Volvo Portals. N.A.M?

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

So how are these comming along are you still getting them?
How long before you get them?
Got any more pics or info on them yet?

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

RUFF wrote:

So how are these comming along are you still getting them?
How long before you get them?
Got any more pics or info on them yet?

Funny you should ask that. I just spoke on the phone this evening with my Malaysian contact. He's getting them next weekend and he'll be ready to send them in three weeks. I'm paying him half next week and he's paying the other half himself. I will pay the remainder when my shipping agent has confirmed they're on their way. I should get them pretty soon - depending how long it takes by boat from KL to Melbourne. No one else is getting them with me at this time.

I have no new info or pics. But apparently there were quite a few coiled vehicles running them in the RFC this year. Rangies, 80s LC, etc...

Oh yeah and the exchange rate is not too shabby. The Ringit is only worth 47cents of the Aussie dollar. Groovy.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

Hey Steve/Volvo C304,

I see you lurking there. Post something! This importing progress is pretty cool eh? You got anytime to swing by and visit the guys who are getting my axles (whose names shall remain anonymous on this board)? Let me know if you can do me a favour and just have a look at the merchandise for me. Cheers.

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Malaysia

Hi Nam, Guys &Gals,

I did speak to your contact a couple of days ago, and talked in general about the RFC and portal axles. Seems some of the european competitors were buying portals straight off the trucks of some Malaysian competitors after the event for... sit down now... up to 10,000 ringgit a pair! What's that? AUS$4,700???!!!

Then again these are the fast ratio axles 5.99:1, but come on! The slow ratios are only a rev more.

There are no more fast ratio portals in the country now, unless someone's hoarding them ;-) The slow ratio axles like the ones you've ordered are in dwindling supply, but I don't expect them to run out anytime soon.

Attached is a pic of a buddy's axles which he's gonna put on a Land Rover Series 3 88".... just to keep you drooling. You'll have to excuse him for the Hammerite Red though ;-)

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2002 10:10 pm

wots the difference between volvo portals and mog axles ??

can sum1 show me sum pix ?

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

Steve you need to . that pic but without the spaces in the file name.

Also the only thing that concerns me with these axles is how strong the CV joints are in the front.And can you get hold of replacements over there second hand or new?

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Malaysia

Lets try that attachment again.

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

More pics

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Malaysia

A pic of the rear of my truck Its SOA at the back and spring under in front. The bottom of the axle tube has a torque rod to prevent axle wrap. You can just see the bush end in the pic.

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

Cool Steve what is your rig and do you have a pic of the front diff fitted?

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Malaysia

RUFF - Thanx for the pic posting tip. You can get used parts for the axle here, though that might mean scavenging useable parts from a damaged axle. I really don't know how strong the axles are.

Hypolux - I don't think I can answer your question. The only real Mog I've seen in Malaysia was a U1250. The axles looked strong but the steering linkages were strangely set up slightly below the axle tube... sorta defeats the purpose of the portals !?

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Malaysia

RUFF - I drive a Volvo C304. Its the heavier version of a 303. 100 inch wheelbase, and shorter than a Ford Ranger pickup.

Here's the pic of the front axle.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

i dont think they will be strong enough for our heavy rigs, with big tyres, they only run between 34" and 38" standard, on 5 tonne trucks, i think severe abuse in rocks will kill them.........

BUT.....its only my speculation, i dont really know at all!!!!

team purple in the US has been running these for a while and for a limited time is offering, brand new front axles heavier duty than stock, supposedly making these axles really strong, for $320 (US) per side, this adds up to another $1500 on top of that cost

i dunno, they should be plenty stronger than toyota stuff though

Joined: 23 Oct 2002 Location: Brisbane, Australia

volvoc304 wrote:

RUFF - I drive a Volvo C304. Its the heavier version of a 303. 100 inch wheelbase, and shorter than a Ford Ranger pickup.

Here's the pic of the front axle.

Steve,

How much bump is in there bloke? 100mm max?

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Malaysia

tjpete - 100mm looks about right. There's more droop than uptravel Springs are stock, as I want to keep the truck original.

bj on roids - Standard tyre size is 34 inches, and you're correct that the truck has a gross laden weight of 5 tonnes. Empty truck is 3.5 tonnes. How strong are they? I have no idea either! There's virtually no rock crawling in Malaysia... its all mud. I have heard a story of a half shaft breaking though. Seems the guy was spinning 35 inch centipedes in the mud when it suddenly found traction... ouch.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

volvoc304 wrote:

tjpete - 100mm looks about right. There's more droop than uptravel Springs are stock, as I want to keep the truck original.

bj on roids - Standard tyre size is 34 inches, and you're correct that the truck has a gross laden weight of 5 tonnes. Empty truck is 3.5 tonnes. How strong are they? I have no idea either! There's virtually no rock crawling in Malaysia... its all mud. I have heard a story of a half shaft breaking though. Seems the guy was spinning 35 inch centipedes in the mud when it suddenly found traction... ouch.

thanks champ that is some awesome information you have provided us with, very useful!!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002

Steve, Great info and pics.

Have you got any more pics of your rig so we can see how high it is with the SOA and portals?

Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Location: Malaysia

Dirtpig - Here's a pic of the whole truck. The rear is spring over axle. You can see the rear spring hanger (at 11o'clock on the rear wheel) in the pic. Just in front of the rear wheel is the spring (top) and torque tube (below it). The rear spring sits on the side of the chassis, while the torque tube sits under the chassis.

In front, its spring under axle, and you can see the front eye of the leaf spring under the chassis.

Tyres are 34x11.5x16 JT2's. Wheelbase is 100 inches.

Hopefully from this picture, and the previous ones I posted above, you'll get an idea of what clearances/height/lift etc you can achieve on your rigs with the Volvo portal axles.

Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Location: Greenbank

So the volvo portals have a torque tube on the diffs?
I thought they were just a normal pull out centre with tail shafts?

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Your Mummas House!

TONY, see the picture of the red ones above??

thats what they look like

the "torque tube" is the thing below the leaf spring, to stop axle wrap look at the rear wheel see like the link there

Joined: 22 Oct 2002

Thanks Steve.

From what I have heard / read / seen a torque tube in the Unimog sense is a hollow tube that houses the driveshaft and runs from the transfer case to the axle.

That link, while it would control axle wrap due to torque would probably be called a torque rod or link over here.

I bet the truck is a barrel of laughs offroad Very Happy

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

Volvos have gone up to RM6000 since the RFC. That's around AU$2800 before shipping. And now that I gotta handle shipping myself, I'm looking down the barrel of AU$3500 to get them here. And then I gotta do disc brake and stud pattern conversion too. But... it's still a go-er. I will post updates.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002

Why do you have to change the stud pattern?

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

I want to avoid running custom rims if possible. It'll be expensive to replace if I total one, and it would leave me with more options (such as having street and offroad tyres on different rims). If I do a disc brake conversion, I might as well do the stud pattern conversion to something like the Landcruiser 6 stud.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002

its not hard or expensive to make up centres.

Just get some of the cheap white steelies, cut the centre out and get a new flat centre laser, plasma, water jet cut. Weld it in to the backspacing required. Pretty simple.

I would imagine it is going to be cheaper/easier to get the wheels to match the diffs than the diffs to match the wheels, but havent seen a volvo axle either.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

Yeah it may be easier to match wheels to axles but I think it's better to match axles to wheels. This only has to be done once and then I don't have to worry anymore. Otherwise, everytime I need a new wheel I gotta get it made up. Too much effort in the long run.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002

How often do you break wheels????

I think you would break axle parts more often than wheels.

Your project though. Go for it. Glad to see someone else doing something different!

Joined: 22 Oct 2002 Location: Melbourne

I've seen it happen a few times. Also, I wanna run street tyres and a beadlock set of offroad ones. Discs will be good to have, so might as well convert the stud pattern. Thanks for the encouragement, but I bet you're just waiting for this to blow up in my face. Either way, it's fun to watch from the sidelines.

Joined: 22 Oct 2002

no not all. I encourage people to have a go at modifying things themselves.

I want to see more trucks out there with different mods.

Joined: 24 Oct 2002

NAM have you decided on your running gear yet? any new photo's yet after the angle grinder.