This thread will be about addressing all things portal related. Where you will be able to find information about portals, setups, and ask questions.
I get asked a lot of questions about portals both here and on the trail. I will lay out my thoughts and try to provide some insight. The guys at @SuperATV have been awesome to deal with and I'm sure Erik will chime in with with answers to any questions for SuperATV.
My thoughts:
My current portal rig was not my first venture into the portal world. I started running portals in 2014 on my Jagged X when SXS Gear released the first versions. The concept was great in theory but had durability issues. I put them to the test in everything from east coast to west coast style riding with limited success. To me reliability is key in an off road rig so I gave up on portals for the time being. I watched as new manufactures entered the market with new products and the development over the years, some successes and some failures. Fast forward to present. The design and quality have come a long way.
I had my doubts but after a lot of discussion with the Erik & Tyler at SuperATV I decided it was time to try portals again. The current Gen 3 Portals offered by SuperATV have proven to be reliable and make for an awesome setup. I have put them to the test in everything from east coast to west coast and most terrains, rock crawling, sand dunes, trail riding, and even mud (not that I wanted to LOL). I have been impressed with the performance and reliability.
At one time portals were thought of as a mud or slick rock thing. Not any more, they also make for an awesome setup for trail riding.
"Are portals right for my setup and/or type of riding? "
That is the question I hear asked the most and the answer depends on several factors.
1) Width restrictions:
Portals add 8" to the overall width of your machine. So depending on what machine you start with and rim choice overall width will be 58" - 85" wide.
2) Budget: This is a big one! It cost a significant amount to setup a port rig correctly.
3) Maintenance: A portal rig does require more maintenance to keep everything in good working order.
4) Driving style: Portal rigs require a different driving style. Throttle control being the biggest issue. If you're into hill killing or racing portals are not for you!
So after you've considered those factors decide if portals are right for you.
Pros:
1) Gear reduction
2) Ground clearance
3) Reduced drivetrain stress
4) Increased stability
5) Increased CVT belt life
6) BADASS LOOKING RIG 🤟
Cons:
1) Cost (more than just the portal cost - I'll go into that later)
2) Increased steering effort
3) Harder on components
Portal Gear Lifts | SuperATV
Lifetime Warranty: SuperATV warranties the original purchaser of portals. You will not find better customer service than the guys and gals at SuperATV…period!!
Port type: Billet vs Cast
Billet cost more because of the manufacturing process. If you break a gear the billet case will most likely not break where the cast will. I prefer billet for the added strength and reliability. I also carry extra gears, bearing, seals, and fluid in the unlikely event of a broken gear. Plus billet CNC parts are just plain sexy! In the end both work very well and it’s a matter of personal choice.
Reduction %:
Portals come in 4”,6”, & 8” versions with 15-60% reductions. Which is right for you? That depends on the intended use, mud, trail, or rock crawling. The most popular and best “all around” is a 4” box with 30% reduction. In my opinion this is middle of the road reduction and allows you to make a multi-use rig with a medium sized tire. Mud guys need larger reductions and greater lifts to deal with massively large tires. Keep in mind the larger boxes weigh more and add more stress to the suspension.
Suspension setups:
This is where things get interesting. Yes you can simply bolt on a set of portals and go have fun. However, if you want everything to work well and be reliable there are other things to consider. Portals add a lot of unsprung weight at the end of the arms. This adds to stress on various components; IE: A-arms, trailing arms, radius rods, ball joints, tie rods, bushings, etc…. Consider upgrading all these components to heavy duty versions to make a long lasting working rig.
Shock setup:
This can be a can of worms so I would suggest consulting your favorite shock supplier. Personal thoughts are you need a good setup to start with and it will not change much by adding portals.
Rim Choice:
This one is critical and selecting the correct offset can make or break a setup. The most common complaint with portals is the steering is terrible. This is usually a result of large offset rims such as 4/3, 4/4, 5/5, etc… Steering effort will be increased with the addition of portals and when combined with large offset rims the result is poor steering. Stick to 6/1, 5.5/1.5, or 5/2 rims when possible. 15” rims are minimum to provide the required clearance.
Tire Choice:
Obviously this is terrain dependent but something to consider is width, profile, compound, and weight. Portals already add 40lbs+ to each corner of the suspension so you want the lightest tire possible. A wider tire aids in traction but also increasing the steering effort. A flat profile will also aid in traction but here again it increases the steering effort. I great example it the Maxxis Roxxzilla, while they are arguably the best tire on the market for traction (for rock crawling) this also make them very hard to steer because they are a wide flat profile tire. Another factor is tire compound, a soft sticky tire provides better traction but here again will increase steering effort. These all need to be considered when selecting the right tire for your setup and it often comes down to a compromise between traction and steering effort.
Steering:
This is a big one!!! Make no mistake portals will increase the steering effort and that’s why some other setup choices are critical. There are options for upgrading the steering rack such as SuperATVs rack boss, Shock Therapy billet rack, Epowersteering.com, etc… Sand Craft Racing makes a great product to help reduce the stress on the steering rack, the steering stabilizer. This will save you from wearing out racks from the added stress. Hopefully in the near future there will be more options available to solve some of the steering problems such as full hydraulic or a better EPS.
American Made: All SuperATV's GDP products are engineered and manufactured in house withe state of the art equipment.
Please keep comments on topic and specific to portals.
Disclaimer: This is not solely about SuperATV portals but it's what I have experience with, they are a forum sponsor, and very active here. Anyone is welcome to post comments about other makes such as High Lifter portals.
I get asked a lot of questions about portals both here and on the trail. I will lay out my thoughts and try to provide some insight. The guys at @SuperATV have been awesome to deal with and I'm sure Erik will chime in with with answers to any questions for SuperATV.
My thoughts:
My current portal rig was not my first venture into the portal world. I started running portals in 2014 on my Jagged X when SXS Gear released the first versions. The concept was great in theory but had durability issues. I put them to the test in everything from east coast to west coast style riding with limited success. To me reliability is key in an off road rig so I gave up on portals for the time being. I watched as new manufactures entered the market with new products and the development over the years, some successes and some failures. Fast forward to present. The design and quality have come a long way.
I had my doubts but after a lot of discussion with the Erik & Tyler at SuperATV I decided it was time to try portals again. The current Gen 3 Portals offered by SuperATV have proven to be reliable and make for an awesome setup. I have put them to the test in everything from east coast to west coast and most terrains, rock crawling, sand dunes, trail riding, and even mud (not that I wanted to LOL). I have been impressed with the performance and reliability.
At one time portals were thought of as a mud or slick rock thing. Not any more, they also make for an awesome setup for trail riding.
"Are portals right for my setup and/or type of riding? "
That is the question I hear asked the most and the answer depends on several factors.
1) Width restrictions:
Portals add 8" to the overall width of your machine. So depending on what machine you start with and rim choice overall width will be 58" - 85" wide.
2) Budget: This is a big one! It cost a significant amount to setup a port rig correctly.
3) Maintenance: A portal rig does require more maintenance to keep everything in good working order.
4) Driving style: Portal rigs require a different driving style. Throttle control being the biggest issue. If you're into hill killing or racing portals are not for you!
So after you've considered those factors decide if portals are right for you.
Pros:
1) Gear reduction
2) Ground clearance
3) Reduced drivetrain stress
4) Increased stability
5) Increased CVT belt life
6) BADASS LOOKING RIG 🤟
Cons:
1) Cost (more than just the portal cost - I'll go into that later)
2) Increased steering effort
3) Harder on components
Portal Gear Lifts | SuperATV
Lifetime Warranty: SuperATV warranties the original purchaser of portals. You will not find better customer service than the guys and gals at SuperATV…period!!
Port type: Billet vs Cast
Billet cost more because of the manufacturing process. If you break a gear the billet case will most likely not break where the cast will. I prefer billet for the added strength and reliability. I also carry extra gears, bearing, seals, and fluid in the unlikely event of a broken gear. Plus billet CNC parts are just plain sexy! In the end both work very well and it’s a matter of personal choice.
Reduction %:
Portals come in 4”,6”, & 8” versions with 15-60% reductions. Which is right for you? That depends on the intended use, mud, trail, or rock crawling. The most popular and best “all around” is a 4” box with 30% reduction. In my opinion this is middle of the road reduction and allows you to make a multi-use rig with a medium sized tire. Mud guys need larger reductions and greater lifts to deal with massively large tires. Keep in mind the larger boxes weigh more and add more stress to the suspension.
Suspension setups:
This is where things get interesting. Yes you can simply bolt on a set of portals and go have fun. However, if you want everything to work well and be reliable there are other things to consider. Portals add a lot of unsprung weight at the end of the arms. This adds to stress on various components; IE: A-arms, trailing arms, radius rods, ball joints, tie rods, bushings, etc…. Consider upgrading all these components to heavy duty versions to make a long lasting working rig.
Shock setup:
This can be a can of worms so I would suggest consulting your favorite shock supplier. Personal thoughts are you need a good setup to start with and it will not change much by adding portals.
Rim Choice:
This one is critical and selecting the correct offset can make or break a setup. The most common complaint with portals is the steering is terrible. This is usually a result of large offset rims such as 4/3, 4/4, 5/5, etc… Steering effort will be increased with the addition of portals and when combined with large offset rims the result is poor steering. Stick to 6/1, 5.5/1.5, or 5/2 rims when possible. 15” rims are minimum to provide the required clearance.
Tire Choice:
Obviously this is terrain dependent but something to consider is width, profile, compound, and weight. Portals already add 40lbs+ to each corner of the suspension so you want the lightest tire possible. A wider tire aids in traction but also increasing the steering effort. A flat profile will also aid in traction but here again it increases the steering effort. I great example it the Maxxis Roxxzilla, while they are arguably the best tire on the market for traction (for rock crawling) this also make them very hard to steer because they are a wide flat profile tire. Another factor is tire compound, a soft sticky tire provides better traction but here again will increase steering effort. These all need to be considered when selecting the right tire for your setup and it often comes down to a compromise between traction and steering effort.
Steering:
This is a big one!!! Make no mistake portals will increase the steering effort and that’s why some other setup choices are critical. There are options for upgrading the steering rack such as SuperATVs rack boss, Shock Therapy billet rack, Epowersteering.com, etc… Sand Craft Racing makes a great product to help reduce the stress on the steering rack, the steering stabilizer. This will save you from wearing out racks from the added stress. Hopefully in the near future there will be more options available to solve some of the steering problems such as full hydraulic or a better EPS.
American Made: All SuperATV's GDP products are engineered and manufactured in house withe state of the art equipment.
Please keep comments on topic and specific to portals.
Disclaimer: This is not solely about SuperATV portals but it's what I have experience with, they are a forum sponsor, and very active here. Anyone is welcome to post comments about other makes such as High Lifter portals.
