IF more people went with portals, then the demand would increase, and the quantity would go down, making the Price go UP like a regular D60 front axle.

I'm supprised Rockwells are still so cheap. They are in high demand, but haven't gone up much yet, but they definataly have not gone down.

 

rocks have def. gone up in florida......avg. price for takouts is about 1500

 

Yes on a daily basis they are breaking especially the ones on the humvees with just 37s as they are not big enough to actually support 33s the unimogs you need to run at Least 5 ton stuff to make them worth anything with bigger tires plus with portals you can NOT run stock style suspension so forget an easy transistion into them on top of the stupid high price your going to pay. They are NOT a good option for 98% of the people unlesss they have a big budget to replace the broken parts.

 

Using small tires just because there is an offset in a portal is also not such a great idea. Many good things can come from a larger tire. Ever run over a giant rock? Larger diameter tires make large rocks look like small ones and have an easier time rollong over them instead of climbing them. Approach angle as well as departure angle gets better with larger diameter tires. Not to mention the breakover angle gets better. Doing that with small tires means a compromise. Trying to extend the wheelbase to make up for lost approach, or departure angles means that there is a compromise in breakover angles. To gain some breakover angle back, the truck needs to be lifted, that makes for a higher CG, which by the way, the portals do not help with.
Setting up a multi link portal axle carries a few hidden problems as well. The added torque requires a heavier link system, (again more money) keeping in mind that a portal kit will have to be a three gear unit to make sure the truck rolls foward when it is supposed to. This added torque makes the axle wrap problem we all have becomes an even bigger issue. Sometines the compromise for ground clearance is just not worth the effort, or the sacrifices needed to run something like a portal.
Big budgets are a must, but even the guys with deep deep pockets have tried and gone away from them.

 

IM pretty much set on rockwells because of the little repairs or problems that would normallly ocure with a D44 or D60 not saying that they are bad axels just not as beefy,they already have low gearz, and they are fairly affordable. Im only planning to run like prabley 45 to 50 inch tires. I just want to be able to flog the crap out of it and not have fix stuff all of the time.

 

Get some U1300's, way stronger than rocks, lighter, portals... oh and really $$$

 

A couple of weeks ago I drove to Indiana and picked up some Rockwell F-106's with planetary hubs that I found on ebay. Pretty much monster truck axles- matter of fact, I bought them from a monster truck builder/driver- just wanted to throw that out there to hopefully make everybody jealous!!! heavy ****s, but should be unbreakable, even with the 57 inch rice and canes I am planning on using.

 

hahaha......thats a good one...

 

With planetaries, they should hold up pretty well, unbreakable, I wouldn't go that far, anything can be broken... LOL

 

especially with 57"r2's........but the planetaries will take much of the torque away from the axles....

 

F106 Rockwells are almost identical to the M35 rocks with regards to the shafts. The ring and pinion are just completely different, and I don't know how strong they are on the 106's. I gave some measurements from my M35 Rockwells to Skipped_Link on PBB so he could see if he would be able to use Ouverson 2" 47 spline shafts on his F106's... and the shafts for each steering axle is neer identical, close enough to swap shafts or perhaps just a difference in generations.

In other words, the F106 shafts are essentially just as strong as the M35 Rockwells. But then you throw planetaries into the mix...

Again, U1300's! They are rated for 4.25 tons or 4.5 tons or something like that! Thats what you need... (good luck finding them)