Portals under a Expedition Defender
- Thread starter Oilworker
- Start date
OS-Aussie
Adventurer
There are a number of hybrid axle systems around which have more clearance.
The cheapest is likely a shaved 9" however if you have the money there are hybrids......
Atomic Axles
or
These are from a thread on Pirate 4x4
Pirate 4x4 thread
Still have not seen a set in the real world yet however.
The cheapest is likely a shaved 9" however if you have the money there are hybrids......
Atomic Axles
or
These are from a thread on Pirate 4x4
Pirate 4x4 thread
Still have not seen a set in the real world yet however.
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
I think that Rover is Billster's, the guy who I bought my Michelin XZLs off once upon a time. Frankenrover on Pirate4x4.com. Also has a killer BJ42 Land Cruiser diesel on 35's...
Anyway I have actually participated in an light American expedition by Brian Steen some years ago with his truck on portals... He built his V8 powered FJ55 with C303 portals. It sure looked and wheeled well but even with double overdrive it still had a max speed of about 55. The noise from the overdrives was also unbearable... He built the truck, took an epic 1800 mile trip including through Moab in winter, Kurt Williams and I wheeled with him throughout northern and northwestern Utah. By the time he made it up here frankly he was tired of driving it and I probably drove it for several hundred miles myself... It sure was cool but yes again it was cumbersome... When he got home he decided it was a mistake and promptly took the truck apart. He then purchased a sprung under FJ55 with a Cummins 6AT inline diesel (small indirect inject factory turbo 3.4L diesel -- great smooth engine), on 32's, and used that for all of his further off roading / expedition driving... He installed a ranger overdrive out of the truck into this one and it was great.
Great guy and he became a great friend, he is actually in Kirghistan in the peace corps currently and more or less gave up old Land Cruisers...
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=75455
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=131811
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=161505
Anyway I have actually participated in an light American expedition by Brian Steen some years ago with his truck on portals... He built his V8 powered FJ55 with C303 portals. It sure looked and wheeled well but even with double overdrive it still had a max speed of about 55. The noise from the overdrives was also unbearable... He built the truck, took an epic 1800 mile trip including through Moab in winter, Kurt Williams and I wheeled with him throughout northern and northwestern Utah. By the time he made it up here frankly he was tired of driving it and I probably drove it for several hundred miles myself... It sure was cool but yes again it was cumbersome... When he got home he decided it was a mistake and promptly took the truck apart. He then purchased a sprung under FJ55 with a Cummins 6AT inline diesel (small indirect inject factory turbo 3.4L diesel -- great smooth engine), on 32's, and used that for all of his further off roading / expedition driving... He installed a ranger overdrive out of the truck into this one and it was great.
Great guy and he became a great friend, he is actually in Kirghistan in the peace corps currently and more or less gave up old Land Cruisers...
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=75455
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=131811
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=161505
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Oilworker
Explorer
Hi,
could you please give me more infos in that Nissan GR axle option?
Images and whatever you have?
Have you done the conversion yourself?
And I would love to get infos on participating in the Dakar, too...
Oh, in your planning for Syberia, what car were you planning to use and on what tyres were you planning to tackle the north?
Thanx, Robert
could you please give me more infos in that Nissan GR axle option?
Images and whatever you have?
Have you done the conversion yourself?
And I would love to get infos on participating in the Dakar, too...
Oh, in your planning for Syberia, what car were you planning to use and on what tyres were you planning to tackle the north?
Thanx, Robert
laurie-the-lorry said:
laurie-the-lorry
Adventurer
this post may make more sense if you also read the planned expedition section:
Robert
I will post up some picture or the Nissan GR axles tomorrow. I bought them from a Spanish scrap yard off a burnt out 02 Nissan GR and had them shipped to the UK. We rebuilt them completely, they are an awesome axle and good for Challenge events. I particularly wanted the free wheeling hub's which worked well with my remote transfer box on the 110 tomcat (Nemo).
The pictures show my overindulgence with Powder coating. But for me being of simple mind, I sort of color coded everything underneath. And our attention to detail continued in that all the nuts and bolts throughout the whole build on Nemo we converted everything to either 10. or 14 millimeter heads. Ok this as a bit over the top, we eventually relented and accepted a third socket of 19mm. so this reduced the tools required. And i Knew in the dark were i was going and that in the main my ratchet would conquer all.
For Info on the Dakar, what would you like to know? I have never competed. Although we came very close once:-(. I have ran support crew twice. I guess the biggest bit of advice i could possibly give you there is get Sponsors. It costs a bucket load of cash to enter, and compete. It isn't for your every day driver anymore,,, Or for a long while. Its a money game, Big money. With that behind you you are 9 tenths of the way there. I haven't Given up hope, keep the sponsors happy and do the right events and you never know. Maybe for my 2009 campaign. And seriously I am thinking that way now and starting to put my ducks in a row.
Tires were an issue for me in my planning for the the North, I run on Simex, and love them. which is Cool coz they sponsor a bit
... But seriously extreme trekker two's are the dogs bolloks. But too aggressive a tread for below -50. Because the freeze factor and cooling period would leave the treads on the ice when I restarted.
We looked at a couple of other products available and I can give you some pointers.
But seriously, I looked at your route again, and the time of year you intend to tackle this trek. In my opinion it is nigh on impossible to cover that ground in January. The temperatures drop below -90 and there are no roads. Only a good team of reindeer with Rudolph up front can get that far north in January.
I was planning on coming down from Magadan in December. Last container ship in before the sea Freeze, and the best time for the ice roads/rivers. I have never heard of anybody venturing further north at that time of year.
If you are going for this in January, I am amazed and intrigued. I wish you well and will follow your progress closely.
As I stated earlier, I think the GR axles are excellent for challenge events, But not something I would consider needed for driving the snow and ice.I really would consider keeping things as tried and tested as possible, And therefore as close to stock. Things break in the cold, And when they do its a nightmare. We did some Pre-testing with Lara a couple of years ago in Norcap Norway. And even small issues became huge problems. I had my Eberspacker heater roof mounted and vented. It had worked fine forever-and then stopped. At -45 we really needed that heater. It was a simple fix, the diesel had frozen in the pick up tube to the motor. I had ran the line in the wrong place up the side of the vehicle so it needed it to be de-thawed and re-routed.. The body isn't willing to turn those spanners in the cold. And all things plastic are too britle.We froze are ********'s off for two days. Until I found a nice warm garage to pull into and de-thaw and correct the problem. My point is that if you are going were nobody else travels at way below -60 you have to be Sooooo well prepared. And prepared to get out and fix things When the body isn't willing. You will have no garages, Its cold. Keep things super simple and tried and tested. And drive to the vehicles capabilities. You arn't in a challenge event or competion so Slow and steady is the way.
Quite frankly I think you are mad! In the nicest possible way
Will post axle pic's in the am. They are on my lap -top... So cant attach now.
Robert
I will post up some picture or the Nissan GR axles tomorrow. I bought them from a Spanish scrap yard off a burnt out 02 Nissan GR and had them shipped to the UK. We rebuilt them completely, they are an awesome axle and good for Challenge events. I particularly wanted the free wheeling hub's which worked well with my remote transfer box on the 110 tomcat (Nemo).
The pictures show my overindulgence with Powder coating. But for me being of simple mind, I sort of color coded everything underneath. And our attention to detail continued in that all the nuts and bolts throughout the whole build on Nemo we converted everything to either 10. or 14 millimeter heads. Ok this as a bit over the top, we eventually relented and accepted a third socket of 19mm. so this reduced the tools required. And i Knew in the dark were i was going and that in the main my ratchet would conquer all.
For Info on the Dakar, what would you like to know? I have never competed. Although we came very close once:-(. I have ran support crew twice. I guess the biggest bit of advice i could possibly give you there is get Sponsors. It costs a bucket load of cash to enter, and compete. It isn't for your every day driver anymore,,, Or for a long while. Its a money game, Big money. With that behind you you are 9 tenths of the way there. I haven't Given up hope, keep the sponsors happy and do the right events and you never know. Maybe for my 2009 campaign. And seriously I am thinking that way now and starting to put my ducks in a row.
Tires were an issue for me in my planning for the the North, I run on Simex, and love them. which is Cool coz they sponsor a bit
... But seriously extreme trekker two's are the dogs bolloks. But too aggressive a tread for below -50. Because the freeze factor and cooling period would leave the treads on the ice when I restarted.We looked at a couple of other products available and I can give you some pointers.
But seriously, I looked at your route again, and the time of year you intend to tackle this trek. In my opinion it is nigh on impossible to cover that ground in January. The temperatures drop below -90 and there are no roads. Only a good team of reindeer with Rudolph up front can get that far north in January.
I was planning on coming down from Magadan in December. Last container ship in before the sea Freeze, and the best time for the ice roads/rivers. I have never heard of anybody venturing further north at that time of year.
If you are going for this in January, I am amazed and intrigued. I wish you well and will follow your progress closely.
As I stated earlier, I think the GR axles are excellent for challenge events, But not something I would consider needed for driving the snow and ice.I really would consider keeping things as tried and tested as possible, And therefore as close to stock. Things break in the cold, And when they do its a nightmare. We did some Pre-testing with Lara a couple of years ago in Norcap Norway. And even small issues became huge problems. I had my Eberspacker heater roof mounted and vented. It had worked fine forever-and then stopped. At -45 we really needed that heater. It was a simple fix, the diesel had frozen in the pick up tube to the motor. I had ran the line in the wrong place up the side of the vehicle so it needed it to be de-thawed and re-routed.. The body isn't willing to turn those spanners in the cold. And all things plastic are too britle.We froze are ********'s off for two days. Until I found a nice warm garage to pull into and de-thaw and correct the problem. My point is that if you are going were nobody else travels at way below -60 you have to be Sooooo well prepared. And prepared to get out and fix things When the body isn't willing. You will have no garages, Its cold. Keep things super simple and tried and tested. And drive to the vehicles capabilities. You arn't in a challenge event or competion so Slow and steady is the way.
Quite frankly I think you are mad! In the nicest possible way
Will post axle pic's in the am. They are on my lap -top... So cant attach now.
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dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
Funrover said:
They are unfortunately now out of business...
Oilworker
Explorer
Thanx....and yes I am just a bit mad sometimes....but I love it ;-)
I don't need to get to Cape Schmid this time. For now it's just a 'test'.
I want to experience these conditions, see Sybiria and Mongolia in Winter and hope I make it back in one piece and unfrozen.
If it get's too tough or too cold for me on the route that Ronald is planningto take (he will be heading north in February) I just drive back to Krasnoyarsk and head to Tokyo before returning home.
Cheers, Robert
I don't need to get to Cape Schmid this time. For now it's just a 'test'.
I want to experience these conditions, see Sybiria and Mongolia in Winter and hope I make it back in one piece and unfrozen.
If it get's too tough or too cold for me on the route that Ronald is planningto take (he will be heading north in February) I just drive back to Krasnoyarsk and head to Tokyo before returning home.
Cheers, Robert
cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
dieselcruiserhead said:
You sure, I know their website is currently down but they were in business just a couple weeks ago. I got an email from one of them last week, he didn't mention anything?
laurie-the-lorry
Adventurer
These are the Nissan Gr Axles, after we had stripped and re-built them. And put the a brand new set of Simex ET two's on them. Sorry I don't have a picture available of them slung onto the one-ten chassis. But it was a very easy Fabrication. But Hellishly Wide. Stable and strong though
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
cruiseroutfit said:
That is what I was told by Kaleb... But this was probably over a month ago...??