Motors, Control Arms and Ground Clearance

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Okay, this thread needs to get back to the OP topic.

The cost of a set of portal axles for the F-150 (not the Lightning) is $25k.
I can only imagine what the cost would be for new development for a Lightning.


That’s way more than I’m willing to pay.
 
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Okay, this thread needs to get back to the OP topic.

The cost of a set of portal axles for the F-150 (not the Lightning) is $25k.
I can only imagine what the cost would be for new development for a Lightning.


That’s way more than I’m willing to pay.
That does seem to be a lot. Are they the only game in town?
 
Werewolf has been making them for a while but they are in Ukraine so shipping can be tricky, and expensive.

Minimum recommended tire size with their kit is 38"

74 Weld has been making portals for King of The Hammers rigs and competitive rock crawlers for a long time, and released them for Toyotas, Jeeps and Broncos in recent years . They offer similarly priced kits as well, but they are smaller and have a little less gear reduction.

So 35" tires would probably more appropriate with those kits.

 
Okay, this thread needs to get back to the OP topic.

The cost of a set of portal axles for the F-150 (not the Lightning) is $25k.
I can only imagine what the cost would be for new development for a Lightning.


That’s way more than I’m willing to pay.
Can we not go back to @Chavannigans poop?
 
Also portals are amazing. If Scout made a badass version with portals that would be wild. Ineos offers that option now which is about the coolest thing I can see coming from a car company today.
Dang, I had no idea. Pretty cool. I found this article on those. It made me puke in my mouth a little, but still awesome after swallowing the idea of $230k+. I always forget just how expensive Ineos’ vehicles are to begin with.

 
Also portals are amazing. If Scout made a badass version with portals that would be wild. Ineos offers that option now which is about the coolest thing I can see coming from a car company today.
Don’t forget the AMG G 63 4x4^2 and the 6X6 have factory portals too.

They will also make your wallet prolapse.
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This used one is a bargain at $130k
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Time for me to eat crow.

Failed at 213k miles and over 20 years of exposure to the elements. A little abuse sprinkled in there.



I went off-roading this weekend and finally blew a factory air bag. It was loaded down with 7 people and some provisions.

View attachment 1759799996178.jpeg



Was climbing up a very steep incline with a substantial rock shelf about halfway up the hill, and slammed the rear down pretty hard on it.

Pfffffft and that was all she wrote 😂

Rode home on the bump stops.

Have a new set coming for $85 and they arrive Wednesday.

The factory bags were overextended by about 2.5” after I shimmed the leveling arms for the last 30k miles.

My buddies were all trying to bully me into getting a rear coil conversion and some long travel springs and shocks. I was looking at around $800-$1,200 for an entry level mid-travel setup. Real long travel for the front and rear is around $10,000. Woof!

The buddy that Dana 60 swapped his GX470 was offering me his fully decked out long travel kit that he ran before solid axle swapping it. Links. Dobinson MRR long travel shocks and progressive coil. All for dirt cheap. But I am going to stick to the airbags.

Contacted several vendors today but couldn’t get long travel bags through any of the Land Cruiser boutique shops.

Ended up emailing AirBag Man in Australia directly and they are going to give me a quote to drop ship them to me here in Texas because there are currently no vendors in the US that offer them. They make “raised height” air bag kits that will work with my mid travel Dobinsons shocks.

I’ll use the over extended factory height bags again until they arrive.

They typically use Firestone airbags in many of their kits, which are the same type you’ll find on buses, semis, etc. So I should be able to source replacements domestically once I figure out what they use and if they are modified.
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Time for me to eat crow.

Failed at 213k miles and over 20 years of exposure to the elements. A little abuse sprinkled in there.



I went off-roading this weekend and finally blew a factory air bag. It was loaded down with 7 people and some provisions.

View attachment 9839



Was climbing up a very steep incline with a substantial rock shelf about halfway up the hill, and slammed the rear down pretty hard on it.

Pfffffft and that was all she wrote 😂

Rode home on the bump stops.

Have a new set coming for $85 and they arrive Wednesday.

The factory bags were overextended by about 2.5” after I shimmed the leveling arms for the last 30k miles.

My buddies were all trying to bully me into getting a rear coil conversion and some long travel springs and shocks. I was looking at around $800-$1,200 for an entry level mid-travel setup. Real long travel for the front and rear is around $10,000. Woof!

The buddy that Dana 60 swapped his GX470 was offering me his fully decked out long travel kit that he ran before solid axle swapping it. Links. Dobinson MRR long travel shocks and progressive coil. All for dirt cheap. But I am going to stick to the airbags.

Contacted several vendors today but couldn’t get long travel bags through any of the Land Cruiser boutique shops.

Ended up emailing AirBag Man in Australia directly and they are going to give me a quote to drop ship them to me here in Texas because there are currently no vendors in the US that offer them. They make “raised height” air bag kits that will work with my mid travel Dobinsons shocks.

I’ll use the over extended factory height bags again until they arrive.

They typically use Firestone airbags in many of their kits, which are the same type you’ll find on buses, semis, etc. So I should be able to source replacements domestically once I figure out what they use and if they are modified.
View attachment 9841
Bad news bears man! Still… could be worse! You got home, and you can fix it. Sorry about the expense !
 
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Bad news bears man! Still… could be worse! You got home, and you can fix it. Sorry about the expense !
They probably should have been replaced a while back but I wanted to see how far I could push them. I did the same with my Lexus GX460.

Actually had one of those kits for that GX460 but it sat in a box in my garage for 5 years because the factory bags on that one never blew. So I sold it after we traded that truck in.

I’m honestly not stressed about it. They were 20 years old, overloaded, banging off of things offroad, and maxed out beyond what they were designed for. All part of the fun when you’re pushing the limits.

The kids all had a blast and can’t wait to go back.
 
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They probably should have been replaced a while back but I wanted to see how far I could push them. I did the same with my Lexus GX460.

Actually had one of those kits for that GX460 but it sat in a box in my garage for 5 years because the factory bags on that one never blew. So I sold it after we traded that truck in.

I’m honestly not stressed about it. They were overloaded, banging off of things offroad, and maxed out beyond what they were designed for. All part of the fun when you’re pushing the limits.

The kids all had a blast and can’t wait to go back.
Where’d you go to? You’re down south right? I’d love to see that SAS GX it’s probably a tank. My buddy had an FJ I was pushing him to one ton swap but he got rid of it for an LS swapped 80 series. Can’t blame him there
 
Where’d you go to? You’re down south right? I’d love to see that SAS GX it’s probably a tank. My buddy had an FJ I was pushing him to one ton swap but he got rid of it for an LS swapped 80 series. Can’t blame him there

Barnwell Mountain in Gilmer Texas. Great place. Spoiled by living so close to it.

His GX is nuts. I’m sure he would be glad to take you out for a spin in it.

Can’t blame him either, those things are monsters with an LS.