volvo portal diffs

[LS]

Just thinking out loud. Does anyone know much about these?
Who is running them and what are they under?
Where can you get them?
How strong are they?
Where do you get parts if you break them? How much do they cost? How wide compared to a Hilux diff? etc.
What kind of money are they?
What stud pattern and minimum rim size?

I'm considering them as an alternative to Hilux diffs under the zook I am building.

[hotrod4x4]

There was alot of discussion on them in the Rover section a while back......more than 12months, but whether its still there or not i dunno
try a search

[junior80]

Who is running them and what are they under?

There's a guy on the IH8MUD forums with them under an 80 series, his screen name is TiredIron or something

Where can you get them?

You would have to find them overseas, most likely from a military auction but you never know someone might have a set kicking around. Try www.expedition-imports.com Scott might be able to help you out

How strong are they?

Probably about as strong as a set of 404's

Where do you get parts if you break them? How much do they cost? How wide compared to a Hilux diff? etc.

You would find it very difficult to get parts, Parts would most likely be very expensive if you could find them. They would be close to 1600mm wide, very close to an 80 series.

What kind of money are they?

about the same as a set of mogs, if you can find them

What stud pattern and minimum rim size?

would have about a 20 inch rim, so around a 37" up to about 42" tyre, you would use the original wheels or have some custom made.

I looked into alot when I wanted a set for my 80 series. I came to the conclusion that volvos would be a bad idea because they are very few and far between, which means all the parts would need to be custom made. I only wanted volvos as the from pinion was on the correct side for the cruiser.

So, I thought about a set of 404 diffs, wieghed up the cost of converting the cruiser plus the fact that I would be basically turning a nice tourer into a comp truck which wasn't what I wanted. So, I just bought a mog. In the end it cost about the same to buy the whole truck as it would have cost to put the diffs under the cruiser. Plus you can get any spare part I need for the mog and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

If your interested in a set of mogs I can help.

[LS]

Hey thanks for some great info. The advantages I am considering are

1. Pumpkin is on the right side - no extra engineering involved here.
2. Lighter than mogs - mogs would be pretty heavy for a zook
3. narrower than mogs - it's only a zook

Are these correct assumptions?

It seems I could
1. make spring mounts
2. Bolt the axles up
3. customize some tailshafts
4. Customize some steering arms
5. Customize some rims - can I run 15" or are the drums too big? What size are the drums?
5. Run some vacuum lines and solenoids for the Lockers
6. Drive away

What have I missed?

I know it's never that simple but mogs seem to be a lot of stuffing around, starting with the pumkin in the wrong place etc.

[Gwagensteve]

Do you intend enigneering this car for road use?

Drums can be machined down to fit 15" wheels

They're pretty wide with 15" rims on them- the stock 16's have massive backspacing.

They have drums all round

Axle wrap will be a major problem is you're staying leaf.

antisquat etc is a bit more complex with protals if your going link.

NAM was building a zook with volvos on it about 10000 years ago.
Steve.

[LS]

Good point on the axle wrap. I'v never had enough horse power to worry about it before but I guess the extra leverage created by the portals will add to the strain.

1. Will I only have to worry about axle wrap on the rear?
2. Are these things oversprung or undersprung?
3. What are the chances of getting it engineered in NSW?
4. How wide are the standard 16" rims?

All the help you are giving me is great. Thank you

[Gwagensteve]

I tink the stock 16's are 6" wide. they run a 9.00X16 stock.

You're going to have axlewrap at both ends- the ratio of traction to gearing to spring rate and unsprung to sprung weight is all wrong- they're heavy axles with big tyres - the tail will be wagging the dog, so to speak.

They are SPUA stock with very flat springs designed for heavy load carrying.

I dunno - under the NCOP (as used as a guideline in vic) it would be hard - you're going to be well over the maximum 150mm of lift, over stock the combination is going to add 9.5" of height (or so) to an otherwise stock suzuki if run on 9.00X16 tyres.

however, jet powered ride on mowers with hydraulic steering and tractor tyres seem to be able to get road reg in NSW you might be fine.

Steve.

[modman]

volvo portals have been engineered on at least 1 county here in vic, with q78 swampers and front 3 link.
done by bill (portalrover (doesn't post here anymore ))
internals very similar to rover gear, but stronger because the gear reduction at the hub end increases torque there, not at axle cwp.
16 inch wheels, width was 1 inch greater either side than factory county/defender flares.
maybe contact portalrover/daddylonglegs on lre4x4??(uk web site)
or pm for last working adress.
he knows his stuff, built his own portals himself, was running 60's on a series lr with duels front and rear 271:1 gearing 20 years ago.
david
ps clearance with portals and q78's(36) was mad, same as buggies on 42's.

[blackmav]

-Richo- knows a bit about them.
Think he was doing a disk brake conversion on his, also to run standard off the shelf rims.

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/phpBB2/ftopic116082.php

[lukes4x4]

Speak to RICHO . He is running these in his buggy. He has even looked internationally for stuff for these.

[Gwagensteve]

I'm aware of the 110 that was engineered with volvo's -not sure it was certed on Q78's though - it is newer than 1973, which is why Nigel's "1973" hybrid is legal on swampers - pre ADR for tyres.

However, I'm not sure the NCOP would now allow that car to be certed as it was, but I'm sure it's theoretically possible with a coil roverto get it in the 150mm limit even with 2" tyre lift and 4" of portal - coil landies are at least starting with a 32" tyre, so only 50mm of the lift allowance is in the tyres.

Zooks only have 26" or 28" to play with depending on if they are a passenger or commercial model, so a 36" tyre is straight away going to eat up most of the lift allowance, before the portal even comes into it.

Of course, if NSW is still ignoring the NCOP, then anything might be possible.

Steve.

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

I see back home most of them run 16inch rims, spring under axle, or they run Toyota Bundra 3 link setup.

Some of the guys here ditch the drum brakes and run toyota 4 pots and discs from the landcruiser.

I think most of the Volvo c303 axles are still sourced from Malaysia as we are one of the few countries that our arm ran them.

[LS]

Thanks for the info, it's great to find out what I'm getting into before I start forking out $$$.

Interesting thoughts on the engineers certificate. I know my GQ which is fully engineered here in NSW would never pass in VIC or QLD, but I haven't gone as far as portals. And that was four years ago, dunno how much has changed since then. Maybe if I ran some of that "almost painted on rubber" they run on the fully sick wrx's I could register it and have a second set of rims for offroad. More $

So where do I find these in Malaysia? I did a quick google and came up with a set in Sweden but Malaysia sounds a lot closer.

Anyone know how much lighter than mogs these would be? Mogs sure look huge. The only time I ever saw these was about 5 years ago in Denver, Colorado and my memory is a bit hazy

[junior80]

mogs are as wide as landcruiser diffs. 1600mm ish.

[nottie]

I think you will find mogs are a fair bit wider then cruiser diffs
Mogs are about 69 inchs WMS-- WMS.

And i was allways led to beleive that mogs were a fair bit stronger them volvo c303s aswell.

[Wendle]

I looked into the Volvo gear before I started running my Unimog stuff a few years ago. The guys in Scandinavia running them all said they wouldn't cope with anything bigger than a 35-37" tyre in the rocks.
I don't know how accurate that is but I started looking at other options after that.

[junior80]

I think you will find mogs are a fair bit wider then cruiser diffs
Mogs are about 69 inchs WMS-- WMS.

And i was allways led to beleive that mogs were a fair bit stronger them volvo c303s aswell.

mogs are 1630mm wide:

http://www.west-4x4.demon.co.uk/page3-1.htm

landcruisers are 1621mm wide:
(read under toyota landcruiser exterior features)
http://www.autobuyguide.com/1998/12-aut ... index.html

So your not wrong, but they are very close.

[LS]

So what is involved in rims? It looks like these have 8 studs. What is involved in making custom rims for these?
What are the legalities?
Can I turn the insides out of some sunnies and weld in my own centers with different offset and and stud pattern?

All help continues to be appreciated

[muz_ook]

So what is involved in rims? It looks like these have 8 studs. What is involved in making custom rims for these?
What are the legalities?
Can I turn the insides out of some sunnies and weld in my own centers with different offset and and stud pattern?

All help continues to be appreciated

you can buy richos 15''rims already done with beadlocks.[he now needs 17's]
have a look in the classifieds.

[-Richo-]

All i can say is good luck finding a set. They are not as strong as mogs, but arent as heavy or difficult to fit into a project. The weak spot on them would be the cv's and upper axles but chromo cv's are available and dobbin could make you a set of chromo axles, after these upgrades they should handle 39-42s without issue, ill be running 39 stickies and dont expect to be breaking the volvos anytime soon. They are certainly stronger than GU gear and you see them getting punished under heavy patrols with 42s etc in comps...

Parts are scarce but some are available from volvo and altyco in sweden, other parts are discontinued. Bearings and seals are standard and easy to find (except one). I have plenty of info on them if you manage to find a set as they will probably need a rebuild.

Also search pirate there is quite a bit of info on them there.