had thought today about axles

[Rent-A-Cop]

i was thining today about how we all lift our rigs for ground clearance but dont really get any for the axles. i was lookin at an old tractor today and noticed it had just a stupid amount of clearance(almost 4ft) and not really becuase of those huge rims, my tracotr has the same saize but has clearance of a normal 4x4 truck. the tractor i was lookin at had some sort of a drop down extension from the axles (almost a 1 1/2 ft that was gear driven. anyone seen what im talkin about? i was just wonderin if somethin like this could be set up on a truck, probly only work on the rear as i dont know how the mechanincs would be worked out for the front. just a thought i had today. :rolleyes:

[paddyp]

Are you thinking about portal axles? They have them on Unimogs and Volvo military trucks. There is also a company that modifies 9 inch Ford axles for portals. I don't remember the name of the company, but there was an article in 4W&OR a couple of months ago about them. Looked pretty sweet, but $$.

[Sycho15]

I think Currie does the Ford 9" portals. Dynatrac does a D60 version I believe. Someone else makes a yoke conversion so you can use Unimog axles with a normal driveshaft.

Unimogs axles also came stock with cable-activated locking differentials!

[River Beast]

I believe you are referring to portal axles.... here is a pic...
http://www.killeraxles.com/assets/images/Axle_Parts_036.xxl.jpg

you can see more at www.killeraxles.com (http://www.killeraxles.com)

[tuckers89GW]

krypt, I know exactly what you are talking about. I don't think that much of a drop or even close would work well.

[Rent-A-Cop]

i guess they are called portal axles. ill take yalls word for it that i am. i didnt plan on doing this to my rig, just had a thought if anyone had ever done or thought about doing a set up like that. i guess you would need some pretty big rims to run a set off portal axles