You’re probably familiar with portal gear lifts—those torque-boosting lifts that simultaneously boost performance and tire clearance. But you might not be sure what dual idler portals are. So, what are dual idler portals?
In short, they’re the newest portal upgrade that boosts the strength and longevity of your GDP Portals.
Let’s take a closer look at what they are, how they work, and why they’re such a big deal.
First, you’re not going to understand why dual idler gears matter if you don’t understand what an idler is in the first place.
Each portal box uses three gears to provide GDPs signature lift and gear reduction—a drive gear, an idler gear, and a driven gear. The idler gear is in between the drive gear and the driven gear. Its purpose is to keep the driven gear spinning in the right direction (so that your wheels move you forward when you hit the gas). The design of the box and the position of the idler gear also help determine the overall height of the lift.
Simply put, it’s another link in the chain designed to get power from your axles to your wheels.
Dual idler portals add a second idler gear into each portal box. When you see a picture of dual idlers installed in a box, it’s obvious what they are.
These dual-idler gears work together to transfer power from the drive gear to the driven gear in the same way a single idler would.
But what’s the point of the second idler gear?
Strength, plain and simple.
Two idler gears are nearly twice as strong as a single idler. But why is it so important for the idler gear to be as strong as possible rather than another gear, the case, or something else entirely?
Let’s find out.
Even when you upgrade housings, bearings, materials, and design, the idler gear remains a weak spot. It’s the only gear that’s in contact with two other gears and it has to handle a ton of force. In fact, the way the drive gear pushes on it tends to make the idler gear want to move out away from the driven gear. When the force becomes too much, the case can crack, the idler gear can chip a tooth, or they can both break simultaneously.
Adding a second idler gear makes it virtually impossible for this worst case scenario to happen. With your wheels stuck and your throttle floored, you’re much more likely to break an axle than a gear in a dual-idler configuration.
But you only get true dual-idler strength when they have another important feature—they have to mate perfectly. If one idler gear doesn’t mate as well as the other, you’ll end up with one idler doing all the work and the other is just along for the ride.
Luckily, GDP Portals have always used perfectly mated gears made with the highest quality gear material. Our tight tolerances, 9310 steel alloy gears, and precision-ground finishing process ensures that our gears have a more perfect mesh than any other.
The result is that GDP dual idlers are nearly double the strength of our single idlers. (By the way, you can’t perfectly double the strength by adding a second idler gear. The laws of physics don’t allow it, but that’s another story.)
Dual idler gears allow you to get wild with bigger tires, a heavy throttle, and crazier rides than anyone else without breaking down.
If you want the very best dual-idler portals on the market, GDP Portals have got you covered with more options for a wider variety of vehicles than anyone else.
12 Comments
Will you have a Dual idler gears for a RZR XP Turbo S 2018.
Dual idlers for the RZR XP Turbo S are in the works! We just don’t have a definite timeline right now, so stay tuned. Thanks for checking in, Anthony!
6″ Dual Idlers for a 2019 General 4 coming soon?
Hey Lester! It’s on our wish list! We don’t have an ETA right now, so you’ll have to stay tuned. Thanks for reading!
Duals for a RZR 4 1000. 6” are they ready
Hey Stan, yes the RZR XP 4 1000 6″ dual portals are a-go! You just have to select the idler option you want at the first dropdown: https://www.superatv.com/polaris-rzr-xp-1000-6-inch-portal-gear-lift-g3 Feel free to give us a call at 855-743-3427 if you have any trouble placing your order. Thanks for the support!
So, I’m running the new 4″ duals with 30% on my X3 Mav DS Max. I want to know if major loss of turn radius is common and if so are there any solutions to the that and almost complete loss of power steering. I’m on my 2nd pair of portals and appreciate their use and quality but I wanting some direction concerning these problems.
Hey Jim! Yes, a loss of turning radius is common. More often than not, you can help the EPS with less offset wheels and round top tires. There’s not much that can be done about the turning radius, unfortunately. Thanks for checking in!
How much width is added by running portals? Also, I put on about 2,000 miles a year trail riding. What is the life expectancy of these and how often do you need to change the oil? I would be open to long term testing of your 4 inch model if you wanna set me up😁
Hey Keith, thanks for the interest in our GDP portals! Our portals add 4″ per side or 8″ to the total width. As far as how often you should change the oil, it really depends on how often and where you ride. At minimum, you should do this annually, but with the number of miles you’re putting in, I’d say it’d be a good idea to check before every ride to make sure you’ve still got enough. If you ride in mud or water, you need to check your oil after every ride and change it immediately if it’s milky or discolored. Take a look at our GDP portal FAQ for answers to some of our most common questions: https://www.superatv.com/offroad-atlas/gdp-portal-gear-lift-faq/ And as always, feel free to give us a call at 855-743-3427 for any help on ordering. We appreciate the support!
What’s the weight difference between a set of single and dual idler boxes in 6″?
Hey Steven, the weight difference is about 20-30 pounds per corner. Altogether, a full dual-idler set is about 90 pounds more than a full single-idler set. It varies a little from machine to machine.