THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

I asked the ex-football player looking sales guy, who ran out to me, if he thought that color was the best gamble and he skipped that question and simply said, "Well yeah buts its got carbon fiber and you can, like, drive in the water and pull other SUVs out with this thing". That concluded my conversation.

I just passed by and saw this, one of 5 made for the US market, parked down the road at the dealership. They call it the 4x4 "squared" which, like the paint color, isn't the best idea in my opinion.

11mpg (same as a C303!) That's $245,000 on the sticker. There is a ton of clearance underneath, I'll give it that. You got to love that rear "compliance bumper".

Now to sell a kidney so I can buy a set of those axles for my old lump.

Just wait for some rapper or Kardasian to wreck one and we can fight of the scrapped axles

I will show up with a tank to that fight if I have to! Although I think those axles would be nicer with about 6" taken off the width, maybe more.

Amazing that something like this is for sale as a new 4x4 in 2017.

And funny you say that, those "people" happen to live about 10 minutes south of that dealership.

VinceAtReal4x4s wrote:you can, like, drive in the water and pull other SUVs out with this thing

...not with these tires!
About the color, I think the whole point of buying one like this is to stand out and be seen, so bright yellow is a good choice from a marketing point of view, IMHO.

Rare vehicle that I might actually consider paying $300K for.......if I had the money to worry about it.

Disappointing to see the rock catching, Hummer-like triangulation bracing the portal hub.

I would much rather have Tibus portals bolted on my G vs one of the new 4x4-squared.
If the new ones ever break down outside city limits your screwed unless you've spent the last 4 years as a Mercedes mechanic, have your laptop with the EPC and WIC on it (with internet connection) and a trailer full of specialized tools!!

You can buy the full bolt-on Tibus kit for $16,500 USD (not cheap but better than $250k)

63rover wrote:Disappointing to see the rock catching, Hummer-like triangulation bracing the portal hub.

Not sure how you avoid that support?
It is only on the front steering axle

Yeah I was wondering about that too. Salisbury (Volvo) has a very similar axle with plenty of strength without intruding into that space.

The brace wasn't necessary on the Pinzgauer which I'm certain has a higher load capacity. Could be a cost saver since it's not too likely these G's will see much off-roading.

Well it wasn't designed from the ground up to have portals like the Hafi, Pinz, 303, Mog
They are all just bolt on even the 4x4^2

Those angled bracket could have been easily designed for more clearance - there is a lot of space between them and the CV joint that isn't necessary and they are just flat plate. I think part of the idea was for them to be visible to look "kool"... with the size of tires most of these are running the portals are not really necessary.

Well both LeTech (who designed the 4x4^2 ones) and Tibus uses them in very similar design
But I don't really know the reason/engineering behind them

Yeah but the Volvo Salisburys look a lot like one of their basic axle designs just with some portal engineering on the end.

Maybe these weren't worth setting up new designs for due to the low numbers, or maybe its typical of today's standards? Although these still offer up more clearance than a Humvee underneath.

I'd love to see this truck with a different color and 16" mil. wheels with 35's, and 2" less lift.

I think it's because the older portal axles (pinz, volvo, unimog) are king pin swivels versus these newer ones (hummer, tibus) using ball joints?

Haf-e

I think you hit it on the head with "kool". This is after all a "look at me" truck vs a "catch me if you can" or "follow me if dare"