Werewolf Tech Portal Axle Kit -- What Do You Think?

Laura

Like Unimogs? Need more clearance? Say, 5.1 inches? Saw this on The Drive and Jalopnik: the Werewolf Tech Portal Axle Kit ($16,000). Someone's gonna do it.

Wow!

Ugh. I mean its cool and all, and I love irrational modifications to vehicles. But I think something like this plays against the bronco's strengths. Its not in the same class as a Unimog or even a purpose built rock-crawler. Its more go fast off-road IMHO.
I do wonder what their tie-rod solution looks like though. You cant put a 5 inch lift on the thing and expect to run 38's and not address that. Your angles are going to be crazy.

Portals reduce the angles, it's the point (or one of them).

AcesandEights

Portals reduce the angles, it's the point (or one of them).

Gotcha. Wasn't thinking. I'll go back to my corner now.😁

I love the idea of portals.... as soon as the price comes down. I am not an expert in the world of rock crawling, but I know portals are being used in the buggies and it not only gives a ton of real ground clearance but also allows the use of a lighter-duty drivetrain. This would be a great solution to add some serious tires to an IFS vehicle like the Bronco. I would be first in line to try it, if I had the money. lol.

This is what the Bronco's Xtreme Recon package looks like 🤣

I would totally pull the trigger on this if we did the type of apocalyptic off-roading you guys do out west. We don't have the trails for it on the east coast.

VW vans/buses ran them on the old swing axles, I had them on my
”dune buggy“ back in the day. This is really the only way to add lift, clearance and drivetrain reliability to a ifs Bronco for crawling and/or 38”-40” tires (the KoH winners run them). I would be all in if I was younger and won the lottery...the price is the real problem...

If you ever go to Iceland, pretty much every non-rental truck on the road has a portal axle… you can buy them straight from some dealers with them (they send them stock to local companies in Reykjavik who build them out). The F roads are pretty fun, but it’s kind of ironic that off-roading is illegal there. Icelanders make our most lifted trucks look puny.

I was talking with the owners of an off roading customer shop. They are working on sourcing portals for much less than these. They are Ukrainian built units. So I can see some issues at the moment. This will be interesting.

With as much as people spend on an Atlas t-case, lift, differential swaps and the like, $16,000 doesn't seem too bad. Think of a 35% increase in gearing. That's like going from a 4.7:1 to 6.35. With the rest of the drivetrain components stock? That's nuts.

It's not just rock crawlers that use them either. The all wheel drive trophy trucks are using them as well. It is how they get the ground clearance, suspension travel and axle and tie rod angles needed. I have been talking with 74 Weld and they have some great stuff coming but it won't be cheap. They also have a great steering rack solution coming.

Has anyone in this forum actually installed this on their Bronco? I'd be real interested to know how they hold up, and if they have any problems.