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Overland Weekly Episode 30. Davey sits down with Matt and Scott from Portal Pros a year after their first appearance to cover everything they’ve learned building bolt-on portals in public: road miles, failures that made the product better, a wild Mickey’s Hot Tub rollover, production status, pricing, serviceability, upcoming vehicle support, and more. Plus, rapid-fire questions to wrap it up.
Highlights:
- New YouTube segment: Overland Weekly Trail Cuts (raw wheeling, no fluff)
- Portal Pros’ year in review: events, testing, and social growth
- Jeep build glow-up: 40s, shocks, steering, and why it finally drives “disgustingly” well
- Mickey’s Hot Tub rollover: what happened, what broke, how they wheeled out the same day
- 13,000+ road miles on portals: early issues and design fixes
- Gear evolution: 0.75" → 1" → 1.25" gears and why they’re sticking with it
- Output flange redesign after cumulative abuse (stronger geometry + alloy steel)
- Production status: pre-orders, deposits, shipping timeline
- Price/value: $15,000 for all four corners (axle shafts + hardware included)
- Serviceability: trail-friendly design, minimal hand tools, “dead hub” limp mode
- Modularity: move your portals from one platform to another with adapter sets
- Manufacturing & QC: vetted suppliers now, in-house machining later
- CTIS: sealing challenges, dual-separated air/oil path progress
- Future platforms under evaluation (Toyota TNGA/6th-gen 4Runner, older Jeeps/Toyotas, Super Duty D60)
Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro + Episode 30
00:01:16 New segment: Overland Weekly Trail Cuts
00:01:42 Portal Pros return: where we left off last year
00:07:24 Company Jeep upgrades: 40s, shocks, steering, spacer lift, highway manners
00:10:37 Mickey’s Hot Tub rollover: the full story
00:17:22 Road miles on portals (13k+) and early highway issues fixed
00:26:12 Boxes in production now
00:28:10 First customer deliveries target
00:28:23 Serviceability: trail teardown, small tool list, dead-hub limp mode
00:31:58 Trail repair philosophy: “wheelers designing for wheelers”
00:37:00 Price & value: $15k all-in for 4 corners (lift + regear + load reduction)
00:41:04 One-day install vs. piecemeal builds
00:50:25 Building a business: marketing, web, content, email, and sales chops
00:55:46 Customer-facing learning curve
00:56:10 Team dynamic: complementary personalities, shared background
00:58:54 Setbacks that led to better designs (on-trail failures → locks, snap rings)
01:01:50 Pre-orders: dates, deposits, timelines
01:06:33 Rapid Fire: night runs, camp comfort, best mod, dream destinations, rigs to borrow
Guests:
- Matt and Scott, Portal Pros
Host:
- Davey, Overland Weekly
Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this episode, drop a comment with the next platform you want to see portals for, and what trail you’d take them on first.