Portal or HD axles for range rover classic

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

Whats the best thing to do with the axles on a range rover classic ?

The car will be used on the road - mainly to drive to and from events and the odd green laning trip ! and the rest off road,

Do you get a " bolt on " portal axle or is it alot of work ?

Would i be better getting a st of these instead ?

http://www.lrparts.net/product/diff-lockers-dri...d-diff-cases.html

and just putting a diff guard underneath so it should " slide along " rather than dig in ?

Or just bit the bullet and take a few months to modify and fit a set of portals ?

Whats the best bet?

Thanks !

[teamidris]

I'd say standard axel cases and fill them with Ashcroft shafts and air lockers. You'll still need over £3k.
Not sure what would be best on the CV. Chances are that your RRC has a -prefix B- axel which won't take the biggest CV joints, but will still take heavier duty ones.

I wouldn't fit extra thick KAM axel cases without looking at the chassis and the chassis mounts. Or to look at it the other way, I wouldn't waste my time on thick axel cases without throwing the standard rubber donut radious arm bushes and the arms that go with them away. Better the axel bends than the chassis

Slidey diff gaurd helps no end. I run a belly ski as well for the same reason.

Portals are rubbish
Nah, portals are great, but the sort that are reliable with disk brakes are waaay more cash than you would shove under a rangy. For the amount of work you might as well take them and build a kick-ass spider or the like and leave the RRC as is

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

[discosteve]

HD drive line ie shafts locker ect then some bigger wheels/tyres to give yourself a bit more ground clearance an maybe a little suspension lift

That's how I would do it mate plus put a winch on the rear as its easier to pull out of the sticky stuff than pull yourself further into it

Steve

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

I had plans for

Ashcroft shafts
twin air lockers
3" suspension lift
2" bodylift
Some ( alot ) arch trimming
37-40 " tyres been looking at 38.5 but its only 1.5 " away from 40 ooooo
Front rear and possibly centre winch
Supercharge the 3.9 v8

Anything else to compete with the best off roaders out there? Was also looking at taking it to iceland and do some winch challenges . ?. ?

[bigbuggy]

unsure if trolling or not

[spannerman69]

[RichardD]

I've seen the best of RR/portal conversions using Volvo axles and I reckon it cost £30k!!

Portals are amazing but for my cash I'd go for ashcroft internals in newer axles!

[teamidris]

Keeping up with offroad buggies is an impossible task with a road legal motor. If it hasn't got to be driven home it can be driven really hard. Bigbuggy is going to do stuff that is just barking, and so are other folk in the same class
Mainly this will include taking a run-up to an impossible off road situation. If it doesn't workout, they'll go again, as you can't rip the wing skin off twice

Build it though, it'll still be fun. Then when it's body is wrecked in couple of years, buggy frame it

[bigbuggy]

if the Op is serious about what his aims are, then he needs to get away from landrover axles,

as it stands ashcroft stuff can be broken on 35's. its just borderline on 37's

its gonna be a case of building custom axles like spider9's etc or using a dana 60 or 14bolt especially if you want to run 40's & drive it hard,

[.]

40s? I would buy a trailer and something to tow it with first.

[bigbuggy]

buggy on 40's will fit on an ifor CT177 trailer easy & can be towed behind a D2 /D3

[N.R.G97]

http://www.killeraxles.com/bolt_on_portale_e.html

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

thanks for all the replys so far, i understand it may so like im a dreamer but as i love my off roading it's on my to do list in life is to have one of the best street legal off roaders in the country as im willing to do quite alot to do it.

I think im going to keep the RR axles but put ashcroft internals in it along with twin air lockers then just put skid plates under the diffs.

I udnerstand that no road legal truck will be able to match a buggy or similar but as long as i can hold m own against them id be happy

Tyres will be somewehre around like 37-40 mark ideally was going for 38.5 but its only 1.5" off of 40's so that would tempt me

[teamidris]

Bolt on portal ends for my truck

There was nearly a puddle

Need money


It's worth pointing out that 37's and 40's don't make it more capable off road if you have a doubt in your mind about reliability. You can have 235, 265 and 285 at 33" tyre diameter with Ashcroft internals, with an official warranty that says you can drive it hard.
e.g. I can back my truck out of ditches backward on full lock with ease. I couldn't do it before because I knew I'd blow something and end a days offroading.

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

Ive done 33's before, they were great but think i need to go abit bigger,

Im aware tgat bigger tyres 35+ have down sides, more chance of breakages, reduced turning circle, higher CoG etc but the added ground clearance helps alot!

[bigbuggy]

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

No im not aware of that!

I know for the winch challenges you get your 2 classes and over 38.5 is in one and under is in another not sure what 38.5 goes into.

Whats the max size for alot of events in the UK? As this is where i plan on doing most of them, fancy going to iceland one day so would like to hope it can stsy with the arctic boys

[bigbuggy]

id say almost 90% of events in the Uk run to a 37" size limit,

there are some exceptions but there are more events limited than not,

i currently run 37" sticky treps on my buggy



unfortunatley without building another car thats the limit we are at to get maximum steering lock & also keep the vehicle narrow enough with good steering geometry which is alot more important than people think,

where abouts in the country are you as this would give an indication where you are likely to compete, some events like those held by CSW in devon/cornwall area feature alot of woodland which will destroy a full bodied vehicle no matter which way you sugar coat it,

i used to compete with a full bodied 90 but having to replace the front wings after every event gets boring realllllly fast

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

That buggy looks really nice!!

Im near edinburgh in scotland but quite fancied doing a few down south we only have a couple of very good sites up here,

Yea true about the full bodied truck, the rangies are very long aswell!!

Would it maybe be doing this with something smaller

[bigbuggy]

ahhhh, im from fife originaly,

we ended up traveling down to lincolnshire, yorkshire etc as there isnt many events in scotland,

a rangie is long overall sized, but the wheelbase is good, my buggy is 102" wheelbase & if i built another id go to 106 ish,

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

Im in Dalgety Bay in fife, so may know it - possibly now due to all the " radiation " rubbish thats going on,

So what you think the best bet is for the rangie then ? Its all ready got a good wheel base , am i correct saying its 100" ? so fit ashcroft internals to the axles, and go front and rear lockers, front and rear winches then 37's for rubber ?

Should be a not to bad truck ?

Looking at my first event being one of the winch challenges which would be in 2014 gives me time to do what i need to to keep up with some of the machines that perform in the winch challenges through out the UK

[teamidris]

"The maximum tyre diameter shall be 915mm (36 inches)." for LRS winch challenge. Assuming you want all-entry to a UK event? I think they are the smallest.
I havn't found 87" wheel base too short, but if you have 100" you may as well stick with it.

What I did to my RRC; Throw the body, shorten the chassis by 14", narrow the bulkhead, fit the old gearbox tunnel, make a full roll cage, rear-rad, make a series one landy body out of this and that, fit a hydraulic engine pto for the winch, go auto, Xeng handbrake, fit lockers and HD shafts, fiddle brakes and dry sump the engine. Kept me busy for 20 years

What winches you thinkin' then?

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

Was looking at wsrn for the front and a superwinch for the back.

However ive seen a einch with 17500lbs pulling power but cant remember where doh!!

[bigbuggy]

was your vitara blue?

i used to work in dalgety bay so know it well,

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

[scrunt]

Are you the same person that was a member here before 'bigredzook'
with the Red Vit & then the Quad?

There are regular club events if you are interested with Tayside 4x4 Club,
Edzell Off Road club, or BORDC.

You could get ready for next years event.
http://www.scotiawinchcc.org.uk

george

[wowyswittowedtwuck]

No but ive seen the vit beforr. Think it got broken up. I just got my quad recently as spares or repairs and fixed it up with a paint job, definatly fancy the events something ive never done but look really good thanks for the info.

[teamidris]

I really like the vit for for trialing, it steers very well. I nearly grabbed one but I havn't the space
If you went mad on the vit it could have later 24spline landy axels + ashcroft lockers and ought to be okay with standard shafts and CV's?

I say that, but I wondered what a vit would be like with the independant underparts of say a mitsubishi? Live axel is very squirely by comparison on hill climbs.