Land Rover series 3 88 diffs

Hi

I have a 1976 series 3 swb and find the motorway speeds are not quite enough (speed limit here is 60mph and most traffic travels close to that)

I won't be doing any serious offroading, and am no rock crawling at all, at most just a bit of mud and sand

anyway in New Zealand we have a LOT of ex army series 3 v8's

if you are familiar with the stage 1 v8 then you will know that these beasts have
3:54 diffs same as the coilers, but on leaf springs

since these are so readily available (unlike overdrives which are as rare as hens teeth) im hoping i can either put the stage 1 diff into my swb, or put the stage 1 axle and diff (not so keen on that as it requires more mucking around)


does anybody have any tips for doing this?

cheers

James

I think you will find that the Stage one has a 'Salisbury' axle an not a Rover type axle.

You maybe better off looking for Range Rover 10 spline diffs as these are also 3.54:1 ratio and will fit you casing and half shafts as is.

Or disco diffs.

andyb66 said:

I think you will find that the Stage one has a 'Salisbury' axle an not a Rover type axle.

You maybe better off looking for Range Rover 10 spline diffs as these are also 3.54:1 ratio and will fit you casing and half shafts as is.

Click to expand...

sounds good, might be a little harder to find, but maybe if I check all the wreckers yards

any particular year that i should look out for?


edit, just found that the ten splines where used until mid 1993

andyb66 said:

I think you will find that the Stage one has a 'Salisbury' axle an not a Rover type axle.

You maybe better off looking for Range Rover 10 spline diffs as these are also 3.54:1 ratio and will fit you casing and half shafts as is.

Click to expand...

Ok i have found a 1993 Range Rover thats being wrecked, it has 10 spline diffs

so basically do I only need the diff heads?

also I assume that I wont need to change the driveshaft at all

If by 'diff head' you mean the complete lump that unbolts from the axle casing with the 12 or so circumferential bolts (having firstly withdrawn the axle halfshafts) - then Yes.

Drive(/prop)shafts will bolt straight on without modification. Your speedo will need recalibration though.

You can just do the rear axle to make sure you are happy with the new gearing (as long as you don't engage 4x4/low box) - then do the front at your leisure.

TheSmiths88 said:

If by 'diff head' you mean the complete lump that unbolts from the axle casing with the 12 or so circumferential bolts (having firstly withdrawn the axle halfshafts) - then Yes.

Drive(/prop)shafts will bolt straight on without modification. Your speedo will need recalibration though.

You can just do the rear axle to make sure you are happy with the new gearing (as long as you don't engage 4x4/low box) - then do the front at your leisure.

Click to expand...

yea thats what I meant by diff head

anyway one more question, do you think a series 3 88" with all the steering gear and brakes setup properly is capable of doing about 60mph without being
impossible to control?

my dads 109 starts getting tricky over 50mph but that is with some old crossply's that are obviously not really for road use (the steering box is tight though with hardly any play)

I drove a series 3 88" at an average of 56mph over 100 miles with no problems at all (apart from deafness)

used to regularly do 70 plus MPH in my dads 109 to wales every month it did have an overdrive and well looked after brakes, slick 50'd engine, Molyslipped diffs gearboxes and overdrive. A well setup 88 or indeed 109 should be fine at speed if kept in tip top condition and not Driven like a rally car lol.

Sirus said:

I drove a series 3 88" at an average of 56mph over 100 miles with no problems at all (apart from deafness)

Click to expand...

earmuffs? or if you are worried about what people might think then earplugs, just remember to remove them when you get out or people will thing you are going deaf!

anyway i just got my "new" landy and im very happy with her, just needs some minor work here there and everywhere

I measured my series 3 petrol at 85dBA Leq which means abut 8 hours a day (under the old regulations) should be safe for your ears. I've never driven with earplugs/muffs 'cos it isolates you from your surroundings too much. Used to be fairly stable at 60 - 70 mph but everything in the steering chain wore out. I'm rebuilding at the moment with new box and relay internals and some new ball joints and I'm lookng forward to travelling in straight lines again.

oxides said:

I measured my series 3 petrol at 85dBA Leq which means abut 8 hours a day (under the old regulations) should be safe for your ears. I've never driven with earplugs/muffs 'cos it isolates you from your surroundings too much. Used to be fairly stable at 60 - 70 mph but everything in the steering chain wore out. I'm rebuilding at the moment with new box and relay internals and some new ball joints and I'm lookng forward to travelling in straight lines again.

Click to expand...

mine has the best steering I have ever seen on a Land Rover, no play at all and feels tight, but easy to turn as well

No what you mean about going deaf.

I drove my IIA from London to Munich and back twice on standard diffs ( albeit warn ones). First time with out overdrive second time with. Both occasions were filled with noise.
Love it though.
Taking the old tub over the Alps to Garda this summer so by shares in OPEC - its a petrol.