Thread: Front Diff Gearing

My 1978 SWB has a 4:1 gear ratio.
15X6 wheels. unknown where the gears came from.

fitted when new. most likely by dealer.

Originally Posted by Bearman

Dunno where 4.3 came from. As far as I know it was either 4.7 in all the early series or 3.5 in later S3 like Stage 1.

If they exist, must be very rare otherwise someone probably would have made a comment about them here by now. I wonder if any were made by Santana in southern Spain. They started off assembling Land Rovers under licence and also making some parts. From bits of info I have seen long ago, they used diff ratios different from Land Rovers. However, may have started off with Rover housings and kept using them. Not sure offhand where detailed Santana technical info is readily available. Maybe on Internet someone with command of Spanish language using appropriate search engine could find it.

Remember LT85 gearboxes were made by Santana and when Land Rover severed ties with them in 1991, had to produce their own gearbox. This prompted LT77's. Also remember reports that Santana also made some six cylinder motors based on 4 cylinder Rover components. Maybe something that could have sold well in Australia if proven reliable, unlike the Rover 2.6 litre 6 cylinder based on the overhead inlet side exhaust valve motor used in petrol Series 1's.

While thinking about Santanas, does anyone know if there are presently any in Australia? Or even more rare, a Morattab from Iran which manufactured Santana clones for a long time and is probably still producing what looks like a Defender clone.