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Simca Portals


pugwash

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anyone know anything about simca portals. especially techy stuff- ie strength, ratios- all that kind of gubbins!

Saw your post on Pirate - only entry related over there is a question by Coachgeo ammounting to the same thing... (with no replies).

Have you seen a set, or are looking for some?

If they are related to the French Simca guys and you need a contact in France, I'll help if I can.

There is a Marmon-Simca V8 truck here, with a little text further down - could have portals, there is a link to spares, maybe the contact is a good start?

To be honest, if no-one has heard of them, your spares availability will be dire even if you do find a one-off set?

Still, it's interesting, keep us posted. What's wrong with Volvos / Mogs?

Cheers, Al.

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they weigh a tonne, the drop box is so inset you dont gain a lot of free air, front lockers are exceptionally rare (most marmons came with rear locker only) they are cheap as chips (occassional £250 a pop), on the standard vehicle they perform ok (we have a SUMB on the shoot, flathead V8 - thirstier than an other vehicle on the planet)

if it was my money I'd get something else :blink:

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Jeez al are you bored at work too?

have seen a set for sale- they were hanging around on e-blag for a while and i know the bloke is desperate for a sale as he is emigrating so they could be reasonable value!

could well do with some help for parts if i do buy them as their doesn't seem to be a lot around even on milweb.

where was the link to the Simca V8 truck as they are probably from the same vehicle.

Volvos seem darn expensive, and Mogs seem to take a lot of work to do right. Simcas are way cheaper, and dont' seem to have a lot of work needed doing to get them compatible with a landie chassis- they are already setup for coils, and adding 3-point and 4-point links might not be too hard!

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Im always bored at work :lol:

if you want cheapies try RR services in Kent the break Simcas, they will be SUMB axles - seriously its not going to be an easy fight to get them glued on :(

if you want cheap and tough grab some 404s and speak nicely to Dirty diesel, he's ya man for 404 stuff

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if you want cheap and tough grab some 404s and speak nicely to Dirty diesel, he's ya man for 404 stuff

Hmmm, he hasn't got any for me... sniff... :( I need a front 404 !

Sorry - I forgot the damn link... I just googled it - no rocket science required...

Interesting general portal axle comparison: http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/portal-compare.htm

Here is a pair of simca axles for 550 GBP: http://motoring.friday-ad.co.uk/AdRef/YI62...llAdDetails.asp

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/simcas.htm

This was the link I referred to above: http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/farmerphil/inventory.html

Al.

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Interesting that they use American mechanicals, yet portals and selectable difflocks are virtually unheard of on US built all wheel drive trucks. Then again, I believe Volvo portals were made in Britain by Salisbury and no British trucks to my knowledge were built with portals either.

Bill.

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I purchased the above advertised set earlier this week.

I am led to belive that the Malaysian off roaders are quite fond of them as they are very strong. And they are not shy when it comes to abusing their vehicles.

When I get back to the workshop next week, I'll post up some detailed pictures with a few measurements etc.

They probably aren't the best portal axle out there, but they seem to be the cheapest. :D

Paul.

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ping me our email Jules and I'll put you in touch with Jerzy, the Zebra boys have been running them for years in some seriously unpleasant places and they know all the weakbits and mods to make, they dont like big tyres though and sector shafts become a consumable..

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ping me our email Jules and I'll put you in touch with Jerzy, the Zebra boys have been running them for years in some seriously unpleasant places and they know all the weakbits and mods to make, they dont like big tyres though and sector shafts become a consumable..

Also, not very cheap!

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While were on the subject of portals

What are the Maxidrve one like the bolt onto the original LR axle

Strong

week

superd

Pants

?????

What happens to your gearing??

The gearing of Maxidrive portals is 1.3:1. As with all MD stuff the quality of materials, machining, heat treating etc is excellant. Due to the ''4 shaft '' design, I feel that the strength of the portal gears would be at least equal to Volvo or 404 Mog gears. The main area of concern for large tyres IMO will be the bottom driveshaft (24 spline) the Birfield Joint and upper stubshaft (10/24 spline). The diameters of these shafts are considerably smaller than Volvo/Mogs and would be under much greater stress, because of the higher ratio reduction. Mog/Volvo hub reduction is more than 2:1.

Bill.

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  • 1 month later...
I purchased the above advertised set earlier this week.

I am led to belive that the Malaysian off roaders are quite fond of them as they are very strong. And they are not shy when it comes to abusing their vehicles.

When I get back to the workshop next week, I'll post up some detailed pictures with a few measurements etc.

They probably aren't the best portal axle out there, but they seem to be the cheapest. :D

Paul.

Just wondering how you got on with these. As the set on devon is still for sale and im interested?

Cheers.

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Just wondering how you got on with these. As the set on devon is still for sale and im interested?

Cheers.

They are very well built axles. I know, as I put my back out loading them on to the trailer, and that was with an engine crane. :( I used a Forklift to remove them.

As suggested the drop box is quite inset, so not as good clearance at the hub end of the axle as Mog or Volvo, but they are very cheap. :P

I doubt that I will break my set, as they seem very over engineered, and make the Volvo axles look quite weedy. The standard tyre size they come with is 10.5 R20 Military pattern. They stand about 38" tall.

They measure 76" wide Wheel stud to wheel stud.

They will need a fair amount of damping as they are more than double the un-sprung weight of an average 4X4's axle.

Mine are being fitted to a.......wait for it.......... Daihatsu Sportrak! Well, I will be using 'some' Sportrak parts! :blink:

As you can see below, they are nice and wide. The axle is probably heavier than the Sportrak Chassis and shell sat in front of it. :D

Portals.jpg

Paul.

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They are very well built axles. I know, as I put my back out loading them on to the trailer, and that was with an engine crane. :( I used a Forklift to remove them.

As suggested the drop box is quite inset, so not as good clearance at the hub end of the axle as Mog or Volvo, but they are very cheap. :P

I doubt that I will break my set, as they seem very over engineered, and make the Volvo axles look quite weedy. The standard tyre size they come with is 10.5 R20 Military pattern. They stand about 38" tall.

They measure 76" wide Wheel stud to wheel stud.

They will need a fair amount of damping as they are more than double the un-sprung weight of an average 4X4's axle.

Mine are being fitted to a.......wait for it.......... Daihatsu Sportrak! Well, I will be using 'some' Sportrak parts! :blink:

As you can see below, they are nice and wide. The axle is probably heavier than the Sportrak Chassis and shell sat in front of it. :D

Portals.jpg

Paul.

Looks like the wrong hand offset for a landrover, Toyota, etc. What T/case are you planning on using? Do the extension housings from the drop boxes to the brake assemblies bolt on or are they cast with the drop box?

Bill.

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Looks like the wrong hand offset for a landrover, Toyota, etc. What T/case are you planning on using? Do the extension housings from the drop boxes to the brake assemblies bolt on or are they cast with the drop box?

Bill.

To change the offset,the drop boxes simply un-bolt and the front and rear casings can be swapped, as can the diffs.

The extension housings are a seperate casting, and can be un-bolted.

I'm not sure what engine and gearbox I will be using yet. I was going to go the RR V8 and Auto route, but I want a lot more power and I do prefer to drive a manual box. I'm thinking petrol turbo motor with about 400bhp and just over 300lbft. Those figures give me a good choice of reliable Japanese engines and gearboxes to fit in front of a divorced transfer box. I might have to go for one of the Milner boxes or similar as the Suzuki and Niva transfer boxes may not be strong enough. :blink:

Paul. :)

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Cheers. its food for thought.

The ones on devon have been set up for land rover already and also have lockers front and rear. I thinking of using a chevy v8 to power them as they look like they will need it and they look strong enough to poke up with the power.

Good luck with the project looks like it will be a monster.

Neil.

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To change the offset,the drop boxes simply un-bolt and the front and rear casings can be swapped, as can the diffs.

The extension housings are a seperate casting, and can be un-bolted.

I'm not sure what engine and gearbox I will be using yet. I was going to go the RR V8 and Auto route, but I want a lot more power and I do prefer to drive a manual box. I'm thinking petrol turbo motor with about 400bhp and just over 300lbft. Those figures give me a good choice of reliable Japanese engines and gearboxes to fit in front of a divorced transfer box. I might have to go for one of the Milner boxes or similar as the Suzuki and Niva transfer boxes may not be strong enough. :blink:

Paul. :)

So the front banjo housing is a mirror image of the rear one.Are the swivel housings on the front axle before or after the drop boxes? Do you have a photo of front, and do you know what the overall gear ratio is?

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So the front banjo housing is a mirror image of the rear one.Are the swivel housings on the front axle before or after the drop boxes? Do you have a photo of front, and do you know what the overall gear ratio is?

Not sure of the gear ratio but i have a picture that the bloke from devon sent me, the swivel is after the drop box so they can be swoped from front to rear depending on which diff lay out you have. Im not sure how to post images on here so i can email it to you if you want.

Neil

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I've just found a pair of unimog 404 axles on eBlag.

Yea but they are £1625.00 starting bid. The simca ones are £600 and i dot think the mog axles are 4 times stronger than the simca's although ive not seen them in person but im told they have 63mm halfshafts! They are going to take some breaking, and the parts are available in the uk.

Neil

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Yea but they are £1625.00 starting bid. The simca ones are £600 and i dot think the mog axles are 4 times stronger than the simca's although ive not seen them in person but im told they have 63mm halfshafts! They are going to take some breaking, and the parts are available in the uk.

Neil

But if the swivels are after the drop box the c/v's are't going to be protected by the portal gearing thus making them weaker.

The final drive on 404's is 80mm od, and everything after the drop box is 40mm od, so with the 2:1 portal gearing it effectively makes the halfshafts 80mm od as well

the design of the simca's looks a bit questionable to me, in that there is an awfull lot of strain on that stub shaft sticking out of the drop box, and the axle cases look a little narrow for getting all the suspension mountings on in the right places

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"Unimog 404 axles are three or four times stronger than the Volvo C303 axles"

I love Tims engineering, "makes my face feel visibly younger"

Allright two or three times stronger that a 303 :P

This advert is full of BS, theres no need to swap the portal gears over for what he's done to the front axle, you only need to do that when you put a front axle on the back.

And the the front diff offset doesn't look to be enough to clear rover engines.

I wouldn't trust anything this guy has welded as anyone who looked around his display motor will have seen, he carn't weld for toffee.

what a joker.

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