]

Didn't you just say they did? "...the AMG G63 4x4² (the one with portals) seems to start at about $250k..."

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