Anyone out there have any experience with portal axles? Saw a recent magazine article on a portal axle conversion kit for D60's. Understand something for D44's may be in the works as well. I know they've been around a long time on heavy / military trucks... and have seen them on a few buggies. I'm curious why they haven't hit the mainstream off road world yet??? A product that gives you 5" of lift under the pumpkin before you ever touch your OE suspension would be very interesting.

 

You can buy them. Overkill engineering (new sponsor) has their atomic axles which are similar.
Mainly, it's because they aren't cheap, and cost is a big factor.

 

I dont think I would trust the thin tubes of a D44 with a portal conversion kit.

One of the reasons they are not really mainstream is that you pretty much have to run a linked up suspension. They twist leaf springs like crazy. Doing a proper linked up suspension is a whole lot more expensive than leafs. And puts them out of the price range of most people.

Odly enough you can generally buy the axles themselves for less than 1 ton axles (D60F/D70 or 14FF rear).

There are two axles that most go with. There is Volvo C303 axles, and Unimog 404 axles.

For the most part these axles are pretty strong. As the axle shafts see a lot less stress due to the geared hubs. You just need to be ok with 5.99:1 or 7.14 gearing for the Volvo, or 7.56:1 for the Unimog axles.

 

As mentioned earlier gearing could be an issue - especially for a DD. IE: I've got 32" tires with 3.21 gears (I'm ok with that - ) but with the 1.5:1 reduction that aftermarket portal axles have, even with 44" tires my gearing would be lower than stock.

I want them. Just can't have them. lol