Quote Originally Posted by fc110 View Post
They were double ball race unit & parallel roller bearing for the pinion & had a round drive flange. Carrier & gears were the same. After the 4.88, some 4.7's were also of this early design. With the change to (roughly) square flange & opposed taper bearings, 4.7 was used on LR until the V8. However the Rover cars (P4 & P5) of similar periods had mostly 4.3 with some 4.7 & some 3.9. These car diffs are completely intechageable with LR 4.7s (in pairs of course). Rover P6 & P6Bs were entirely different. The Rover P5B with the V8 had 3.54s, Which is why the Rangy acquired that ratio. The 4.3 & 3.9 have been used in LR & I believe that the 4.3 would actually suit the diesel series, although I've never tried it. However, the 4.3 & 3.9 crown wheel & pinions are not as strong as later 4.7, there was a gradual improvement in the metallurgy, & the diff carriers of later production were vastly stronger.
We fitted rover saloon centers to mine and a mates series 3's,we tried the 4.3,one in the rear but he went for a pair of 3.9's and I went RR 3.54's as we only had one 4.3.It made them alot better to drive onroad and as we weren't rock hopping etc they made little difference off it. Pat